The South Bay has a larger, more vibrant art scene than it is ever going to be given credit for. Much like Brooklyn will always be in the shadow of Manhattan, the South Bay will always have the behemoth of Los Angeles – stretching from Santa Monica to Boyle Heights, with which to contend. But whereas the Brooklyn art scene is regarded internationally, the South Bay scene seems to be both absorbed by Los Angeles and forgotten as well. A smattering of local media offer reliable coverage but with the LA Times so close yet so far away, you can forgive the locals for wishing there were a bigger megaphone.
But the artists and art lovers that make up the South Bay’s art world push on with or without a spotlight. I was the director at Gallery C in Hermosa Beach almost ten years ago and when that grand and spacious place closed its doors, many lamented that it might be the death of contemporary art in the South Bay; but the region rose like a phoenix out of the ashes. The landscape is dotted with flagship spaces that have a strong foundation.
Above, Max Presneill, director of the Torrance Art Museum.
Under the guidance of Max Presneill, the Torrance Art Museum is the undeniable center of the South Bay Art Scene. Featuring curated shows of international contemporary artists, this institution has programming that rivals any Southern California space when it comes to dynamic, rigorous exhibits that keep a finger on the pulse of where art is at and an eye on where it is going. Under Presneill’s direction, the legendary MAS Attack exhibits that include up to a hundred artists began here and now travel out of state. TAM is a non-collecting museum, which means its director has to be.
Above, the work of Michael Freitas Wood.
At the other end of the region, the San Pedro scene is thriving. With South Bay Contemporary now operating in high gear, the nonprofit art organization is engaging emerging and established artists in exhibitions dealing with topics exploring science, humanities and current issues. Establishing small Critique groups and inviting guest curators, SBC is engaging the art community as a whole. Consider their May group of shows: first is “Skyline” – Ben Zask’s curated exhibition of contemporary sculpture with an emphasis on found materials, and two solo shows – PET by Tracey Weiss and “Connections” by Michael Freitas Wood. While the Weiss show exists as commentary on the recycling of plastic, Freitas Wood gives viewers a formalist tour-de-force with exquisite gridded compositions that reflect the visual complexity of our contemporary communication systems and yet, serve as perfectly attuned meditations on sophisticated anti-imagery in our overstated era. These three SBC exhibitions would be at home at any name gallery or not for profit art center throughout Southern California. In the South Bay, SBC’s programming stands as a testament to the commitment of the community to embracing a wide swath of the best local contemporary art.
Above, Ron Linden of TransVagrant / Warschaw Gallery.
One Southern California art veteran, Ron Linden, is also curating in the South Bay. His TransVagrant / Warschaw Gallery in San Pedro has hosted exhibitions for almost a decade now, specializing in rigorous, almost scholarly shows, primarily of painting. Be they solo or group shows, Linden’s space has a severe eye for the reductive, the historical and the dedicated. Fearlessly championing Modernist forms and playing the long game with art history, TranVagrant / Warschaw exists in a context free from art world tropes that chase what was on the cover of last month’s ArtForum. It is one of the crowning achievements of the South Bay, inspiring and informing the whole scene.
Above, South Bay Contemporary head Peggy Sivert-Zask.
It is no coincidence that Ron Linden, Max Presneill and SBC head Peggy Sivert-Zask are full time studio artists in addition to their professional curating professions. The nascent South Bay scene has an overflowing amount of things going on, but is still operated by an all-volunteer army, or at least a committed brigade. To wear two hats in the South Bay is the norm. But unlike so many art communities, the South Bay is refreshingly open to and inclusive of artists from the wider region.
San Pedro has had an art scene for over twenty years, waxing and waning with the vagaries of the larger economy, but currently hitting its stride with austere and precise spaces like Linden’s as well as experimental gems like Cornelius Projects, whose range of exhibiting artists runs from the adventurous Peggy Reavey to the punk pioneer Joe Baiza. But the South Bay is expansive and one cannot confine all the action to any one point on the map no matter how many exciting things are happening there. Over in El Segundo, the El Segundo Museum of Art is radically redefining the boundaries of what an art museum can show – earning it the scandalous LA Weekly headline as L.A.’s most fascinating and rebellious museum last year.
An article this length could easily be composed three more times to mention all that is going on in the South Bay. Between the Orange County Line on the East, the Pacific Ocean on the South and West and the 105 Freeway on the North, L.A.’s South Bay is no longer the working class stepchild of Los Angeles County. It is becoming an inescapable arts destination with movers and shakers contributing to the big picture: great contemporary art careers that matter.