Miwa Matreyek from TED Talks
Miwa Matreyek is performing this piece, Myth and Infrastructure, (shown above) and her most recent- This World Made Itself at the REDCAT theater. An additional show was added for tonight 2/9 at 7pm- the rest are sold out.
Image from Under the Mexican Sky: Gabriel Figueroa- Art and Film
From LACMA:
From the early 1930s through the early 1980s, the Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa (1907–1997) helped forge an evocative and enduring image of Mexico. Among the most important cinematographers of the so-called Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, Figueroa worked with leading directors from Mexico, the United States and Europe, traversing a wide range of genres while maintaining his distinctive and vivid visual style. In the 1930s, Figueroa was part of a vibrant community of artists in many media, including Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, Edward Weston and Manuel Alvarez Bravo, who sought to convey the country’s transformation following the trauma of the Mexican Revolution. Later, he adapted his approach to the very different sensibilities of directors Luis Buñuel and John Huston, among others. Figueroa spoke of creating una imágen mexicana. His films are an essential part of the network of appropriations, exchanges and reinterpretations that formed Mexican visual identity and visual culture in the mid-twentieth century and beyond.
The moment you enter the exhibition, a montage of Gabriel Figueroa’s films plays on one wall to your right and it’s hard not to remain transfixed. As you move throughout the show, the history of his work begins to unfold through film clips, movie posters and stills, and artwork created at the time.
This excellently curated show includes not only large and small screen selections of Figueroa’s films, but also films shot in Mexico by Paul Strand and Sergei Eisenstein, and current artwork that was influenced by him. Of the contemporary art chosen, Rodrigo Garcia’s short film, La 7th Street y Alvarado is especially mesmerizing with its slow motion vision of Hispanic revolutionaries riding horses through present day Los Angeles.
There’s so much to see in this exhibition, yet it never feels overwhelming. That said, make sure to allocate a decent amount of time, especially if you want to see the majority of the film clips. This show closes on Sunday 2/2.
Photographs by Andrew Moore (Bano Rojo, 2000 and La Espera, Cayo Granma, Santiago de Cuba, 2012 and Cash Meier Barn, Shadbolt Ranch, Cherry County, Nebraska)
The images from Andrew Moore’s show at Couturier Gallery are both beautiful and sad as they show Cuba as it is now, while at the same time the evidence of what it once was is all around.
The beauty of decay is also evident in some of the images from another of Moore’s subjects, Nebraska. These images are currently on view in New York at Yancey Richardson gallery.
Raul De La Torre
Raul De La Torre (close up)
John Randall Nelson
Raúl De La Torre and John Randall Nelson-“Poems & Affirmations”
Currently at Fresh Paint Gallery until 1/18, the works by both of these artists are vibrant and colorful with interesting details.
If you miss this show, Fresh Paint will also be at the LA Art Show, booth 936.
Karen Apollonia Müller– Images from the show Far Out
Müller’s photos, currently at Diane Rosenstein Fine Art, are made by altering raw data taken from NASA/JPL. These abstract images present a new way of looking at the universe and our place within it. There are three series within the show- Citylights, Worldlights and Starlights.
This show closes on 1/18.
From the press release:
Phranc, best known as The All-American Jewish Lesbian folksinger, is also a self-described “Cardboard Cobbler,” who fashions cardboard, paper, gouache, and thread into life-size, three-dimensional replications of everyday objects. As a teenager, Phranc attended The Feminist Studio Workshop at The Woman’s Building in Los Angeles, but she traces her obsession with cardboard back to childhood. She says, “From the time I sat in my first refrigerator box submarine, I knew the cardboard sea was for me.” Her first exhibition at Craig Krull Gallery, Phranc of California (Summer of 2011), consisted of hand-crafted beach paraphernalia, such as swimsuits, inflatable rafts, umbrellas and beach balls. For her new exhibition, Winter, Phranc will exhibit painted paper and cardboard snowshoes, ski sweaters, ski pants, lift tickets, and even a shiny new red sled! In these trompe l’oeil re-creations of nostalgic winter items, Phranc remarks upon the reconstruction and idealization of memories.
These whimsical cardboard constructions are great. This show is on view until 1/11/14.
Curious about Phranc’s music?- check out this video-
John Divola– from the series- Dogs Chasing My Car in the Desert
At the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, another part of the John Divola show, As Far As I Could Get, currently also at LACMA, is open until 1/12.
The Dogs series was shot from Divola’s car as the dogs in the desert chased him while he was photographing abandoned buildings (these images make up another section of the show). According to Divola (when he spoke at LACMA), despite their menacing appearance in the photos, many of the dogs were friendly and mostly just excited to see someone new.
A separate show of Divola’s work called Echo Chamber is at Gallery Luisotti in Bergamot Station until 1/18.
Arthur Rothstein– Gee’s Bend, Alabama (Artelia Bendolph)
At the Window: The Photographer’s View is also at the Getty Museum until 1/5. It showcases various famous photographers (including Gregory Crewdson, Éugéne Atget, Walker Evans, Shizuka Yokomizo and Uta Barth, among many others) who used windows as their framing device.
Images from Abelardo Morell: The Universe Next Door
Morell’s camera obscura images are incredible. His current show at The Getty Museum closes this weekend (1/5). The Getty site provides a lot of information about his process and his other works in the show.
If you miss this, he also has a show at Rose Gallery in Bergamot station until 1/18/14.
Kent Twitchell– “Elizabeth”
LAMAG’s current show contains a wide range of works in various forms of media. If you are headed to Barnsdall Park, make sure to check it out. It closes this weekend on 1/5.
