Last weekend Nino Mier opened three concurrent exhibitions, the main attraction being organized by Purple Magazine editor Olivier Zahm. The questionably titled To Paint is To Love Again, exploring Zahmn’s love of painting and Instagram, mainly knowledge of contemporary painting via Instagram, functioned as a cabinet of curiosities. Unafraid to take up too much space or overcrowd, the comprehensive hang resulted in a proud and powerful listing of artists to pay attention to.

Michael Chow and Oliver Zahm at Nino Mier.

Adam Alessi ‘One Night in Paris’ at Nino Mier.

Amongst the 45 person exhibition there were several heavy hitters; Vanessa Beecroft, Urs Fischer, Mike Kuchar, Paul McCarthy, Raymond Pettibon, Jim Shaw, Peter Shire. More interestingly however are newcomers Adam Alessi, Molly Bounds, Ariana Papademetropoulos, Lauren Quin, Amanda Wall, Hiejin Yoo. Not quite newcomers but certainly fitting in the emerging fields are these breakout stars from Zahm’s group exhibition. Alessi’s uncanny, cerebral paintings often depict celebrities, reality stars or reference pop culture. Heard a rumor his “One Night in Paris” portrait was acquired by Ms. Hilton herself, but you didn’t hear it from me. Papademetropoulos’ recent solo exhibition with Athens power gallery The Breeder, as well as her Gucci campaign, and numerous press features (her inclusion in Dazed Magazine’s Dazed 100 being one) precede her, but her ethereal, surreal artworks continue to be striking, unique and skillfully rendered. Painters painter Lauren Quin, who graduated from Yale’s MFA program last Spring (2019) recently exhibited at East Hollywood Fine Art, her contributions in To Paint is To Love Again were strong examples of her abstracted and compositionally masterful paintings. Hiejin Yoo, who works with Half Gallery and Fredric Snitzer, has been actively showing since prior to her UCLA MFA graduation in 2018. Works in this exhibition are typically playful, with strokes as confident as her strides.

Lauren Quin at Nino Mier.

Hiejin Yoo with friend at Nino Mier.

Additionally, unafraid of holding space yet with a significantly more reserved hang, was an exhibition by artist Sissòn. Cotton (Phase 1), Sissòn’s recent solo exhibition, revealed their most recent body of work made over the last year. Fresh off the first iteration of their traveling museum exhibition, Men of Change, organized by the Smithsonian, the breadth of this exhibition was outstanding. Bursts of color, expertly mixed and typically unseen, and tableau’s from both city and rural life, drawing from the artist’s presence and engagement with the city.

Sissòn at Cotton (Phase 1).

Painting by Sissòn at Cotton (Phase 1).

Textile work by Sissòn at Cotton (Phase 1).

Painting by Sissòn at Cotton (Phase 1).

To Paint is To Love Again is on view at Nino Mier Gallery through January 28, 2020.

Cotton (Phase 1) is on view at 1667 N. Main Street, Los Angeles CA through February 16, 2020.