Chicano art is at once a unified cultural expression and an ever-changing record of social and geographic situation. But regional inflections invariably emerge—and, certainly in the case of Chicano art in Los Angeles, regional inflection has profoundly impacted...
Amir Zaki’s lushly photographed black-and-white landscapes introduce tension between formalist notions of timeless beauty and suspicions of digital photography’s reliability—or lack thereof. These photos of California’s coast, drawn from a series aptly named “Rocks,”...
The origins of Color Field—one of the more intriguing forms of contemporary abstract painting—seem to lie in 19th-century Romanticism, particularly in a few radically reductive watercolors by J.M.W. Turner. In 2015, when some of these were exhibited at the Getty...
Emblazoned in cursive neon light, the affirming phrase “we deserve to see ourselves elevated, as well as grounded” guides EJ Hill’s installation of objects and paintings, which structurally suggests both sublime ascension and children’s playgrounds. The locations of...
Arne Quinze’s jubilantly comely show, “Jungle Cities,” propounds fundamental questions about the problematic relationship between culture and nature. These questions align with the artist’s generally stated ambitions; however, the most urgent of them are posed...
Given the current political climate, one in which President Donald Trump in February withdrew Federal guidelines allowing transgender students to use restrooms matching their chosen gender, “Masculine-Feminine” offers a timely and relevant examination of gender...
Wake Me Up When It’s Over is a compelling and timely installation featuring selected works from 1998–2016 by the London-based duo Thomson & Craighead. Jon Thomson and Allison Craighead, who have been working together since the mid 1990s, utilize data, information...
Long dedicated to an elegant abstraction reliant on repeated forms and broken, almost prismatic, visual fields, all rendered in limpid colors, Peter Zaleski has recently sought to brace that graceful approach with a greater stringency—limiting the recurring figures,...
“Knock-Kneed and Bow-Legged,” on view at Oakland’s Johansson Projects, stakes out territory in a harsh but brilliant realm where contradiction is the order of the day, and logical assumptions must be checked at the door. The works of painter Matt Kleberg imply a...
Setting afoot into an office space building was the last place I expected to be on a Friday evening. As I approached Karma International’s gallery in Beverly Hills, it smelled like a good time (if you catch my 420 drift) and I felt like a hot mess as I had no idea...
It is possibly the singular image of our time: the ‘walking’ glacier – or in this particular instance, the glacier that both ‘walks’ or extends forward towards the edge of a continent, yet has also begun what may eventually be a dramatic recession. It manages to both...
The unassuming These Days gallery, which lies on the second floor off an alleyway in downtown LA, currently houses an impressive installation titled, “Afraid of Modern Living: World Imitation & Monitor 1977–1982.” The show features a display of zines, paintings,...
Feeling apprehensive as I walked to the nearest Red Line stop to catch a train downtown; I believe that the last time I tried doing the Downtown Art Walk was about seven years ago. Since then it had morphed from being an intimate, thoughtful event attracting people...
Setting aside its legal ‘term of art’ implications, ‘Indecent Exposure’ – the collective title of this mini-retrospective of Margie Schnibbe’s films and videos – could simply be a term for the tribulations (and occasional trials) of everyday life – random hazards...
Seth Kaufman has made a startling new body of work, and has transitioned from sculpture to photography as effortlessly as a caterpillar transitions into a butterfly. Still rigorous and with a keen attention to detail, these images, which largely deal with themes like...
I forgot to eat! My stomach grumbled as I mentioned to my friend that I hoped there might be some food at the opening of Lauren Greenfield’s “Generation Wealth” exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City. Entering the building complex—not unlike a...
Palm Springs may be the furthest eastern reach of Los Angeles’ urban/suburban schizophrenia and whiny babblespeak, but the Palm Springs Tourism Board has done its best to overcome such a provincial status by adopting the slogan, “Like No Place Else.” That can be said...
Edward Burtynsky’s principal subject over the last decade or so has been the industrial landscape, or more specifically, large-scale, frequently aerial views of major industrial operations, grids, excavations, or industrial waste sites. The photographs in his current...
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