Fantastically diverse, filled with amazing original art, brilliant in concept, and packed with simply cool stuff to experience – that’s the alternative art fair/pop-up art exhibit extravaganza of Nomad and Tryst, presented under the auspices of the Torrance Art Museum and the City of Torrance, held at the mostly-empty space of Del Amo Crossing in Torrance, Calif. in mid-August.
Always a phenomenal experience, NOMAD was back for the third year, and TRYST for its second.
NOMAD (images above) took over all of the 5th floor and half the second this year, celebrating exhibits by Southern California Artists in a vast array of mediums from neon to sculpture to paintings and photography, as well as installations and even live slight of hand. Thes non-commercial exhibition showcased work from over 150 artists from Southern California and beyond, in an environment of creativity and collaboration.
TRYST, which packed the entire third floor of Del Amo Crossing with inventive and experiential art, is an international alternative art fair for artist-run spaces and initiatives, and as such, provides global exposure and fosters artistic exchange. Over the course of a week, participants exhibit their artists, share ideas, and explore Southern California’s art scene. On view was performance art, painting, sculpture, photography, video art, installation, and immersive spaces.
Among my favorites was this fabulous performance art work, which encompassed two floors and provided a gold painted and preserved “baguette” souvenir as part of its recreation of a Romanian bread-line experience in the 1980s. The creators represented ETAJ Gallery, above.
Another favorite was closer to home: for Wonzimer Gallery, Snezana Saraswati Petrovic and Alison Woods created a massive installation of box cut-out peep shows featuring a wide range of Southern California artists with a dazzling range of miniature works.
Also memorable were cool gallery spaces from Durden and Ray, celebrating the City of Angels; from Tiger Strikes Astroid turning everything golden yellow; immersive and exciting paranormal-infused performance art from Noysky Projects; an hilarious public swimming pool from Hyperlink Gallery in Denver; a recreation of life at the Poor Farm by the nHnT Collective.
TRYST participants overall included:
Visiting Collectives: AAC Platform (Italy), After Time (Portland, OR), Art Center of Social Studies (Armenia), ARTSPACEMEXICO (Mexico), Available Art Space Projects (Las Vegas, NV), DE BOUWPUT (The Netherlands), Dinghy Rig (Fort Collins, CO), Eitoeiko (Japan), El Quinto Piso (Mexico), ETAJ (Romania), Gallery 70 (Albania), Hyperlink (Colorado), iBiennaleX (Hawaii), INSTYTUT AVTOMATYKY (Ukraine), ISG (Norway), MinEastry of Postcollapse Art and Culture (Switzerland), nHnT (Chicago, IL), Open O’pen$ (Ukraine), Our Neon Foe (Australia), Proyectos Raul Zamudio (New York, NY), PRP Project Space (Dallas, TX), SFAA (Chicago, IL), Small Projects (Norway), The Black Piglet (Mexico), Utopian Mega Project (Midwest), Vorderzimmer (Brooklyn, NY).
California-based Collectives: 515, 3C Gallery Collective, A&T Gallery, Art in Room, Artbug, Artdrop, AWOL, Crear Studio Gallery, DMST Atelier, Dorado 806 Projects, Durden and Ray, Erect Walls, Flux Art Space, IDOLWILD, JAUS, Junior High LA, Korean American Artist Collective, Landmarks of Art (LOA), MAARLA, Mercury 20 Gallery, The Middle Room, Monte Vista Projects, Nous Ance, Noysky Projects, OCCCA (Orange County Center for Contemporary Art), OFFUS, Portuguese Bend Projects, Prospect Art, Proxy Gallery, Quiet Please, Ruth Gallery, S-Gallery, Shockboxx, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Toy Bin Art, UOOORS, ViCA (Venice Institute of Contemporary Art), Winslow Garage, Wonzimer, Young Projects.
Enjoy the photographic chronicle of this grand, three-day art exhibition, and find yourself if you were there. If you were not – don’t miss partaking in this gift of art the next time it’s presented. And yes, there are hundreds of other images, already shared on Facebook and Instagram that uploading simply couldn’t handle this time around!
- Genie Davis; Photos by Genie Davis