With three fine solo shows and one group show, the Los Angeles Art Associations Gallery 825’s current exhibitions, which opened February 22nd, are each deeply rewarding.
Suzanne Pratt
Suzanne Pratt’s exhibit bird·song, which is profoundly meditative, focusing on the transitory yet eternal in the immediate moment. The precise but seeming infinite images weave a complexity rooted in a primal sense of life-force. Spirals, shell-like shapes, seemingly-petaled pieces such as the artist’s richly dimensional “niyamita,” compel a closer look at the world itself as filled with meaning. Dimensional and riveting.
L. Aviva Diamond
L. Aviva Diamond’s large-scale photography also offers a dazzle of meditative works – these riveting works depict water as an entire world – in her glowing Light Stream. Euphoric and filled with a swirling dance that pulls the viewer within them, these sensational abstract images transport the viewer to another world that is both mysterious and magical.
Mark Indig
Photographer Mark Indig uses architectural shapes in his new body of photographic work, Naked Triangles. Skeletal and powerful, described as “x-rays of our culture,” radio towers and cell phone transmitters are depicted with grace, as stark, lovely, and spare, like castle turrets and church steeples for our time. Electric wires and their connection points stand like robotic sentinels, watchfully ominous. The delicacy of their construction reminds the viewer of the art of Watts Towers at first glance; a second look creates a less benign view, as if of a technological take-over.
Osceola Refetoff
And finally, the group show on exhibit, Penumbra, juried by stARTup Art Fair’s
founder Ray Beldner, offers black and white as the palette in a variety of
mediums. Participating artists include Larry Brownstein, Amy Fox, Donna
Gough, Rob Grad, Gina Herrera, Susan Lasch
Krevitt, Campbell Laird, Rich Lanet, Colleen Otcasek, Joy
Ray, Osceola Refetoff, Melissa Reischman, Catherine
Ruane, Seda Saar, Catherine Singer and Stephanie Sydney.
Catherine Ruane
From Catherine Ruane’s lushly nuanced nature in her graphite drawing “Magwitch” to Osceola Refetoff’s haunting infrared photographic sunset image of “Leaving Trona,” to Joy Ray’s mystical, textural wall sculpture, this is another rewarding powerhouse of a show.
Don’t miss!
Genie Davis; photos provided by the artists; exhibition photos from LAAA
Artist Eric Sanders has always painted, but
spent a three-decade hiatus from his art as he focused on an entrepreneurial career.
But 6 years ago, the Manhattan Beach-based artist returned to his art full-time,
working in both traditional mediums and digital.
His devotion to art-making is rivaled only by his involvement in philanthropy, through the Sanders Family Foundation, which he founded in 2015. The non-profit supports organizations such as the Global Livingston Institute, Groundswell International, Nuru International, and World Neighbors, among others.
Sanders’ work appears in many private collections
“I think it’s
noteworthy that this is a philanthropic journey for me as well as an artistic
or creative one,” he relates. “All of the proceeds I make are directed to my
private foundation which is focused on sustainable change in developing
countries.”
The goal: maximum impact to support these
organizations while following his muse, which he says is inspired by 20th
century artists from Basquiat to Picasso. While his most current work marks a
shift from the abstract to the figurative, regardless of form or the medium he
uses to create it, his work is all about his perception of and relationship to
the world around him visually.
Figurative work is one style he embraces
“I’m enjoying exploring different styles and learning about what I enjoy painting; what I’m naturally more skilled at, and how those two attributes intersect,” he says. “Since my show at the end of September 2019, I have been returning to figurative work because my show was very much focused on pure abstract painting. Because I am now jumping alternately between abstract and figurative, one could make the argument that it’s both a departure and an outgrowth of past work,” Sanders attests.
California Landscape
His work is characteristically bold and visceral whether figurative or abstract. He relates that he is not quite sure how he achieves this, only that “I just paint what I like and it’s up to the viewer to determine how it affects them. That said, I am heavily influenced by a lot of artists and that their genius may be being channeled through me.”
From Resevoir Abstract Series
Sanders starts constructing and conceptualizing his work from one of three inspiration points. “First, I often start creating an abstract painting with just one color or a combination of two or three of them in mind, and just go with the flow of where the painting takes me. Second, I start with a particular style of an artist I am inspired by and try, and create my own image but incorporate their style. And third, I’m exploring by using various techniques, such as assemblage, encaustic, painting on digital images, silk screen prints; or a specific material e.g. leather scraps, painting patterns with mesh, using tape for masking, using templates for masking, using dyes or alcohol inks,” among other mediums.
