Los Angeles Art Gallery Tours’ Blog
Nina Könnemann at House of Gaga // Reena Spaulings Fine Art, Los Angeles
In traditional Jewish ritual, preparing for a sacred activity or cleansing oneself of “impurity” – calls for immersion in a ritual bath called a mikvah – the conceptual precursor for Christian baptism.
Jewish law pertaining to mikvot (plural for mikvah) is pretty specific: water has to flow from a natural source and, in turn, be able to flow back into the natural world. The ocean is considered a perfect choice for a mikvah, but so is a rain-catching cistern – so long as it can also be drained. The overall idea is that purification is obtained by briefly immersing oneself in any portion of the life-sustaining, worldwide water system, momentarily unmooring oneself from any notion of ego, or agency.
In Nina Könnemann’s show, Que Onda (Spanish for “What’s up?”) at House of Gaga // Reena Spaulings Fine Art Los Angeles, the Berlin-based artist addresses mikvah-like concerns by providing two water-based examples of the surrender of intention and purpose to a broader, streaming world.
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Xylor Jane: Magic Squares for Earthlings at Parrasch Heijnen
Often, viewing art necessitates a serious leap of faith. Wading head-deep into an artist’s game is predicated on suspending disbelief and accepting the premise that her intentions are sound, purposeful and sufficiently authentic.
No such leap is necessary when it comes to Xylor Jane’s exhibition, “Magic Square for Earthlings,” on view now at Parrasch Heijnen Gallery.
The least bit of scrutiny lays bare the Long-Beach-born painter’s obsessive commitment – the transcendental seriousness of her exploration – even while any clear comprehension of her underlying intentions remains pleasantly elusive.
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Talia Shipman’s “Meet Me in the Middle” at Chimento Contemporary
Talia Shipman’s exhibition, Meet Me in the Middle, at Chimento Contemporary, toys with expectations and a very specific color palette to deliver both a celebration and a critique of human-made objects, all in the form of a desert-mirage-like, immersive installation.
The Vancouver-born artist combines chicken wire cactus sculptures with photographs of spare California desert landscapes, populated by aqua-hued 99¢ Store bric-a-brac.
At first glance, the playful blue objects plopped into desert settings read as makeshift oases. The overall impression is deceptively refreshing – the visual equivalent of a splash of cool, man-made water in an arid environment.
Because the dime store objects – blue wigs, turquoise wine glasses, toys, tarps, cellophane and even the chicken wire – are so artificial, so chintzy and ultimately so dispensable – they offer only fleeting relief for a parched visitor. Instead of hydration, the detritus serves more as a reminder of a vast human presence, a sort of blue-dyed, petroleum-based overspray from the churning global production stream.
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Acme 1992-2017
Saturday, June 10, 2017, Acme, a groundbreaking Los Angeles gallery, shut its doors for good, a mere seven months after relocating from mid-Wilshire to Frogtown. Acme’s impact on the Los Angeles art scene throughout the ‘90s and first decade of the new...
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From WHERE Los Angeles:
Los Angeles Art Gallery Tours by Suzanne Ennis The Los Angeles gallery scene has exploded in recent years, with buzzy new galleries such as Night Gallery and the Mistake Room in downtown’s industrial district and Papillion in Leimert Park pioneering neighborhoods off...
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KCRW’s DNA Host, Frances Anderton, Interviews Los Angeles Art Gallery Tours’ Director, Bill Kleiman, About Art Fairs
Courtesy of KCRW.com Test Your Artistic Compass; Bill Kleiman Explains Art Fairs (Paramount Ranch, ALAC, LA Art Book Fair this weekend) Posted January 31, 2014 by Frances Anderton Two weeks ago hundreds of galleries and thousands of people descended on downtown...
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Kristian Burford Delivers a Los Angeles Miracle at Nye + Brown
Australian born and bred Angeleno, Kristian Burford, pulls off a Los Angeles miracle in his exhibition, Audition, at Culver City’s Nye + Brown gallery. In an alchemical transformation, Burford combines three familiar visual components to reveal something...
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Rotterdam meets California in Ron van der Ende’s Sculptures
One intriguing facet of today’s international art world is the way in which some styles and sensibilities, once considered distinctly regional, now pop up as the apparent inspiration for work generated thousands of miles away. A case in point: the sculptures of Ron...
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