Laurie Nye Envisions Multiple Realities in "Venusian Weather" @ The Pit

In Venusian Weather, Nye explores humanity’s struggle to control its relationship with nature via the Andromedans’ perception of environmental disaster on Earth. As a student of mythology and science fiction alike, Nye looks both backward and forward, challenging the notion of linear time in the centerpiece of Venusian Weather, an architecturally-scaled, cosmographical frieze that describes what is and what has been at stake on Earth through the Andromedan gaze. Inspired by Mark von Schlegell’s 2005 novel Venusia, Nye portrays the world as a hologram, represented in her paintings as gridded non-spaces that recall Star Trek’s holodeck virtual reality environments. The grids mingle with and interrupt depictions of transformation and flux amid multiple realities. Nye’s brightly hued, eloquently painted compositions conflate the chaos of present-day Earth with dreams of a radiant future on Venusia in a hopeful vision of love, peace, and environmental harmony. Venusian Weather is on view through June 10 at The Pit 918 Ruberta Ave, Glendale. photographs by Lani Trock

Lilian Martinez's "Woman and Women" Opens @ Ochi Projects

Woman and Women expounds upon Martinez’ interest in exploring alternate histories where women,  particularly women of color, are not excluded from specific cultural narratives typically  associated with privilege. Through her paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, Martinez  blends past with present and future, combining classical architectural elements with  contemporary pop cultural references to create the settings for her portraits, landscapes, and still lives. Her flat, bold style recalls iconic predecessors like Matisse, while her subject matter  prioritizes brown bodies that have been heretofore omitted from these kinds of images. Woman and Women is on view through June 9 at Ochi Projects 3301 W Washington Blvd, Los Angeles. photographs by Lani Trock

Samantha Blake Launches "MAPS" @ Navel LA

On Saturday April 28th, Navel LA celebrated the launch of MAPS, Movement Art Performance Space. MAPS was founded by Samantha Blake and is dedicated to cultivating the contemporary and traditional arts of the Afro-Latinx and Caribbean diaspora in Los Angeles. The launch featured three dance performances by Samantha Blake, Chris Bordenave and Vera Passos (respectively), along with a film screening  by Nery Madrid, singing by Felicia ‘Onyi’ Richards, costumes by Gabrielle Datau + Jiro Maestu (Poche) and Desiree Klein, and still photographs by Russel Hamilton, shot during the film’s creation. You can read our interview of Chris Bordenave from our Winter 2017 issue here. Navel LA is located at 1611 S Hope Street Los Angeles. photographs by Lani Trock

Watch The Online Premiere of Soil: An Exploration Of Manipulation, Dependency, and Objectification

Soil is the debut film by Mathilde Huron & Julian Feeld. It was shot on Fuji Super 16mm film in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of Southern France and scored by Pontus Berghe, ex-member of Thieves Like Us and current member of Thunder Tillman, with featured actors Joe Rezwin, Liza Journo & Sati Leonne Faulks.

A young filmmaker with mixed intentions sets out to document the friendship between a fifteen-year-old Parisian girl and a homeless alcoholic on the verge of death. Between documentary and fiction, Soil is an exploration of manipulation, dependency, and objectification. This experimental psycho-thriller — a mix of documentary and fiction — was screened in Paris, Tokyo and Los Angeles. 

Daniel Arsham's New Exhibition "Character Study" @ Morán Morán

"Character Study" presents new work that explores the artist’s relationship to color and light, as well as his interest in cycles and patterns as they relate to time, matter, and pop-culture. In the first part of the exhibition, iconic cartoon characters cast from vintage patches, enlarged to a fantastical scale, appear familiar and playful as they hang throughout the gallery. Some of these appropriated pop-images, such as Bart Simpson, Bugs Bunny, and Felix the Cat, are from of the artist’s own childhood collection of patches that covered the Jansport backpack he owned during his school years in the 90s. "Character Study" is on view through June 9 at Morán Morán 937 N. La Cienega Boulevard Los Angeles. photographs by Oliver Kupper