When it comes to his rich and varied palette, he has one answer only for his choices: “I try to be deliberate about not being a ‘one color’ artist and keep looking for a different color to work with that I haven’t used in a while.” As to whether a given piece will be abstract vs. figurative, he explains that the decision is very much driven by “what I’m in the mood for that day when I go to paint.”
Side Order of Bacon
Sanders prefers to paint in oil, despite the long time required to create in this medium. “I usually work on one image at a time, but for my recent show, I worked on as many as a dozen or more at a time and was using a lot more acrylic than previously to speed up drying and processing time. I prefer to paint in oil because the colors are more vivid to my eye, but the drying time and having to use turpenoids to clean brushes and palette knives is a drag,” he admits.
Definitely not a drag: witnessing Sanders’ passion for art and committment to paying that passion forward and helping others.
Art fair weekend. Yes, PhotoLA and the LA Art Show took place a few weekends back, but we took in five art fairs this Presidents Day weekend, each with its own flavor. First off, Frieze.
In its sophomore year on the Paramount lot, Frieze Los Angeles featured a vast and beautiful collection of works in the gallery tent. From sculptures by Alison Saar to stunning light works from James Turrell and the reflective beauty of Anish Kapour, just about every contemporary art celebrity you can think of was on exhibit here.
James Turrell Anish Kapour Cindy Sherman
A massive Cindy Sherman towered over NYC-based Metro Pictures booth, while Ugo Rondinone’s ten mountains + one sun recalled the artist’s massive outdoor installation Seven Magic Mountains located in Jean, Nev.
Ugo RondinonePae White
Kaufman Repetto Gallery’s Pae White installation “Half Magic” dazzled nearby. The art hits kept coming inside. The clean white space of the tent kept things from becoming overwhelming; the well-curated works ranged across all mediums.
Moving outdoors, the effect was not close to as cumulatively grand as in the gallery tent, but included some lovely works.
Channing Hansen Barbara Kasten
Installations on the backlot included terrific textile art from Channing Hansen inside a false-front brownstone; in a larger indoor space was Barbara Kasten’s massive colored plexiglass and steel-frame sculpture “Intervention.” There was a faux disguised-cell-tower from Sayre Gomez, the sculpture “Tocayo 2020;” and a Mario Garcia Torres film exploring coincidence, “Falling Together in Time.”
Below, Lorna Simpson’s wonderful video installation, “Momentum,” presented in conjunction with Hauser & Wirth.
Lorna Simpson
All in all, a dizzying array of art with the vast richness of the gallery tent overshadowing the curation on the lot.
Outside spaces focused on sculptural works and moving images; many of the former had a humous bent.
Inside the tent, textiles, sculptures, and large scale paintings were the standouts; gallery after gallery offered stellar works, many of museum-quality. As an over-riding theme, texture was key, from crystals to fabric to the fabricated. Rocks and metals were a thing; as was a mix of figurative paintings with the abstract. Here’s a more inclusive
Tent Gallery at Frieze
Genie Davis; photos Jack Burke; additional images, Genie Davis
Los Angeles’ major art fair season commences this month with the city’s largest and longest-running fair. That would be the LA Art Show celebrating its 25th anniversary, once again at the Los Angeles Convention Center on February 5, 2020.
According to the fair’s founder, Kim Martindale “Twenty-five years ago when I began the LA Art Show, there weren’t any big art fairs here.” Now of course, this major fair serves as the beginning to a wide array of art fairs throughout the city. And it’s still seminal.
There will be over 100 galleries from 18 different countries; the opening night preview and premiere party will donate a portion of ticket revenue to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Actress Sofia Vergara will helm the celebration.
Sogen Chiba
The re-branded Feature Exhibitions area of the show includes the return of INK, the largest presentation of both contemporary and traditional ink painting of any art fair outside of Asia. New this year, the LA Art Show will be hosting a live ink painting demonstration, by Japanese master Sogen Chiba. Chiba is from Japan’s 2011 disaster-hit Ishinomaki district, and has created intensely moving imagery as an outgrowth of this experience that can only be expressed in calligraphy. Walker Fine Art will be presenting a the works of M.C. Escher, including never-before-seen VR experiences, and Oscar-winning artist Kazuhiro Tsuji premieres a brand new Iconoclast portrait sculpture.
