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GALLERY ROUNDS: Abraham Cruzvillegas at Regen Projects
For his third solo presentation at Regen Projects, Abraham Cruzvillegas presents a series of recent drawings, paintings, and sculptures all produced onsite during the installation of the exhibition, Tres sonetos. Cruzvillegas’s practice is guided by an aesthetic and conceptual ethos he terms autoconstrucción, literally translating to “self-construction.”
"The sculptures and the paintings were executed on site at the gallery, and the paintings especially are assertive, almost boastful, in their display of the labors that generated them."
The full review by Shana Nys Dambrot is linked in our stories and highlights.
https://artillerymag.com/gallery-rounds-abraham-cruzvillegas/
Images: 1) Installation view courtesy of Regen Projects, 2) Abraham Cruzvillegas, Tres Sonetos Opening Performance (video still) at Regen Projects 3) Camécuaro γ, 2022, Silkscreen on cotton handkerchief
@shananys @forgotten.cruzvillegas @regenprojects
PICK OF THE WEEK: Victoria Gitman at François Ghebaly
In an exploration of tactile desire, Argentinian artist Victoria Gitman's solo exhibition of recent paintings at François Ghebaly are rife with seductive implications. These works indicate parallels between fur purses and the picture plane, pointing to the implicitly alluring and intimate nature of the painting's surfaces.
"Gazing at these luscious surfaces, your eyes cannot help but indulge in the pleasure of looking, noticing the kink of every hair and the flicker of each bead."
Read the full review by columnist Lauren Guilford at the link in our stories and highlights.
https://artillerymag.com/pick-of-the-week-victoria-gitman/
Image: Victoria Gitman, "Untitled," 2013. Private Collection, Courtesy of François Ghebaly Gallery. Photo by by Paul Salveson.
@victoriagitman @francoisghebaly @l_guilford
The soul of the arts in Russia is withering. In Ukraine it is being obliterated, literally. In this second blog, Maria is speaking to the loss of personal freedoms occurring in Russia that is deeply disturbing, and another fall out of the war. In Ukraine, the loss of life and destruction of the cultural infrastructure is of another terrible order. In the past month, Berlin has become a safe harbor for many Russian and Ukranian artists. Maria is temporarily living at UfaFabrik International Art Center. —Clayton Campbell
In the second installment of Letters in Exile, Ukrainian artist Maria Agureeva reflects on the devastating, unimaginable impact of the war on artists and creative expression, and expresses hope that she will soon return to Los Angeles.
"I had spent months on my mult-disciplinary project that included performance, sound art, and a limited collection of designer clothes based on my digital designs. I realized it would be unethical to open a project in Russia during a state of war. We couldn't maintain the illusion of normality; the world was turned upside down. When there is so much violence in the world, it's hard to think about art."
Follow the link in our stories to read Maria's full blog post and stay tuned for next week's.
https://artillerymag.com/letters-in-exile-2/
If you would like to donate to Ukrainian relief efforts, you may make a direct contribution to the GlobalGiving Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund linked in our stories. Or please donate to a charity of your choice that will assist the people of Ukraine.
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/ukraine-crisis-relief-fund/
Image: Maria Agureeva with Fridolin Hinde, one of the directors at UFA Fabrik International Art Center in Berlin.
At de boer, Cotillion, the first solo exhibition in Los Angeles by New York-based artist Marika Thunder, comprises new figurative paintings that draw from the artist's own childhood and explore the profundity of identity formation. Working from photographs taken by her mother and using herself as a subject, Thunder presents oil paintings of young women performing for a Cotillion dress rehearsal. Each image has been reproduced with a faulty printer, making its realism reduced and suggesting a feeling of unease and alientation as a result.
Marika Thunder: Cotillion is on view at de boer through April 16.
1) Marika Thunder, Cotillion #6, 2021, oil on canvas 4) Marika Thunder, Cotillion #8, oil on canvas, detail; Installation views courtesy of de boer
@deboergallery @mizz_thunder
You’re invited to explore four decades of art by renowned feminist pioneer Suzanne Lacy in “Suzanne Lacy: Between Feminism and Social Practice.” Join the conversation Tuesday, April 12, at the Getty Center and online. Sign up to attend this free @gettymuseum event.
REMARKS ON COLOR: April's Hue: Raven's Tail Black
Columnist Eve Wood's pick for April's hue is Raven's Tail Black, a sleek and resourceful color that sets itself apart from other shades of black with its noble, avian class.
"So, the next time the color black occurs to you, remember the great William Shakespeare was wrong when he pondered 'What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.'"
