Los Angeles, a city with a rich cultural scene, always has new and exciting art exhibitions to see. This week is no exception, with many interesting shows opening and a few to catch before they close.
Allison Katz Opening Tonight in West Hollywood
Allison Katz’s first solo show in Los Angeles, “Westward Ho!”, opens tonight at Hauser & Wirth West Hollywood. The Canadian artist lives and works in London.
The exhibition explores how images create and convey meaning. The paintings are from Katz’s residency at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, as well as site-specific responses to the architecture of the West Hollywood location.
The show highlights Katz’s interest in the intersection of art history and popular culture. One of the most striking things about “Westward Ho!” is its visual richness. She often plays with the conventions of representation.
For example, in her painting “Sheepish,” Katz depicts a lamb stepping through a hole in a wall. The lamb refers to the Hollywood sign, a symbol of Americaness. However, by placing the lamb in a rural setting, Katz subverts this image and suggests that there is more to America than just Hollywood.
Roads and walking are active metaphors in Katz’s work. They provide pathways to a particular viewpoint and connection to illustrate “the confluence of being rooted in one place while thinking of another (and another),” says Katz.
Allison Katz at Hauser & Wirth West Hollywood | Opening Reception, November 3, 6-8 PM | 8980 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA
Pace Live with Fred Wilson on Nov 4th
Pace Live is a series of live conversations between artists, curators, and other cultural figures hosted by Pace Gallery. The talks are free and open to the public, and they provide a unique opportunity to learn about the latest ideas and trends in contemporary art.
On November 4th at 2 PM, the gallery will host an artist talk with Fred Wilson to launch his solo exhibition, ‘Dramatis Personae.’ LAXART Director Hamza Walker and Pace Gallery Chief Curator Oliver Shultz will join Wilson.
Wilson is an American artist known for his work that explores issues of race and class in the United States. By recontextualizing objects and cultural symbols, he changes conventional understandings, prompting spectators to rethink social and historical assumptions.
The artist talk is an excellent opportunity to learn more about Wilson’s work and the inspiration behind his latest exhibition.
Fred Wilson at Pace | Nov 2, 2 PM | 1201 S La Brea Ave in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA
‘You Already Know’ at Baert Gallery Opening on Nov 3rd
Reuben Gordon’s second solo exhibition, ‘You Already Know,’ will open at Baert Gallery on November 3rd.
The paintings have a sense of immediacy and enthusiasm. They depict various locations, from the Pacific Coast Highway to the Florida Everglades and Seoul, South Korea. The result is a poetic interplay between the literal flatness of the painting and the varied perspectival depths of the scenes depicted.
Gordon is currently enrolled in the Hunter College MFA program in New York City, his hometown. His work has been exhibited in Seoul, Los Angeles, Miami Beach, Los Angeles, Ghent, New York, and internationally. His work is held in the collections of the Frederick R Weisman Foundation, Friends Seminary, and private collections.
Reuben Gordon at Baert Gallery | Opening Reception, November 3, 6-8:30 PM | 1923 S Santa Fe Ave. in the Arts District of Los Angeles, CA
What to See Before It Closes
‘Buried Sunshine’ at Sean Kelly Closes on Nov 2nd
Julian Charriere’s solo show at Sean Kelly, Los Angeles, closes on Nov 4th. Charriere is a Swiss artist based in Berlin who is known for his large-scale paintings, sculptures, and videos that explore themes of identity, memory, and history.
The exhibition ‘Buried Sunshine’ explores the history of Los Angeles, its petroleum industry, and the role of fossil fuels in our modern world. It draws parallels between Hollywood and our dependence on oil, both of which exert a powerful influence on our perceptions of reality.
Julian Charriere at Sean Kelly Los Angeles | Closing Nov 4, 10 AM – 6 PM | 1357 N Highland Ave in Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA
La Loma Projects
Los Angeles-based painters Gerald Davis and Casey Baden have solo exhibitions at La Loma Projects and its annex location that close on November 12th. La Loma Projects is an artist-run exhibition space in Highland Park that opened an annex exhibition space in Pasadena. It began as a home-based gallery in Eagle Rock.
Davis is originally from Pittsburgh, and work is held in international collections, such as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, and the Saatchi Gallery in London.
His show ‘Flowers Sing in D Minor’ includes still-life paintings that immerse viewers in a Lilliputian world of flowers, insects, and spiders. The flowers are in various stages of decay, sitting somewhere between life and death.
Baden’s paintings have a similar feeling of being in between – how we skit simultaneously between our exterior and interior worlds.
Her annex show ‘Soft Moves New Work’ explores the feeling of being in a body, from the physical to the social and emotional. The Houston-raised artist’s work is full of contrasts and explores the fluidity of skin and boundaries.
Gerald Davis a La Loma Projects | Closes on Nov 12 | 6516 N Figueroa St A in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA
Casey Baden at La Loma Projects Annex | Closes on Nov 12 | 1357 Brixton Rd, Pasadena, CA
Weekend Trip to Palm Springs
Kelly Lynn Jones’s solo exhibition “Tiny Tree” at The Pit in Palm Springs is on view until November 18th, so plan a weekend trip to the desert—it’s only a two-hour drive from Los Angeles.
Jones’s paintings are like windows into her own private world, a world that is both familiar and strange, both real and imagined. Her use of vivid colors and dreamlike imagery creates a sense of wonder and possibility, while her focus on domestic scenes reminds us of the importance of the everyday.
In a world that is often chaotic and overwhelming, Jones’s paintings offer a moment of peace and contemplation. They remind us of the power of art to transport us to other worlds and of the importance of imagination in our lives.
Kelly Lynn Jone at The Pit | Closes on Nov 18 | 258 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA
Los Angeles Art Gallery Map
Pan over to the Western United States and zoom into Los Angeles, California. Except for the Palm Spring show, the galleries are in Mid-city or on the east side.
- Hauser & Wirth West Hollywood (Between Beverly Hills and Hollywood)
- Pace is in Mid-Wilshire (south of Hollywood near LACMA)
- Baert Gallery is in the Arts District (Downtown)
- Sean Kelly, Los Angeles is in Hollywood
- La Loma Projects is in Highland Park and Pasadena (north of Downtown)
- The Pit is in Palm Springs