Kazuhiro Tsuji
Viewers will also find work the 70s era photographic work of John Wehrheim in his depiction of Taylor Camp: The Edge of Paradise.
Work from the Danubiana Museum
The third edition of the DIVERSEartLA showcase focuses on cultural diversity from Southern California, around the Pacific Rim, and beyond, with over 20,000-square-feet devoted to these works which are not for sale. They include exhibitions from LACMA, The Broad, Japanese American National Museum, La
Neomudejar Museum from Madrid, MOLAA, Art Al Limite, LA Art Association, the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, and more, such as the Danubiana Museum of Bratislava.
Performance programming for the series includes work by PSJM Collective from Spain and artist Miss Art World, presented by the LA Art Association. Among the participants in the performance “Diversity Walks & Talks” will be LA sculptural and mixed media artist Chenhung Chen.
Mizuma Art Gallery
For the first time, LA Art Show will be
hosting a special programming section named the European Pavilion, highlighting
the world-class exhibitors hailing from Western Europe. Patrick Painter
Gallery, SM Fine Art, Zeal House, Mizuma Art Gallery and Kamiya Co., LTD are
all returning for CORE.
Presented by the Bruce Lurie Gallery, Lorenzo Marini presents his new art-installation ALPHACUBE.
Lorenzo Marini
Curator Sabino Maria Frassà explains that ALPHACUBE turns that paradigm of the the white cube as the best form for conveying contemporary art. The artwork is a large white cube, that immerses guests in a space animated by letters, light and sound.
Along with the LA Art Show’s global cutting-edge programming, a bevy of local artists will be exhibiting at BG Gallery, Coagula, and Wallspace.
Gay Summer RickHung Viet Nguyen
AT bG Gallery, Susan Lizotte will show brand new paintings about LA; her aesthetic provides a visceral look at the city. Artists Barbara Kolo, Fred Tieken, Gay Summer Rick, and Hung Viet Nguyen with his Sacred Landscapes series will also be on display. Photographic artist Richard Chow will be at bG’s Gestalt Projects Wall with an image from his Distant Memories series. Each artist could be described as offering intensely unique work that is rooted in their home in Los Angeles.
Randi Matushevitz Todd Westover
Coagula is helming four booths this year, showing six artists with two in each both. The gallery will be showing new work that includes a group show of Chouinard Art Institute alumni featuring Frederick Hammersly, Llyn Foulkes, Robert Irwin, Judith Stabile, Robert Williams, Chaz Bojoroquez and John Van Hammersfeld, including Williams’ limited edition skateboards. Contemporary LA artists Randi Matushevitz, with her expressionist HeadSpace body of work “combines pattern, figuration, and narrative to cultivate humanistic expressions,” she relates. According to gallerist Mat Gleason, “Todd Westover paints retro floral abstractions, Mark Dutcher is the pre-eminent Los Angeles painter walking the line between dream representations and abstract longing. Lavialle Campbell quilts geometric modernist abstraction that politically nudges issues of race and gender without sacrificing aesthetics. Melinda R. Smith paints the icon of houses… Gabriel Ortiz investigates the many ways in which racial issues have been co-opted and suppressed by imposed religion.”
ViCA, the Venice Institute of Contemporary Art, helmed by artist and curator Juri Koll brings motion pictures to the festival. “We have our own screening space for curated short films from Fine Arts Film Festival 2019 – films from Russia, Australia, the US and Norway.”
Wallspace Art Gallery, which like ViCA also has space in DTLA’s Bendix Building, is also featuring a booth that highlights Los Angeles artists; gallerist Valda Lake says this is the first year at the fair for the gallery. Fabrik Projects hosts two booths, one featuring the innovative richly decorative work of J.T. Burke.
Cathy Immordino
The other booth features a range of artists that include Amadea Bailey, Linda Stelling, Nancy R. Wise, Helena Hauss, Chris Bakay, Ted VanCleave, Cathy Immordino, Jung Yeon Bae, Jessie Chaney, Go Woon Choi, Jessus Hernandez and “guest artist” Eric Johnson. Immordino’s innovative photographic collage work is focused for 2020 on her Heads series. According to the artist “Heads features local Angelenos in collages with magazine elements conceptually discussing how society views others’ imperfections.”
Eric Johnson
Johnson’s
dazzling large scale The Maize Project
abstractly represents a lodge pole-like Native American structure, a sculptural
gathering place that evokes a section of an ear of maize corn.
In short: art fair season has begun with a major bang from the LA Art Show.
