Byline: Olivia de Witt

Raffi Kalenderian’s solo exhibition “Memento Vivo” (Remember to Live) is a meditation on painting as much as it is a reminder to observe the real world as it rustles around you and enjoy its pleasures. His vibrant paintings—all variations on portraiture—explore the relationship of figure and ground. In a trio of paintings, Kalenderian collapses the two, camouflaging the sitter within a landscape of densely cacophonous foliage. In the strikingly vivacious Lauren (all works 2019) a young woman is positioned slightly below and left of center, her radiant tunic echoing the ripples of yellow in the riot of foliage behind her, yet her scowling visage conveys character and mood.

This compositional structure appears in Bernard (a young man standing before a lush garden) and Robert, Bob, and Seymour (a trio of two men and a French bulldog). If these evoke Hockney, other works, in which the distinction between figure and ground is more pronounced, suggest a kinship with Alice Neel. In Stephanie, the figure is seated before a white wall, her legs foreshortened. Here, Kalenderian’s deeply textured surfaces bristle with globs and scabrous passages surrounded by incisive brush strokes and luxuriant knifed-on sections. The lower portion of the painting shifts perspective, flattening a rug beneath her feet into pattern and color.

Kalenderian’s vibrant portraits interpret the sitter’s aura, which is alternately asserted and subsumed by the setting. Also reminiscent to the work of Jonas Wood, Kalenderian’s painting’s offer a glimpse into the private worlds of the sitter and artist.

Raffi Kalenderian, “Memento Vivo” May 18 – June 29, 2019, at Vielmetter Los Angeles, 6006 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232. vielmetter.com

Different memories within each of our lives are associated with some space and with distinct details that carry the narrative of any specific occurrence. In Augusta Wood’s second solo exhibit at DENK, “The Shape of My Head,” the environment becomes the storyteller of daily routine. Wood’s exploration of the subjective nature of memory is relevant to all human experience, and in her works, nature, city and nostalgia meld together to illustrate the steadiness of time and the concurrency of past and present.

Wood’s personal inspection of the surroundings that make up her day-by-day life yields a layered visual experience. Each piece is not just one photograph, but multiple that are taken from an insider’s perspective of her own various, habitual spaces at different times of day and season. Each of her works are deliberately compiled (and then re-photographed) to form a deeper message which inserts the audience into a reality that transcends into memories from their own lives.

One especially captivating work, Monstera Silhouette (2019), blends an array of tones that interpolate in a Wizard of Oz manner. The black and white moodiness of the right side of the photo, disturbed by a striking green leaf, oozes into a sunset orange backdrop with a woman figure staring outside a window. A common theme of “outside looking in” is evident in her frequent window portrayal, perhaps referring to herself as she contemplates her atmosphere.

Me Facing Robin (2019), another highlight in the collection, is a coalescence of images that introduce a new figure into the mix—Wood’s own mother. This is at once a self-portrait and ode, depicting a daughter examining a past life of someone she sees as support-figure. The open door works as the entrance between two generations. The photos exude a warm, familial effect, almost like you’re peering into your mom’s old high school snapshots.

The exhibit affords viewers a fitting opportunity—the chance to walk through Wood’s narrative in their shoes.

Augusta Wood, “The Shape of My Head,” April 6 – May 11, 2019, at DENK, 749 East Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. www.denkgallery.com