Color Becomes an Agent of Transmutation in Shaping Color @ VSF in Los Angeles

Photo Credit: Various Small Fires. Diedrick Brackens, Shaping Color, 2023 (installation view), Various Small Fires, Los Angeles. Courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles / Dallas / Seoul.

Photo Credit: Various Small Fires. Diedrick Brackens, Shaping Color, 2023 (installation view), Various Small Fires, Los Angeles. Courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles / Dallas / Seoul.

VSF’s exhibition Shaping Color, conceived by LA-based textile artist Diedrick Brackens, brings together six artists to explore the relationships between color and process in their respective practices. Many works in the exhibition are monochromes or utilize a restricted palette. Historically monochromes often signal an intent to emphasize mastery and skill; also, in parting with all information save the essential, artists attempt to access the ineffable and the spiritual.

Color, as employed by these makers, is intrinsically tied to their mediums and modes of production. Color becomes an agent of transmutation, not just a mere surface or mask for form; these objects are altered in ways that inform their subjects radically and color is treated as material rather than surface or ornamentation.

Shaping Color is on view through September 16 @ VSF, 812 N HIGHLAND AVE, LOS ANGELES

Sarah Crowner, Untitled Orange, 2023, acrylic on canvas, sewn, 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles / Dallas / Seoul.

Donald Moffet, Lot 080820 (open red), 2020, pigmented epoxy resin, acrylic, wood panel, and steel, 14 x 8 x 5 3/4 in. (35.6 x 20.3 x 14.6 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen. Photo: Joseph Parra. Copyright: © Donald Moffett.

Samantha Bittman, Untitled, 2021, acrylic on hand-woven textile, 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles / Dallas / Seoul.

Josh Smith: Emo Jungle @ David Zwirner New York

Josh Smith,Turtle, 2019, Oil on wood panel, 48 x 36 inches, 121.9 x 91.4 cm

Josh Smith, Complete the Transaction, 2019, Oil on linen, 78 x 60 inches, 198.1 x 152.4 cm

Josh Smith, Devil, 2019, Oil on linen, 60 x 48 inches, 152.4 x 121.9 cm

Josh Smith,Turtle, 2019, Oil on wood panel, 48 x 36 inches, 121.9 x 91.4 cm

Installation view, Josh Smith: Emo Jungle, David Zwirner, New York, 2019. Courtesy David Zwirn.

Josh Smith, Devil, 2019, Oil on linen, 60 x 48 inches, 152.4 x 121.9 cm

Installation view, Josh Smith: Emo Jungle, David Zwirner, New York, 2019. Courtesy David Zwirn.

Josh Smith, Turtle, 2019, Oil on wood panel, 48 x 35 3/4 inches, 121.9 x 90.8 cm

Installation view, Josh Smith: Emo Jungle, David Zwirner, New York, 2019. Courtesy David Zwirn.

Installation view, Josh Smith: Emo Jungle, David Zwirner, New York, 2019. Courtesy David Zwirn.

Josh Smith, Palms #1, 2019, Oil on linen, 72 x 60 inches, 182.9 x 152.4 cm

Installation view, Josh Smith: Emo Jungle, David Zwirner, New York, 2019. Courtesy David Zwirn.

Josh Smith, Scholes Street, 2019, Oil on linen, 84 x 72 1/8 inches, 213.4 x 183.2 cm

Josh Smith’s “Emo Jungle” exhibition, featuring the artist’s latest works, is now on view at David Zwirner in New York. Smith has developed a prolific and expansive body of painting that employs visual motifs as a means of exploring the potentiality of the painted surface. Each painting serves as a stage in an ongoing, heterogeneous process of image production and experimentation, in which visuals and colors are recycled and refined. Smith’s series of grim reapers, devils, turtles, and tropical landscapes are rendered in lush ribbons and fields of color, leaving the viewer a dazzling display of reimagination.

“Emo Jungle” is on view through July 19 at David Zwirner 525 W 19th St, New York. photographs courtesy of David Zwirner.

Oscar Murillo: Manifestation @ David Zwirner London

Oscar Murillo, (untitled) news, 2017-2018, Oil and oil stick on canvas and linen, © Oscar Murillo. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner.

Oscar Murillo, Chocolate master after Hans Haacke, 2019, Wooden seating, torsos, corn and clay sculptures, silkprint and oil stick covering, 106 1/4 x 222 x 68 7/8 inches, 270 x 564 x 175 cm

Oscar Murillo, (untitled) surge, 2017-2019. Photography by Jack Hems © Oscar Murillo. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner.

Oscar Murillo, Installation view, Manifestation, David Zwirner, London, 2019. Photography by Jack Hems. © Oscar Murillo Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner.

Oscar Murillo, when tomorrow becomes yesterday, 2019, Pen, pencil, graphite and carbon on paper in Perspex frame, wooden shelf and oil paint, 18 7/8 x 16 1/2 x 5 3/4 inches, 48 x 42 x 14.5 cm

Oscar Murillo, manifestation, 2019, Oil, oil stick and spray paint on canvas, linen and velvet, 102 3/8 x 94 1/2 inches, 260 x 240 cm

Oscar Murillo, (untitled) surge, 2017-2019, Oil and oil stick on canvas and linen, 90 1/2 x 90 1/2 inches, 230 x 230 cm

Oscar Murillo (untitled) catalyst, 2018, Oil and graphite on canvas, 102 3/8 x 94 1/2 inches, 260 x 240 cm

Oscar Murillo, Installation view of Manifestation at David Zwirner London, June 8th–July 26th 2019. Photographs by Jack Hems © Oscar Murillo. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner

A new series of paintings by the Columbian artist, Oscar Murillo, are on view for the first time at David Zwirner’s London gallery. Murillo’s manifestation paintings, in particular, represent a marked evolution in the artist’s engagement with process. These paintings explore a considered approach to mark-making, and when viewed together, highlight the artist’s inventive and engaging studio practice. The exhibition also includes a new installation building on Murillo’s sustained interest in travel and questions around labour and the geographical flow of humanity. The artist’s body of work demonstrates a nuanced understanding of globalization, and the multiple ways in which ideas, languages, and even everyday items are displaced and increasingly intermingled. Manifestation is on view through July 26 at David Zwirner 24 Grafton Street, London. photographs courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner.