Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s “City of Cinema: Paris 1850-1907” exhibition, places us squarely in the middle of the era. There are a handful of projections on the walls, mostly consisting of films by the famous Lumiere Brothers’ cinematographs. My favorite depicts Les Halles, the grand markets of a past Paris. Les Halles provided […]
The night before I went to Regen Projects in Hollywood to see Rachel Harrison’s Caution Kneeling Bus, a friend and I watched John McTiernan’s 1987 film Predator. In that extravagant action film, Arnold Schwarzenegger and a band of gnarled soldiers face off against a veiled alien figure in a Central American jungle while attempting to complete a Heart of […]
Before heading to the LA Arts District for Hauser & Wirth’s presentation of Everrrything by Lorna Simpson, one would benefit from a brief reflection on the history of the artist. While working on her MFA in Visual Arts at the University of California at San Diego in the 80s, one of her teachers was the […]
On the Getty Center’s sprawling picturesque campus, one room contains the small but powerful exhibition In Focus: Protest – on view until October 10th. The exhibition collects images from crucial points throughout US political history. Bound together, the images generate a patchwork history. I say patchwork, of course, because photography – by way of distilling […]
Hauser & Wirth’s Los Angeles location celebrates their five-year anniversary with In Focus: LA Artists through August 22. The retrospective gathers notable artists from around Los Angeles to celebrate the city’s vibrant artistic community which has served a role in supporting the presence of the gallery. The exhibition will notably take part in Gallery Weekend […]
The Autry Museum of the American West feels hidden within LA’s Griffith Park. Its exhibition When I Remember I See Red: American Indian Art and Activism in California is on view through November 14th. The exhibition presents a diverse collection of contemporary work by artists of Native American descent, seeking to venerate their cultural endurance […]
Give It Or Leave It is on view at the LACMA until October 31, 2021 Due to the Covid-19 pandemic my visit to the newly reopened Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) felt a bit utopian to me, allowing me to feel – in the words of Jose Esteban Muñoz – the then and […]
The Night Gallery is a gem within the maze of LA’s Industrial District. “Headlines” by Derek Boshier and “Screen Time” by Luke Murphy and Christine Wang are two exhibitions on view (by appointment) through March 13. This review will focus on the latter but the juxtaposition of the shows is worth noting. Both seek to […]
Tucked within a plaza of galleries you’ll find the William Turner Gallery in Santa Monica. On view until November 28th is the Black Madonna exhibition by Mark Steven Greenfield, a native Angelino (the exhibition is also available to view online, though you’ll miss much of the size and scope). I’d glossed a couple of the […]
Last semester an English comp student of mine used to stay after class to have further conversations with me. We typically talked about music and capitalism as his work was intensely focused on hip-hop and social justice. His final paper was about the work of a New York based Haitian rapper named Mach Hommy. Mach […]
The work of Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman has received no scarcity of praise. Akerman is considered one of the more influential feminist filmmakers to emerge from Europe in the 70s and her film Jeanne Dielman 23, quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles is particularly iconic. I’ve always found Akerman’s acclaim fascinating because she exists sort of […]
Predictably, I’ve been lamenting my inability to go out, visit museums, see films or generally have a good time in public. I often write on photography, visual art and technology but I try to avoid taking in art electronically. Aside from watching films on my TV, I generally want the intimacy of standing a few […]
On view through April 5th at the Weston is an exhibition by a Cincinnati native and current New York dweller, Todd Pavlisko. Pavlisko’s “Pop Supernatural,” is – as you might guess – guided by conversations with popular culture. The Weston’s two floors organize the exhibition. The entrance level floor holds a few different threads, while […]
When you visit the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center within the next few months, you’ll notice some oddities hiding in the buildings’ nooks and crannies. If you’ve visited before, you’re familiar with the famous building designed by architect Zaha Hadid. Curator Steven Matijcio says it’s “meant to disorient the viewer,” and Hadid wants you to recalibrate […]
Tyler Shields, a photographer who’s been described as “the Warhol of his generation” by Sotheby’s, came to Cincinnati this month to open his new exhibition “Fairytale” at Hyde Park’s Miller Gallery. The comparison to Warhol may raise eyebrows in skepticism. There’s no doubt that it’s hard to pinpoint a more influential contemporary artist than Warhol. […]
Cincinnati appreciators of art are, at this point, more than likely familiar with the FotoFocus Biennial. Every other year since 2010 FotoFocus has brought compelling, intellectual explorations of “digital technology’s impact on photography and video” to the region. FotoFocus commissions exhibitions across the city that work together to explore different artistic ideas that fall under […]
Through October 10-13, the city will roll out the massive, citywide light-based art spectacle BLINK for the second time after a successful first go around in 2017. The outdoor festival, however, isn’t the only attraction that people should gravitate toward to view interesting light-based work. It’s perhaps appropriate that the smaller exhibition, “Emanate,” is featured […]
Weightless by Christy Lee Rogers Through September 7 The Miller Gallery 2715 Erie Ave Cincinnati, OH 45208 “What lifts you up?” asks the prompt for Christy Lee Rogers photography exhibit Weightless, which appears at Cincinnati’s Miller Gallery. It’s a question that met my curiosity with an initial skepticism, as it’s a question that could’ve have […]
