ArtRx LA
This week, an exhibition reexamines the influence of European art movement Cobra, painter Rosson Crow shows her first film, the opening of a show of work by Drake favorite James Turrell, and more.
This week, an exhibition reexamines the influence of European art movement Cobra, painter Rosson Crow shows her first film, the opening of a show of work by Drake favorite James Turrell, and more.
The Avant-Garde Won’t Give Up: Cobra and Its Legacy
When: Opens Thursday, November 5, 6–8pm
Where: Blum & Poe (2727 South La Cienega Boulevard, Culver City, California)
The Avant-Garde Won’t Give Up is the second half of a two-part exhibition held at Blum & Poe exploring the legacy of influential postwar European art movement Cobra. Focusing on the period after the group’s formal end in 1951, this latter show follows the work of Cobra founder Asger Jorn until his death in 1973, including modified thrift-store paintings, ceramics, textiles, and his use of unconventional materials. It also looks at the impact the movement has had on contemporary artists, including Mark Grotjahn, Rashid Johnson, Jacqueline de Jong, Eddie Martinez, Albert Oehlen, Richard Prince, Jon Pylypchuk, and many others.
Staging Los Angeles: Reality, Fantasy, and the Space Between
When: Opens Friday, November 6, 6–9pm
Where: IFT Graduate Fine Arts, University of Southern California (3001 S. Flower St, University Park, Los Angeles)
Thom Andersen’s 2003 film Los Angeles Plays Itself is composed almost entirely of clips of LA from other films, examining cinema’s role in portraying and shaping LA. For their MA thesis exhibition, Staging Los Angeles, the students in USC’s Curatorial Practices and the Public Sphere program use Andersen’s film as a starting point to explore the city’s media constructed identity. Featuring film, painting, sculpture, photography, printed matter, and video installation, the show eschews a singular perspective to reveal multiple often conflicting visions of LA. Artists include Thom Andersen, Benjamin Critton, Zoe Crosher, Megan May Daalder, Cayetano Ferrer, Justin John Greene, Calder Greenwood, Nadia Hironaka & Matthew Suib, Pascual Sisto, and Jennifer West.
Live Free Five-Year Anniversary Show
When: Opens Saturday, November 7, 7–11pm
Where: Daniel Rolnik Gallery (1431 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, California)
For the past five years, San Diego artist Mike Maxwell has hosted his “Live Free” podcast, offering straightforward conversations with artists from around the world. Despite providing a unique perspective on art and artists, podcasts still rely on audio to describe a visual medium. An upcoming anniversary exhibition at Daniel Rolnik Gallery brings the art object back into the picture, showcasing the work of over 50 artists who have been featured on the podcast including Anthony Lister, Bwana Spoons, Celeste Byers, Lauren Napolitano, and many more. Maxwell and Rolnik will also be recording a podcast during the opening.
Rosson Crow: Madame Psychosis Holds a Séance
When: Opens Saturday, November 7, 5–8pm
Where: Honor Fraser Gallery (2622 S. La Cienega Boulevard, Culver City, California)
Rosson Crow has never been one for restraint. Her exuberant, brightly-colored paintings depict a diverse range of references from architectonic spaces to historic nightlife to art history, all blended into baroque tableaux. Her latest exhibition at Honor Fraser, Madame Psychosis Holds a Séance, features new paintings as well as her first film. Taking its title from David Foster Wallace’s epic novel Infinite Jest, it follows an aging showgirl as she explores the Kennedy assassination, conspiracy theories, and reincarnation.
Luis Flores: Whatever You Want It to Be
When: Opens Saturday, November 7, 6–9pm
Where: Grice Bench (915 Mateo Street, #210, Downtown, Los Angeles)
Luis Flores’s knit sculptures are both soft and cuddly and deeply unnerving at the same time. Most of them are full-size depictions of the artist himself, wearing jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers, in everyday poses. Unlike the hyper-realistic sculptures of Duane Hanson, these won’t be mistaken for a real person, but there is always the unsettling feeling that the artist may be lurking just beneath the mask, (and sometimes he is). His upcoming exhibition at Grice Bench is an opportunity to see why he is described as “the young Roy Orbison of toxic masculinity / homosociality / dick-joke post-Kelley Los Angeles sculpture.”
James Turrell
When: Opens Sunday, November 8, 4–6pm
Where: Kayne Griffin Corcoran (1201 South La Brea Avenue, Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles)
Although Drake’s “Hotline Bling” video was heavily influenced by the work of James Turrell, exposing the artist to a wider audience, there’s still no substitute for seeing the artist’s mesmerizing luminous creations in person. Angelenos will get the chance to do just that when Kayne Griffin Corcoran opens their fifth show with the artist this Sunday. The exhibition will feature large-scale Elliptical Glass works which progress through thousands of color themes over a two-and-a-half hour cycle, as well as graphic pieces related to his 2013 Guggenheim Museum installation.
