Upon exiting the newest exhibition at the Norton Simon Museum, “By Day and By Night: Paris in the Belle Époque,” each visitor is invited to take a print of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s Red-Headed Woman in the Garden of M. Foret. This print is especially fitting as a...
Brand Library and Art Center: The Nothing That Is
In the haunting group show The Nothing That Is, now at the Brand Library and Art Center, curators Yaron Dotan and Christine Rasmussen have shaped a powerful exhibition that takes as its inspiration a Wallace Stevens poem that suggests viewers behold “nothing that is...
Linda Besemer
At a distance, the paintings in Linda Besemer's show, "An Abundance of Errors," appear to be large-format prints of digitally derived geometric designs. Indeed, they were initially devised on a computer; but the paintings' true tactility manifests itself as you...
“Images of the Divine in Everyday Mexico”; Día de los Muertos Altars; Contemporary Artists’ Solo Shows
There are so many good shows right now at the Vincent Price Art Museum that it's impossible to choose just one. "Images of the Divine in Everyday Mexico" comprises retablo and ex-voto paintings from the early 19th to mid-20th centuries. Mostly wrought on small sheets...
Shoshana Wayne Gallery: Russell Crotty
You don’t need to read the press release to know that Russell Crotty has outer space on the brain. The work currently on view at Shoshana Wayne Gallery was inspired by a residency at an observatory, and it shows. In mixed media paintings from the last two years, a...
Laurie Nye
Titled "The Sick Rose" after William Blake's 1794 poem and engraving, LA painter Laurie Nye's current exhibition is like a garden of botanical specimens evoking romance and malady. Describing a rose afflicted by the pernicious love of an invisible worm, Blake's...
Roberts Projects: Ardeshir Tabrizi
Iranian American stitch painter Ardeshir Tabrizi's new works on show at Roberts Projects reflect his remarkable journey to reconnect with his Persian roots. Born in Tehran, Iran, he left the county with his family at age four in 1986 during the Iran-Iraq War and...
Theaster Gates
“Blessed are the meek…” – Gospel of Matthew, 5:5 Has Theaster Gates truly “upcycled” his entire wardrobe as a spiritual gesture and a means of achieving transcendence? Perhaps he has. But in the most literal sense, Gates has taken the raw material of his sartorial...
Vincent Valdez
The 22 representational paintings, drawings and prints comprising Vincent Valdez’ show, “It Was Never Yours,” symbolize American decline and apprehension with varying degrees of overtness. The Houston-based artist’s occasional flirtations with obvious content, such as...
Kenny Scharf
It is hard to imagine living in Los Angeles and not being acquainted with the work of Kenny Scharf. His comic style, painted murals of interlocking faces, often derived from television and pop culture icons have adorned numerous buildings as well as individual’s cars...
Naudline Pierre
References to narrations from the Old and New Testaments are hard to miss in the paintings of Naudline Pierre, as the fabulist spiritualism of her compositions presents an iconography of winged beings, gardens, serpents and sunrise convocations. More than one work...
Elyse Pignolet
Elyse Pignolet’s “You Should Calm Down” at Track 16 is a wry call-out of the misogynistic and patriarchal culture in the U.S. and the barrage of passive-aggressive phrases that women in our society frequently hear. It’s a collection of works that are distinctly of the...
Robert Moreland
If the minimalist impulse was to eradicate any trace of the artists’ hand, then at first glance the work of Robert Moreland seems to fully participate in that inclination. Upon closer scrutiny, it becomes clear that his animating spirit is much more related to a DIY...
Jebila Okongwu
Inter Milan, an Italian football powerhouse, recently endured another racial incident. It is common for Italian fans, and other football teams’ supporters, to throw bananas at Black players on opposing teams. This latest insult, however, came not from fans but an...
Katja Seib
What we take as concrete reality often seems as changeable as a hologram: a door appearing orange in the morning looks yellow in afternoon light; former familiars refashion their characters beyond recognition. Inklings of such slipperiness with regard to perception...
Radiant Space: Laurie Shapiro
In her installation Alchemy Tunnel, now at Radiant Space, artist Laurie Shapiro has created a literal and figurative cave of wonders. Using fabric, foil, sequins, and water-based paint, Shaprio’s inventive fantasy environment glitters and beckons. A distinct floral...
Sayre Gomez
Sayre Gomez extracts strangeness and cultural significance from prosaic architectural facets of Southern California. The life-size paintings in his current show evoke banal intersections between commerce, fantasy and nostalgia: strip mall facades are romantically...
DENK Gallery: Andrew Schoultz
In his installation Vessels, Andrew Schoultz has transformed the gallery space into a fantastical and playful environment. He presents sculptures, paintings and works on paper in his signature style, using an array of concentric lines that define shapes and objects...