Read the full column at the link in our stories.
https://artillerymag.com/remarks-on-color-ravens-tail-black/
1) Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2012 2) Kara Walker, Testimony-Narrative of a Negress Burdened by Good Intentions [film still], 2004 3) Joan Mitchell, Untitled, 1955
Theater Review: ANN at Pasadena Playhouse
Written and performed by Emmy Award-winner Holland Taylor, ANN has arrived in Los Angeles in its long awaited West Coast debut. Neither partisan nor political, the play follows the story of Texas Governor Ann Richards, from childhood to serving in office, and celebrates the colorful complexity of this inspirational figure.
"Brilliantly acted, brilliantly written, and relevant to boot," writes Scarlet Cheng. "If you see one piece of theater this year, let it be Ann."
Read the full review at the link our stories and highlights.
https://artillerymag.com/theater-review-ann/
@scarlet.oh @pasadenaplayhouse
Join us for a memorial celebration commemorating Liz Young, an artist who lived and worked in Los Angeles since 1981 and produced a diverse ouevre of sculpure, installation, performance, painting, drawing and video work centered on themes such as loss, beauty, the inevitability of decay and the fragility of life.
Today, April 3 at 1:30 PM in Garfield Park
Since her residency at the 18th Street Arts Center four years ago, artist Maria Agureeva has been based in Los Angeles. Born in Ukraine and attending art school in Moscow, she travels periodically to Moscow, where a gallery supports her work and various collaborative projects. All of that has now collapsed, and she has been left with nothing. Russian artists and intelligentsia have been leaving to escape the growing oppression of the Russian State. On March 8, Maria fled with her daughter while there were still several border crossings open. With the help of a small network of friends, they landed in Berlin at the UfaFabrik International Art Center. It will be just one stop on her journey going forward and returning to Los Angeles. Her story and observations, and those of other artists during this time of war, are the subject of her blog. —Clayton Campbell
Read Maria Agureeva's blog post and her first-person account of her reactions as an artist from March 24, 2022 on our website and at the link in our stories.
"The war between the country in which I was born (Ukraine) and the country in which, despite everything, I was able to become an artist (Russia), breaks my worldview," Agureeva writes. "Currently, my concern as an artist is with environmental issues and the anthropological impact on nature. Now, I understand that there are sudden events in life that change the picture of the world."
Images: 1) Maria Agureeva, "Untitled," plastic, neon, wood, synthetic fabric, mixed media, 69 x 31 x 27 inches, 2019. 2) Maria Agureeva in Berlin, March 23, 2022
GALLERY ROUNDS: "Activation" Group Exhibition at Lancaster Museum of Art and History
"Activation" is a dynamic and exciting series of exhibitions by six individual artists as well as selections from the LACMA Collection of Activist Graphics. From video installations and assemblages to large-scale tapestries and comic strip panels, the exhibition showcases an incredible range of styles and mediums under the overarching theme of redefining the complexities of cultural identity.
"Like [April] Bey and [Carla Jay] Harris, a fierceness in palette matches passion for [Mark Steven Greenfield's] subjects, serving as a framework for a message of pride, hope, achievement and sacrifice."
To read the full review by Genie Davis, follow the link in our stories and highlights.
Images: 1) Carla Jay Harris "A Season in the Wilderness", courteys of MOAH. 2) Mark Steven Greenfield, “A Survey, 2001-2021″, photo by Genie Davis. 3) Keith Collins, "Ali", photo by Genie Davis.
@moahlancaster @justlikepattismith
PICK OF THE WEEK: Genevieve Gaignard at Vielmetter Los Angeles
In "Strange Fruit," Genevieve Gaignard presents a provocative investigation into America's disturbing relationship with racial violence and the implications that legacy has left for Black Americans. Spanning installation, photographs and assemblages, the body of work emerges is a timely indictment of racial injustice and draws attention to the lack of progress we have made as a country.
"By looking to the past, Gaignard interrogates hierarchical systems of representation and implicit biases embedded in American culture that continue to enable the subjugation of Black identities."
Read the full review by Lauren Guilford at the link in our stories and highlights.
https://artillerymag.com/pick-of-the-week-genevieve-gaignard/
Installation views courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles.
@l_guilford @creativecurvyginger @vielmetter
The works in Danie Cansino's debut exhibition at Charlie James Gallery are a love letter to her family and the Chicanx/Latinx culture of Los Angeles. The chiaroscuro oil on wood paintings and ball point pen drawings in "I'm Starting To Forget" pay homage to the passage of time and changes within families and communities that the artist herself is a part of. Cansino's depictions of people, her family and close friends, and the settings, her native neighborhoods and city, are meditations on and celebrations of generations of growth. The exhibition is on view through April 2.
@daniecansino @charliejamesgallery
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