Unreachable Spring Group Show @ Luis De Jesus Los Angeles

Unreachable Spring takes its title from the eponymous painting by Laura Krifka. The painting was slated to be featured as the sole work in her first Viewing Room on the gallery website, accompanied by an essay by the writer and art critic Andrew Berardini. Laura began the painting in late March—within days of the start of the Covid lockdown in the U.S., and shortly after learning that she and her husband were expecting their first child. By summer it had become clear to us that it was the lede for a deeper exploration of ideas and subject matter.

Over many months we watched as the Covid-19 pandemic transformed the world and like an earthquake of biblical proportions exposed the fragile fissures of our deteriorating human ecosystem, turning one crisis into many. As the author Daniel Susskind writes in Life Post-COVID-19, "This crisis is focusing our collective attention on the many injustices and weaknesses that already exist in how we live together. If people were blind to these faults before, it is hard not to see them now."

These crises have also inspired artists to respond in kind, prompted by a desire to take refuge in their work and address this transformational moment in their own personal way. By creating art that inspires contemplation and elicits discourse these paintings, sculptures and photographs bear witness and provide a record of how these artists have experienced life over these past six months.

Participating artists include June Edmonds, André Hemer, Laura Krifka, Kambui Olujimi, Edra Soto, and Peter Williams. Unreachable Spring is on view through December 19 @ Luis De Jesus Los Angeles 2685 South La Cienega Boulevard.

Luis de Jesus Los Angeles Presents Group Show "I've got a good mind to give up living and go shopping instead"

“I've got a good mind to give up living and go shopping instead,” is a group exhibition featuring works by Jim Adams, Edie Beaucage, Kate Bonner, Liz Collins, Caitlin Cherry, Hugo Crosthwaite, Zackary Drucker & Rhys Ernst, Dennis Koch, Margie Livingston, Erik Olson, Josh Reames, Alexandria Smith, and Peter Williams. The show takes its name from the 1968 blues song by B.B. King, which deals with the heartbreak that comes from a broken relationship. The artists in this exhibition explore ideas about relationships that aren't necessarily what they appear to be. Break-ups can be a constantly negotiated battle between parties. Sometimes things can be read one way and understood in a completely different manner, or perhaps the fluidity of a thing—gender, for example—makes expansive truths and multiple realities possible. The varied nature of interpretations that seem to embody opposing or contradictory positions often inspire a level of empathy, communication, and creativity that may transform a situation, making it ultimately more relatable and moving.

“I’ve got a good mind to give up living and go shopping instead” is on view through August 17 at Luis de Jesus Los Angeles 2685 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA. photographs courtesy of the artists and Luis De Jesus Los Angeles