5 Must-See Artists at Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles This Weekend
The contemporary art fair, hosted at the storied Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard, includes 29 local Los Angeles galleries featuring only the brightest talent on the contemporary art scene.
Review: Experiments on Stone - Four Women Artists From the Tamarind Lithography Workshop at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
An online exhibition explores how one woman artist created a print revolution in 1960s Los Angeles, transforming the careers and oeuvres of artists like Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa, Gego, and Louise Nevelson.
Review: For Agnes Pelton, Color Reigns Supreme at Palm Springs Art Museum
Agnes Pelton was a cartographer of the unseen. Seeking to capture the “deeper resonance beneath the visible world,” Pelton painted landscapes of a different dimension. Her imagery came from within, often sourced from dreams, meditation and waking visions.
Review: The Earth is Not Neutral, Desert X’s Land Art Brings a Call to Action
The third iteration of Desert X, featuring thirteen artists from eight countries, includes a handful of installations that bring contemporary issues of land use, environment and restitution to the forefront, demonstrating that art and activism quite seamlessly go hand in hand.
Book Review: Frida Kahlo and San Francisco
San Francisco is likely not the first place you’d think of when imagining Frida Kahlo’s legacy. Instead, what often comes to mind are Mexico City, Coyoacán, her enchanting La Casa Azul. However, a new book, Frida Kahlo and San Francisco, published by Hirmer Publishers and distributed by the University of Chicago Press, brings to light the pivotal role that San Francisco played in the construction of the artist’s identity, embrace of her Mexican heritage and development as a skilled painter.
Review: Lorser Feitelson’s Allegorical Confessions, 1943-45 at Louis Stern Fine Arts
An exhibition at Louis Stern Fine Arts presents a selection of paintings from Lorser Feitelson’s self entitled, Allegorical Confessions, a moody and sensual, figurative wartime series that relates the artist’s own psychological torment while navigating what appears to have been a quite complicated love life.
Alison Saar: of Aether and Earthe
Artist Alison Saar’s world is one you’d welcome getting lost in. Interweaving notions of Blackness, womanhood, and a sense of mythic power and protection derived from mystical life forces and archetypal deities, her world is a place where the sacred and profane co-exist in the everyday.
5 Digital Art Talks You Won’t Want to Miss This Week
Since the pandemic hit, museums, galleries, and arts organizations have moved the party to Zoom. Here is a roundup of art talks, studio visits, and lectures from institutions throughout California that are on our radar this week.
Luchita Hurtado: A New Book by Hans Ulrich Obrist Offers a Glimpse into the Magical Life of the Artist
Luchita Hurtado, a new book from Hauser & Wirth released on occasion of what would have been the artist’s 100th birthday, presents an intimate portrait of Hurtado’s life and work through a selection of never-before-seen photographs and art from her studio, as well as her own words in a conversation with friend and colleague, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director at the Serpentine Galleries.
Interview with Artist Liz Hernández on her Exhibition, “Talismán,” at Part 2 Gallery
Oakland-based artist Liz Hernández presents her latest work of sculpture and painting in a new solo exhibition, “Talismán,” at Part 2 Gallery. In “Talismán,” Hernández’s work represents an authentic exploration of her upbringing in Mexico and a seeking of answers that we all hope to discover for ourselves about who we are, where we come from, and what parts of ourselves from our upbringing we still carry with us today.
Same Skin for Everyone: Nicola L. in the ‘Made in L.A.’ Biennial
Nicola L. is a name everyone should know. While she received little attention during her life (she passed away in Los Angeles almost two years ago), Nicola’s legacy is honored with her work brought back into view as one of 30 artists included in the new “Made in L.A. 2020: a version” biennial exhibition at the Hammer Museum and Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Garden.
Beatrice Wood: the Alchemist & California-Cult Artist Turning Mothballs into Gold
Beatrice Wood was one of the rare, female artists more successful in her later years than ever before in her life. Best known for her magnificent, luster glaze ceramics and sometimes provocative personality, Wood was a key member of New York’s Dada movement during the early 20th century and continued to create a reputation for herself as an artist after moving to California in the 1920s. While her connection to the Dada movement and to influential figures like Marcel Duchamp and collectors Louise and Walter Arensberg have been explored at length, there hasn’t been much discussion about the artist with regard to her interest and study of Theosophy.
Fact or Fiction: Storytelling in the ‘Made in L.A. 2020: a version’ Biennial Exhibition
In an era of fake news, story spinning and the increasing importance of “fact-checking,” the need for examining ideas of authority when it comes to storytelling are greater than ever before. Coincidently, the exploration of what is real and what is not is particularly relevant to the city of Los Angeles with its roots in the entertainment industry and history as a center of manufactured storytelling. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the dismantling of artifice, and examining of the relationship between fact and fiction are themes currently being addressed by artists living and working in Los Angeles today.
Exploring Contrast in ‘Seven Translations for Twilight,’ an exhibition of the works of Jean Nagai and Lilah Rose at Part 2 Gallery
The exhibition at Part 2 Gallery in Oakland, which closes this Friday, Nov. 6th, is an unexpected pairing of works by artists Jean Nagai and Lilah Rose. Hard and soft, dark and light, bold and muted, vigorous and receptive: these are just some of the juxtaposing elements created in dialogue of pairing the works of these artists together.
Saving the Legacy of Los Angeles’ Pop-Art Nun Corita Kent
An artist, educator and Roman Catholic nun, Corita Kent was known for her pop art made to confront social injustice. Active from 1950s to her death in 1986, she created screen prints covering issues of racism, poverty, and misogyny and her typography, print and day-glo colors proved incredibly influential for generations to come.
Book Review: Hollywood Arensberg: Avant-Garde Collecting in Midcentury L.A.
Hollywood Arensberg: Avant-Garde Collecting in Midcentury L.A. is an exciting new book published by the Getty on the collection of notable art collectors Walter and Louise Arensberg at their home in Hollywood.