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From DJ Booth to Art Exhibit: Guy Gerber Debuts ‘Separate Ways’ in LA For Frieze Week

DJ Guy Gerber’s ‘Separate Ways’ opening night in LA kicked off Frieze Week, merging his nightlife energy into art while embracing the excitement of being a beginner again.

  • By: Ani Gutierrez | Photos by: Brie Lakin

On Wednesday night in Hollywood, just as the creative swirl of Frieze Week began to take shape, a quiet stretch of North Las Palmas turned into one of those rooms that feels invisible until you’re on the list. Invite-only, drinks flowing, and at the center of it all: Guy Gerber, trading the DJ booth for the gallery wall. 

Separate Ways, Gerber’s solo exhibition on view through March 4, opened with a private reception that didn’t feel entirely like a traditional art show, but more of a cultural crossover moment. The crowd was a stylish mix of LA insiders, ready to witness Gerber’s artistic transition: from art enthusiasts, nightlife regulars, and industry creatives, to the kind of tastemakers who instinctively know where to stand when the lighting hits just right. Elegant dresses mingled with sharp, minimalist tailoring and elevated streetwear. The energy was art-show-chic, but with a subtle after-hours undertone that felt instantly familiar to those who’ve followed his world.

Which makes sense. Gerber isn’t just another artist debuting during art week. He’s the founder of the globally recognized RUMORS event series, and a DJ who’s headlined everywhere from desert festivals to European superclubs. For years he’s built immersive worlds through sound, but now, he’s simply shifted mediums. 

Gerber isn’t abandoning nightlife for art, he’s folding its pulse into the gallery walls.

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Having already debuted iterations of Separate Ways in New York, following earlier exhibitions in Dubai and international art weeks, this LA exhibit felt different for Gerber. “Bringing Separate Ways to Los Angeles felt deeply personal,” he shared in a statement. “With my music and visual art finally meeting in one honest moment.”

However, as he told LOOP during an exclusive interview at the opening, this move into visual art isn’t a rebrand. It’s a personal reset. “I had to do something new for myself,” Gerber said. “I wanted to have beginner energy again in my life.”

“I had to do something new for myself. I wanted to have beginner energy again in my life.”

In music, he admits he’s a perfectionist. In art, he’s leaning into exposure. “Here, because I’m a beginner, I can just do whatever I want. And I’m already succeeding just by putting on this exhibition; just by releasing it.”

That freedom reads clearly in his 21-piece collection, depicting a recurring theme of a woman covering her face with a small round mirror.  When asked about the mirror motif, Gerber went straight to philosophy. “Humanity today… we are failing the mirror test,” he said, referencing a psychological experiment about self-recognition in a hyper-visible world of social media and AI. “We don’t recognize ourselves in the mirror anymore.”

Gerber circulated the room all night, mingling with friends and fans, answering questions, and pausing with guests as they studied his work. No velvet rope between artist and audience, just conversation, curiosity, and a steady hum of bass carrying through the room.

As the evening deepened, the energy subtly shifted as Gerber stepped into DJ mode. He delivered an intimate set that gave his exhibit its own soundtrack, letting the visuals and sound effortlessly merge. It wasn’t the usual, full-fledged RUMORS drift into an after-hours haze he’s known for, but more so an intentionally layered reminder that even in a gallery setting, rhythm still runs the room.

That duality seems to be the whole point. Gerber has spent years building immersive worlds through music and nightlife, but with Separate Ways, he’s simply relocated that world from a dance floor to four walls.

Glasses clinked, admirations landed, and the open bar did what open bars do. There was that unmistakable energy of insider current pulsating through the room all night; the kind of if-you-know-you-know frequency LOOP readers seem to recognize on instinct.

With my music, I'm a perfectionist. Here, because I’m a beginner, I can just do whatever I want. And I’m already succeeding just by putting on this exhibition.”

As Gerber’s DJ set wound down and the crowd thinned into the night, the energy still lingered, because when a world-renowned DJ lets the walls carry his vision instead of the speakers, you want to witness it for as long as you can.

By the end of the night, I couldn’t help but wonder if the mirror test wasn’t just for viewers, but if it was also Gerber’s own reckoning; a way of seeing himself anew as he transitioned from the DJ booth into the gallery and embraced being a beginner all over again.

Before I left, I asked Gerber if he hopes Separate Ways might help people “pass” the mirror test; to recognize themselves again.

“Everything I do opens people’s eyes,” he said with a sly grin. “They just have to pay attention.”

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