In his Aesthetic Theory, philosopher Theodor W. Adorno wrote of art’s “double character,” that is, the idea that art flourishes when it resists society, and dies if it is swallowed by the capitalist hive-mind. “Art is the social antithesis to society, not directly...
In this modern fairy tale, a daughter struggles to find freedom from her imposing mother, an elderly demented witch, on the mysterious farm of Forevermore Acres, a rundown junk strewn ranch full of aged witches and misfit monsters. The mother's plans to indoctrinate...
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...
It was pure crickets at last night's Night Comedy XVI. And we mean literal crickets that would not shut up throughout the entire evening creating the best possible irony for a six-person stand-up show. To be honest, this was our first time attending Night Gallery's...
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....
On Sunday we spent the later part of our afternoon trekking to the deep valley for tea. No, not the pinkies-up, triangle-sandwiches-type of tea. Instead we attended Tea Ceremony, a performance organized for Current:LA Water Public Art Biennial by Lauren W. Deutsch and...
NEW YORK—Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today a $4.28 million settlement with international art dealer Gagosian Gallery following an investigation into sales tax collection practices. Gagosian Gallery is a leading dealer of contemporary art, with...
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...
After a week that seemed to confirm everyone’s worst expectations for the planet, our dubious species, and its cratering political structures (to say nothing of crumbling infrastructure), it seemed almost miraculous to close on a note that, if it didn’t exactly...
Group shows are often wonderful for ensuring that a shit-ton of people show up to a gallery opening. Pair a group show with a food related topic and you’re pretty much guaranteed to see half the city. At least that's what it felt like at Thursday night’s “Please Have...
Opening night with live music by Dick and Jane Family Orchestra and a special reunion of LA's original art rock band (with actual talent) the Fibonaccis. If you weren't there, you were nowhere. All pictures by Lynda Burdick. [fbalbum...
Joakim Ojanen's playfully enigmatic ceramic sculptures are strangely endearing. Throughout the exhibition, the artist has set up a series of intimate vignettes using small-scale ceramic figures of people with bald heads and duckbill faces engaged in the various and...
Subscribe to our weekly Gallery Rounds Newsletter for new Reviews, Art opps, Art Events, & More every week!