Jónsi, artist and frontman of Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, masterfully crafted a recent show titled “Vox” which challenges the definitions of visual, sonic and olfactory art, merging the mediums to form a multi-sensory exhibition that plays on the viewer’s mind...
REALM OF THE SENSES
GALLERY ROUNDS: Nicole Wittenberg at Fernberger Gallery
Vivid and broad brushstrokes streak across Nicole Wittenberg’s paintings currently on view at the newly opened Los Angeles gallery, Fernberger. The exhibition, titled “Jumpin’ at The Woodside,” marks Wittenberg’s first solo show in Los Angeles and the debut of her new...
LOOKING AT TOMORROW David Byrne Takes On the Housing Crisis in the Northwest
One wouldn’t expect the prelude to a screening of David Byrne’s American Utopia to be a conversation—facilitated by the polymath—on affordable housing, but that’s what happened this past November at the Tomorrow Theater in Portland, Oregon. For one hour Byrne, joined...
PERFORMANCE: X’ene’s Witness Justen LeRoy's Contemporary Opera
As our rushing descent into global environmental catastrophe continues, we are inundated with images of our planet's suffering. We’ve all seen the snapshots—a man up to his neck in water pushing children on a downed satellite dish during the 2022 flooding of...
GALLERY ROUNDS: “Foundations” at Carlye Packer
Passing through the doors of Carlye Packer brings you face-to-face with Nancy Pelosi. Dressed in a bright blue blazer, mask tight across her face and her right hand grasped around a gavel she has thrust in the air, Pelosi—or rather her likeness—is set center within...
GALLERY ROUNDS: Ken Taylor Reynaga at The Mistake Room
Ken Taylor Reynaga’s exhibition, “A Mano,” features a wide array of paintings and ceramics that speak to the personal and shared experience of cultural duality, and interrogate the belief that being multicultural places one in an identity limbo. Using his own...
ENVIRONMENT MAKING Malaya Malandro on Collaboration
Created by Francis Kanai and Malaya Malandro, Everything Is a Self-Portrait is a collection of photographs and poetry produced from years of phone calls and emails between their respective homes in Japan and the US. More than a simple display of two artists’ works,...
Paul Paiement at Tufenkian Fine Arts
Painting is, quite possibly, my least favorite visual medium. I’m not being disdainful, far from it—it’s simply that I gravitate toward mediums that are more immersive. That said, I was curious to see Paul Paiement’s recent exhibition, “Nexus,” as he created many of...
PICK OF THE WEEK: Bambou Gili at Night Gallery
Taking its name from The Chick's 1999 song "Goodbye Earl," Bambou Gili's solo Night Gallery exhibition is a beautiful, yet ominous, exploration of the power and potential of womanhood and female friendship. The exhibition loosely follows the song—the story of Mary...
PICK OF THE WEEK: Vanessa Prager at Diane Rosenstein
Richly colored, blossoming pseudo-portraits comprise Vanessa Prager's solo exhibition titled "Portraits" at Diane Rosenstein Gallery. Each painting depicts a bloom of vibrant flowers sprouting from the necks of the (assumedly) human subjects. Prager's works are a nod...
GALLERY ROUNDS: James Cherry at NOON Projects
The nuance of intimacy is the focal point of James Cherry's solo exhibition at NOON Projects. Entitled "Fraternal"—a nod to both Cherry being a twin and to relationships amongst men—the exhibition presents as an exploration of relationships, specifically queer ones,...
GALLERY ROUNDS: Joan Didion: “What She Means” at The Hammer Museum
In the late winter of 2019, I became enamored with Joan Didion. I and my then partner were driving the backroads of Tennessee and North Carolina as a leg of a cross country move from Portland to Philadelphia. Somewhere along our trip I picked up a copy of South and...
GALLERY ROUNDS: Olivia Hill at Bel Ami
Since I first saw Olivia Hill’s solo exhibition “Strike-Slip” at Bel Ami, I’ve found myself returning to one work in particular—one of the smallest in the show, a sunset-hued rendering of sandy terrain. Entitled Tire Mark in Yucca Valley 34°12’27.9″N 116°26’17.2″W...