Co-curated by Liz Gordon (of Loft at Liz’s) and Monique Birault, the 15th iteration of Gordon’s ecologically driven “Diverted Destruction” is both exciting, and more visually spare than past exhibitions. Rather than filling the main gallery space with smaller pieces created from recycled materials, this time around the artists confront waste created from construction and demolition materials. 

Using concrete, asphalt, wood, drywall, brick, clay tiles, shingles, and metal, artists including Anna Stump, Sonja Schenk, Ben Novak, Joseph Salerno and Howard Lowenthal work in a variety of approaches to this material, while in the gallery’s alcove, a robust and ever-changing collection of materials are available for giveaways, with mixed media workshops encouraging their use.

Schenk’s piece is a suspended, monumental work evoking memories of the 2001: A Space Odyssey monolith had it cracked into pieces and turned horizontally with her Solid, Void, Other (Red Shift) made from polystyrene, glass, and acrylic paint to float like a feather of detritus.

Anna Stump detail

Stump’s approach is playful: her Mojaveland Jackrabbit Hole recreates a Par 3 hole from her artist-designed miniature golf course and art center in 29 Palms. Made of broken concrete bricks originally used to build 1950s-era desert homes, the mobile mini-golf puts these found commodities to cleverly visualized delightful use. Also on exhibit: a series of mix-and-match painted concrete bricks, some delightfully depicting exquisite jackrabbits.

Novak works in welded metal and plastic found objects, creating what he terms “environmental work” dedicated to sustainability. He uses vintage tools in a numbered Weisman Tool Series, and found metal objects to create fascinating, elaborate mini towers in his Pandemic Year 2 Series.

Howard Lowenthal detail

Lowenthal, a.k.a. SMTDLR, shapes irreverently fantastical mixed media in his Terra Inifrma, crafted from aerosol, acrylic, and sculptural debris. Salerno’s work feels more substantial, using industrial materials with minimal touches of color, such as oriental pink marble in his Shelter the Weak, and a softly glowing beige travertine along with rebar and stone for his in a landscape. While the materials are primarily industrial, these works seem to inhabit an imagined natural geology, like new sedimentary rock formations. 

The exhibition is on display through September 20th at Loft at Liz’s on La Brea, mid-city.