Articles

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 mirror sent to her cell each day wasn’t punishment; it was a tool. Stripped of adornment, starved, pale, she studied herself—not to...

She Sees What He Says
A review of the novel "What You Make of Me" by Sophie Madeline Dess

by Casey Ash

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 and sister, unusually close, with fates entirely entwined. That was a good idea. What remains of our creative class should...

IN SEARCH OF A CITY — (print exclusive)
An Insider's Guide to Los Angeles

by Eileen Havant Townsend

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 materially impoverished but spiritually rich. I entered the venue on that rainy winter night as a Jacobin for the cause(s)—which...

Lost Money
How NEA Cuts Impact the Los Angeles Arts Community

by Emma Christ

In an unsurprising, though nonetheless upsetting, move, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has rescinded funding for arts organizations across the United States. The decision follows the Trump administration’s publication of the 2026 Discretionary Budget Request, which proposed slashing—if not entirely cutting—federal funding for the NEA. Most grant recipients received emails over the...

COLLECTORS CORNER: Danny First — (print exclusive)

by Artillery Staff

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 alternative exhibition spaces in LA. I also sculpt. What do you require from an artist you collect? Originality. Even if other...

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Reviews

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...

CONVERSION
at Cheremoya

The title of the two-person show at Cheremoya, “Conversion,” has a twofold implication: religious and material transformation. Calla Donofrio’s desaturated paintings depict acts of (sometimes sexual) violence that have been censored by parts of the image being blacked...

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