CURRENT ISSUE
MAY/JUNE
2025
FEATURES
Helmut Lang’s Burdensome Bodies
The R.M. Schindler House is unexpectedly quiet. Despite being smack-dab in the middle of West Hollywood, there’s a noticeable lack of noise around the house and grounds, as if the air is somehow thick enough to deaden dog barks and car horns. The silence somehow feels...
MOURNING SICKNESS A spate of Sad Girl art is on view in LA this spring—but is our interest in Sad Girls subversive or exploitative?
Thérésa Tallien, the French Revolution’s ‘it’ girl, knew how to manipulate perception. Once an emblem of revolutionary glamour, she played the game until it turned against her. Even in captivity, awaiting execution, she refused to become a simple object of pity. The...
Duelling Reviews: Jon Rafman Two takes on Jon Rafman’s “Proof of Concept” at Sprüth Magers
She Sees What He Says A review of the novel "What You Make of Me" by Sophie Madeline Dess
Sophie Madeline Dess, who has written clever short stories and perceptive pieces on Cormac McCarthy, Eva Hesse, and many other things for many prestigious and worthwhile publications, has produced a novel about Ava and Demetri, a critic and an artist. They are brother...
ARTIST TAKEOVER: Jonny Negron
REVIEWS
Alex Israel at Gagosian
To prepare for his current show “Noir” at Gagosian, Alex Israel claims to have walked about fifteen thousand steps per day around Los Angeles. This is highly unusual and, honestly, suspect. As the saying goes, no one walks in LA. Yet Israel insists on it and says that...
Michelle Uckotter at Matthew Brown
There’s something in the Los Angeles air recently that’s been conjuring the ghost of Charles Manson. He has been coming up in conversation frequently (or maybe I am bringing him up). California’s back on the national stage for its hippie-turned-fascist tendencies....
Jacqueline Humphries at Matthew Marks
We recognize the legacy Jacqueline Humphries is working from the moment we set foot in Matthew Marks’ two gallery spaces; yet something throws the viewer slightly off. It’s the echt gestural vocabulary of post-World War II art, but as if viewed through a scrim or...
Ramsey Alderson at Tiffany's
It’s a matter of complete coincidence that Ramsey Alderson’s show “d’Or” at Tiffany’s—an East Hollywood artist-run garage space programmed by Adam Verdugo—coincides with the 17th anniversary of the notorious Emos vs. Punks Fight held in Mexico City’s Glorieta de Los...
Gregg Bordowitz at The Brick
I left Gregg Bordowitz’s recently-closed exhibition at The Brick, “This is Not a Love Song,” thinking the same thing as upon leaving The Brutalist: “I didn’t know it was going to be so Jewish.” In both, the artist’s Jewish identity weaves through a deep consideration...
David Hammons at Hauser & Wirth
I went in blind to David Hammons’ Concerto in Black and Blue (on view for the first time since its 2002 debut)—both literally and figuratively. When I pushed back the heavy curtain shrouding the gallery, darkness swallowed me. I couldn’t pull out my phone to navigate...
XIAO HE at Reisig and Taylor Contemporary
There is something a little chipper about the art world right now that belies the national mood. Palettes tend toward cheery hues and uncomplicated content. Not that there’s anything wrong with upbeat paintings, it just seems like there are other types of content...
DEPTS
IN SEARCH OF A CITY — (print exclusive) An Insider's Guide to Los Angeles
I came to the screening wearing the outfit compulsory for all such events: a faded and frayed sweater in a neutral color, sexless jeans, and a dirtied canvas tote. I had composed this outfit to signal my status as a true believer—my monkish intent to remain forever...
COLLECTORS CORNER: Danny First — (print exclusive)
Tell us who you are in 50 words or less: I live, collect, and breathe art. For the past ten years, I’ve run the La Brea Studio Artist Residency, The Cabin LA (according to ArtNewspaper, “Per square foot, the most influential gallery in LA”), and The Bunker LA. Two...
ART DAMAGED Etiquette Stink Lines
An Artist Answers Questions — (print exclusive) with Linda Franke
Top 3 Songs? Portishead — All Mine Ziúr J.I.D. — Surrounds Sound (feat. 21 Savage & Baby Tate) This article is available in print and in our digital edition. To read the full article, please subscribe.
STAYING SANE(ish) WITH DR. TRAINWRECK — (print exclusive) The Picture is, or Should be Anyway, of an Entire Person
If you are reading this magazine, you might be an artist. Or you have a friend who is, or perhaps you are at a Barnes and Noble flipping through Artillery while you wait to purchase an oversized coffee table book of Rock n Roll photography for some guy’s housewarming...
AND THEY TRY TO CONVINCE YOU APPLE TV IS REAL
(Excerpt from an essay). Hugh Jackman makes a brief cameo in the third Night at the Museum movie aptly titled Secret of the Tomb, where he plays himself playing King Arthur in a stage production of Camelot. Jackman as Arthur gets visited by Sir Lancelot, played by Dan...
POEMS
The Bride of Frankenstein Late at night, I glimpse my ideal woman. Problem is, she exists only on TV. Nonetheless, I am smitten. Seams divide one perfect cheek into three continents. Her impersonation of an angry swan is so feral that I long to fill my mouth with...
STAYING SANE(ish) WITH DR. TRAINWRECK — (print exclusive) Ask Dr. Trainwreck
What is the Purpose of All of This? And by This, I Mean Life Dear Dr. Trainwreck, I have recently gone through a life change (a major breakup and move) and am having a hard time finding my footing. The close friends that I thought would be there for me disappeared...
LUDOLOGY
I'm... ...located at an arts fortress that is always free, but you should make a reservation. ...an extremely sexual painting whose description of what the group is doing is written in a non-offensive language that the entire family can read. ...small (about the size...