The Far Away and the Familiar (Narrative Paintings of Surfers, Sailors and Bushrangers) Paintings selected by Julian Schnabel @ Ibid Gallery In Los Angeles

Ibid Gallery presents the debut US solo exhibition of Sydney-based painter Wayne Magrin. At the center of Magrin’s large-scale paintings are larger-than-life characters engulfed in dramatic scenarios. Magrin began painting to tell stories, and soon after discovered the potential for images to transcend narrative. Whether dropping in on a monstrous wave in Portugal or dancing on sleepy waves in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Wayne depicts how malleable time becomes when met with adrenaline and bliss. A linear narrative is sensed in each picture without needing to flatten the moment into words – there is already enough belief in the painting. The Far Away and the Familiar (Narrative Paintings of Surfers, Sailors and Bushrangers) is the first in a series of solo exhibitions curated by Julian Schnabel for Ibid Gallery in Los Angeles. The exhibition will be on view until June 30th, 2018 at Ibid Gallery. photographs by Oliver Maxwell Kupper

Stephanie Rose Guerrero Series Of Paintings "From Inside; The Out" @ New Image Art

"Often times in my work the body and the landscape become so interconnected it is difficult to figure out where bodies start or end, whether they are landscapes or bodies to begin with. Starting with raw canvas, I begin working from the inside out. I employ a technique that stains the images from the backside of the canvas, until it slowly seeps through to the front. Through the staining of the canvas I am confronted with the fluidity of the mark making, and the idea that both the internal and the external are intrinsically connected." "From Inside; The Out" is on view through May 12 at New Image Art 7920 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles. photographs by Lani Trock

Oren Pinhassi's Solo Show "One In The Mouth And One In The Heart" @ Skibum Macarthur

 In One in the mouth and one in the heart, his solo show at Skibum MacArthur, Pinhassi prods us to confront our notions of the salacious and taboo, the social mores and religious dogma that shape our reactions, and the pavilions we architect to house and hide our wants and, at times, shame. The exhibition is on view through May 19 at Skibum Macarthur 1989 Blake Avenue Los Angeles. photographs by Lani Trock

Naudline Pierre's Solo Exhibition "Touch Not My Beloved" @ New Image Art

Depicting a strange and mysterious world, Naudline Pierre’s paintings cobble together a personal mythology full of characters paused in intimate scenes. The characters within these works play parts in this parallel reality flavored by the influence of Pierre’s puritanical Protestant upbringing. Touch Not My Beloved presents these scenes of protection and affection from a parallel reality, only accessible, the artist believes, through the act of painting. "Touch Not My Beloved" is on view through May 12 at New Image Art 7920 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles. photographs by Lani Trock

Kat Olschbaur's Solo Show "Wilde Reiter" @ Oof Books

In this particular body of work, Kat Olschbaur explores motifs typically associated with the American West; as the name of the show and the artist’s painting style signal, however, the meaning of these images are multi-tier. Many of Olschbaur’s native association with riders on horseback are apocalyptic, deadly, seductive, or indicative of insanity. "Wilde Reiter" is on view through May 20 at Oof Books 912A Cypress Avenue Los Angeles. photographs by Lani Trock

New Photography 2018 @ MoMA In New York

Every two years, MoMA’s celebrated New Photography exhibition series presents urgent and compelling ideas in recent photography and photo-based art. This year’s edition, Being, asks how photography can capture what it means to be human. The exhibition is on view through August 19 at The Museum of Modern Art 11 West 53 Street, Manhattan New York. photographs by Adam Lehrer

Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body @ The Met Breuer

Seven hundred years of sculptural practice—from fourteenth-century Europe to the global present—are examined anew in this groundbreaking exhibition. Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body (1300–Now) explores narratives of sculpture in which artists have sought to replicate the literal, living presence of the human body. On view through July 22 exclusively at The Met Breuer 945 Madison Avenue New York. photographs Adam Lehrer

