Like wine and cheese, art and activism are a perfect fit for the LA art scene. Passionate projects made their debut to start a sizzling 2020 the first weekend of the new year.

Robyn Alatorre at SoLA.

At SoLA in South LA, a powerful, wide-ranging group show included performance art, sculpture, paintings, and mixed media as it tackled subjects from immigration to climate change to racism, corporate greed, and the vitality of protest. Appropriately titled Art + Activism, the pop-up show offered thought-provoking images to a jam-packed crowd. From a heart-stopping abstract landscape by Lillian Abel to a witty and caustic sculptural chair from Robyn Alatorre to a moving look at the tragedy of U.S. immigration policy from Pam Douglas, and the compassion of Steven Fujimoto’s textile art, there was a bevy of beautiful works to take in.

Steven Fujimoto at SoLA.

John Dingler with his work at SoLA.

The gallery was also full of attendees and great art at mid-city’s TAG, where the LA Open show brought an equally wide number of artists and interesting works into both exhibition and competition. Waiting to hear the prize winners announced, participating artists and art lovers noshed on a buffet of snacks and sipped wine as they took in – and posed by – a dazzling range of art.

Daena Title with her painting at TAG.

At Track 16 in DTLA’s Bendix Building, Kathleen Henderson’s “outtakes” wall of 8×10 inch drawings were a highlight of her graceful solo show, Watch Me Make You Disappear; with half the proceeds of the wall of works going towards registering Arizona Navajo to vote.

Kathleen Henderson at Track 16 Gallery.

Two floors down, Durden and Ray’s group show, Intersections, approached the assimilation of the barrages of images assailing us daily with well-paired works both figurative and abstract, many large in scale. Gul Cagin’s poignant image of an immigrant crossing a parched desert, and Jenny Hager’s intersectional abstracts stood out to a vibrant crowd tackling veggies and dips, crackers, cheese, and chocolates along with art observation and New Year’s greetings. Artists Arezoo Bharthania, Gul Cagin, Lana Duong, Larry Gipe, Jenny Hager, Alanna Marcelletti, David Spanbock, and Curtis Stage each offered immersive works that fit neatly with the current cultural zeitgeist of streaming spectacle, while knocking things out of the “art park” with lush works.

Jenny Hager with her work at Durden and Ray.

Artist and co-curator Gul Cagin with her work at Durden and Ray.

So, 2020 begins: clearly, its time to get active in art.