In a collection of 18 ceramic and mixed media sculptures, Dirk Staschke explores the tradition of still life painting that emerged in Europe, specifically in Dutch “Vanitas” paintings, in the 17th Century. Staschke explores themes such as the ephemeral nature of...
The art world ‘conversation,’ in many ways, can be a small one. In the post-modern, post-conceptual landscape, anything goes. Yet (Juxtapoz to one side) we’re not typically privy to the kinds of conversations Corey Helford Gallery artists might ignite. Once upon a...
ACME’s late summer group show, Passage, chooses subtlety over ‘statement’, quietly suggesting a spectrum of emerging ideas and directions through its artists’ varied address of notions of passage or transition in their work. In doing so, it also gives a glimpse of the...
David Hockney, well known as a painter and draftsman, is also a versatile multi-disciplinary artist who has embraced technology in surprising ways. It comes as no surprise that he has adopted the iPad as another new-fangled artistic tool to make electronic sketches in...
As we are posting this, we are informed that Arthur Jafa has not been awarded the Mohn Public Recognition Award; and we can’t help wondering if he might have been at some competitive disadvantage simply because visitors to the Museum were unable to actually flip the...
The collection of portraits by Mr. Fish (Dwayne Booth) at Robert Berman Gallery serves as a testament to the idols that the political cartoonist holds dear. While Mr. Fish is best known for tongue-in-cheek cartoons, these meticulously rendered portraits show Mr....
The concept of an artist commemorating a particular time and place is always interesting, specifically in this case the border between Tijuana and the U.S. Here, the creation of images becomes a means by which the artist begins to understand his own deeply personal...
Nods to the philosophical and an absurdist humor set the tone of this eclectic group show that is never short on substance. An homage of sorts to a late UC Berkeley professor, “Don’t call me when you are rich or famous. Call me only if you are in the gutter.” is a...
Stefano Maderno’s celebrated sculpture of Santa Cecilia—or rather an enlarged archival pigment print of a slide of the work—greets the viewer on the far gallery wall. Mounted on a substantial support and including information recorded on old-fashioned art history...
The idea of a failed utopia is certainly nothing new as those of us who live in any bustling city like Los Angeles will tell you, but the way in which this failure is understood can, and must be, redefined according to the state of disintegration we have become...
A tram cable traverses The Project Room, a tiny cube tucked behind the main gallery space of Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions. LACE, on Hollywood Boulevard, is the perfect location for educating the public about Los Angeles contemporary art. Sheltered from the...
Mining the territory of surrealism, juxtaposing everyday objects to create metaphoric meanings; Alexis Smith, in collaboration with poet Amy Gerstler, have created a visual journey that encompasses a wide array of associations—some witty, some violent. Working mostly...
When an extraordinary windstorm on November 30, 2011 in the San Gabriel Valley decimated the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, artists helped replenish its 235 felled trees by auctioning works they created from them. Box Collective, a group of...
Small Green Door located in East LA is a full-service creative studio by day and has for the last couple of months opened up as a space for local artists to interact, create and exhibit their work. This month, Manwell Quiza and Leo Estevez put together a show that is...
Robert Mapplethorpe's recent retrospective at LACMA is stunning in its breadth and cohesiveness. What comes across most profoundly is the artist's sensitivity to his subjects. When looking at these images one senses the artist's own investment in these relationships....
Swedish artist Joakim Ojanen creates paintings and ceramic sculptures that are quirky and compassionate. His part-human / part-animal creatures have distinct personalities and are full of feeling and emotion. Though the overall sentiment is a kind of melancholy,...
Shirley Tse is one my favorite artists working in Los Angeles today and her fifth exhibition at Shoshana Wayne is once again astonishingly inventive, moving and full of wonder. Reminiscent of Louise Bourgeois' strangely magnificent totems of the 1950s, Tse's...
In "Allusive Moment," a group show centered on nostalgia, a slow creaking sound fills the gallery and precedes—even preempts—visual encounters with works in the show. The creaking sounds like it might come from the wood beams or floorboards of a childhood home, except...
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