Ammon Rost's Exhibition "Rudder" @ LTD Los Angeles

In the fallout of a broken heart, specific and at times odd provocations emerge to elicit bittersweet emotions- the smell of a candle, a cat food commercial, a house with a triangular window. It changes person to person, but our brains insist that we ascribe emotional significance to seemingly unrelated, otherwise trivial occurrences. Ammon Rost's paintings for Rudder document a production of unforeseen romantic narratives, where every inclusion, every stroke or line or erasure either comes directly from a real experience, or becomes a representation of one. Every mark a memory. "Rudder" is on view through May 5th at LTD Los Angeles 1119 South La Brea Avenue Los Angeles. photographs by Lani Trock

Fay Ray's "I AM THE HOUSE" Exhibition @ Shulamit Nazarian

I AM THE HOUSE continues Ray’s interest in the fetishization of objects and the construction of female identity through high-contrast, monochromatic photomontages and suspended metallic sculptures. Throughout this series, she situates the body as a vessel, one that carries life, physical memories, and emotional fortitude.

Employing a wide array of images and materials, these new works usher in various references to transformations that occur during the initial and end stages of life. Eggs, flowers, and desiccated corn signify the fragility of existence, while portals, crushed beer cans, and cacti complicate the references to beauty and luxury that have long been staples of the artist’s visual lexicon. 

The exhibition is on view through May 26 at Shulamit Nazarian Gallery 616 N La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles. photographs by Lani Trock

Charlie Le Mindu's Exhibition and Performance "NOIR" Presented by /THE LAB/ by Please Do Not Enter@ The NoMad Hotel

Charlie Le Mindu's NOIR is an exhibition and rooftop performance, presented by /THE LAB/ by Please Do Not Enter, of raw sculptures; through literal extensions of his existing work with the human form, he explores the competing forces that drive our daily lives and relationships. The exhibition will be on view until May 18th at /THE LAB/ by Please Do Not Enter, 649 South Olive Street Los Angeles CA.

Peter Shire's Solo-Exhibition “Drawings, Impossible Teapots, Furniture & Sculpture” @ Kayne Griffin Corcoran

Peter Shire, noted local sculptor and ceramicist known for his zany post-modern teapots and his connection to the 1980s Memphis Milano design movement is showing is new solo-exhibiton called “Drawings, Impossible Teapots, Furniture & Sculpture.” The exhibition is on view through May 12 at Kayne Griffin Corcoran, 1201 South La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles.

City Of Memphis Unveils I AM A MAN Plaza: A Tribute To MLK & The 1968 Sanitation Workers' Strike

Sculpture, text and landscape come together to form an important new American Civil Rights memorial. The I AM A MAN Plaza, designed by Cliff Garten, is a large-scale experiential public sculpture commissioned to pay tribute to the members of the pivotal 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Garten and his studio led a design team with Memphis-based landscape architect John Jackson of JPA, Inc. for the 54,000-square-foot memorial plaza. As part of Garten’s plan, spoken word artist Steven Fox held an open dialogue with the greater Memphis community, who through a series of public workshops organized by the UrbanArt Commission, selected pertinent historical text and created an original contemporary text which is etched into the marble gates to the plaza’s entry.  The texts combine as a meditation on America’s struggle and progress with racism and class inequity since the sanitation workers and Dr. Martin Luther King took their historic stand in Memphis. Present at the ribbon cutting were Reverend James Lawson, Cliff Garten, Congressman Steven Cohen, Bill Lucy, Elmore Nickleberry and many of the original sanitation workers who went on strike 50 years ago. Elmore Nickleberry has been a sanitation worker in the city of Memphis for 63 consecutive years. photographs by Lisa Buser

Read Our Interview Of Lauren Halsey On The Occasion Of Her Funkadelic Installation At MOCA Los Angeles →

Lauren Halsey’s dream-world is cosmic, funky, carpeted, and technicolored; an atemporal, fantastical, and hyperreal vision of black liberation which she conjures via site-specific installations that celebrate her childhood home. Click here to read more.