ART / SNEAK PEEK : FUN'S ON TAP AT BREWERY.

Any artists' colony worthy of the name has to deal with the inevitable comparisons to Malibu and Manhattan's SoHo district.

Except for the Brewery. Literally and figuratively at the edge of downtown Los Angeles, this self-proclaimed world's largest arts complex sits on the former site of a Pabst Blue Ribbon bottling plant.

Now it's home to more than 450 artists and arts-related businesses.

``It's the largest, it's the safest, the most diverse,'' says metal sculptor Bruce Gray, a resident for the past five years. ``It's more like a small town here. We have a cafe, we have camera stores and photo labs and a theater.''

This weekend, that small-town ambience will feel a whole lot bigger, as 100-plus artists throw open their lofts and allow the public a look-see. You name the medium (painting, photography, kinetic sculpture, installation, functional art), the 14th annual Brewery Walk will have it.

Admission is free, so all you'll need is a sense of adventure and a map (available at the complex's two main termini, at Avenue 21 and Moulton Avenue, off Main Street).

By its nature, art-making tends to be a solitary activity. The annual walk lets artists step outside the self-absorption of work, Gray says.

``Most artists here don't have any open-door policy; they don't even deal with the public on any kind of regular basis. They don't even have signs on their doors,'' Gray points out.

The Brewery is east of Chinatown, southeast of Dodger Stadium and west of the Golden State Freeway (5). Free parking is available in the area.

For information, call [phone].

Joint production: If it were a movie instead of a painting, the credit list for ``The Grand Canal, Venice: Shylock'' would go on forever:

Idea by Shakespeare. Brushwork by J.M.W. Turner. Conservation by the J. Paul Getty Museum. And housing by the the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.

After hanging around for a couple of centuries, Turner's 1837 masterpiece was looking a bit jaundiced. The culprit was a thick, glossy varnish, which the Getty's staff recently removed and replaced with a lighter varnish.

Now the painting is back at the Huntington Art Gallery, in a room filled with landscapes, adjacent to the Anglophilic institution's prize possession, Gainsborough's portrait of ``The Blue Boy.''

In honor of ``Grand Canal's'' return, Getty conservator Mark Leonard will give a free lecture on recent Huntington restorations at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20 in Friends' Hall.

Located at 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, the Huntington is open noon to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $7.50 adults, $6 seniors, $4 students, free to children under 12.

For information, call [phone].