“The Bronx Comes to Los Angeles” presents Ahearn’s and Torres’s works side by side, and it is ultimately Torres’s sculptures that stand out.
Charlie James Gallery
A Remarkable Project Remembers Child Migrants Who Died in Custody
Sandy Rodriguez situates America’s ongoing practice of migrant detention within a centuries-long project of violence against indigenous peoples, starting with Spanish contact in 1519.
A Feminist’s Cutting Critiques of Consumerism at Charlie James Gallery
Opening this Saturday, Nancy Buchanan’s solo show Consumption explores that word’s contemporary relevance through photography, collage, and video.
Colorful Canvases that Transform Worn-Out Clichés
LOS ANGELES — Glenn Goldberg seizes worn-out clichés that would seem unable to support weight and uses them to unexpectedly launch himself into painting.
ArtRx LA
There’s so much good stuff happening this week, it’s almost hard to keep track. Among our picks are two intriguing performances by three up-and-coming LA artists, two shows devoted to 20th-century artist pioneers, and a discussion of art and political activism. And don’t forget about Halloween — we suggest you celebrate with a demonic show at the Huntington.
Vaulting Through Volta NY
A cynic might observe, correctly, that a large commercial fair is as good a place as any to be reminded that most art sucks.
The People Behind Your Images of Luxury
In the artist’s own words, Happy Hills documents the “predominantly Hispanic workforce who work tirelessly behind the scenes to maintain the beautiful imagery of these affluent areas.” His interruptions of the glossy images feel effortless, transforming pictures we overlook but are influenced by every day.
The Bermuda Triangle of Art
This may sound like the world’s most overwrought art gag. And, certainly, there is no small irony in critiquing the creative numbness of the art market with pieces that will be sold on that very same market. But William Powhida’s artistic spoofs are so spot on, and his critiques so incisive, it’s hard not to get sucked in by the whole exercise.
Required Reading
This week on Required Reading … William Powhida has devised a new power axis of art world affirmation … New York Observer explains the thing called the “professional collector” … at Idiom they ask an important question “Can an art experience be authentic even if the status of the work of art remains questionable?” … the NEA leaders gives signs that there will be cutting in the arts … Phong Bui chats with Joe Bradley … some mediations on Black History on Art:21 … and Iceland is digitizing ALL its literature …
A First-Hand Report from Art Chicago
The Art Chicago preview had all the energy of a funeral home decorated in an array of polite artworks in gilded frames but NEXT, Art Chicago’s ersatz “alternative fair” for “emerging” galleries and artists, certainly had a buzz about it.