This Is Not My LA Art World
Helene Schjerfbeck’s penetrating self-portraits at The Met, Pride flag artist’s foundation sues the Trump administration, and remembering Henrike Naumann.
We're just a week away from Frieze LA, when East Coast dealers and local artists alike descend upon the Santa Monica Airport, but this isn't Renée Reizman's first rodeo.
Since the critic and artist moved to the area almost 15 years ago, she's witnessed blue-chip New York galleries set up shop and sideline the irreverent, DIY spaces that shape the local art scene. Without these spaces, Reizman writes, she would not have discovered what art can be outside of the white cube. Her ode to the Angeleno artist-run organizations that prioritize experimentation and community over mainstream commercial appeal, from Chinatown's Plot to Altadena's Trade School, couldn't come at a better time.
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor
LA’s Art Scene Is Not a New York Outpost
During Reizman's early years working in the entertainment industry in LA, she sought refuge at Machine Project, an avant-garde art space in Echo Park. For her, its success "proved that an ecosystem of artists who thrived without gallery representation or a commercial audience was possible." Though the space closed in 2018, its spirit lives on in other artist-run organizations that are up against a growing number of East Coast galleries opening second homes.
The Museum at FIT Presents “Art X Fashion”
This exhibition explores the entangled and shifting relationship between fine art and fashion, tracing parallel aesthetics from 18th-century Rococo to postmodernism.
News
- Graduate students at the University of North Texas have withdrawn their thesis shows in solidarity with Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez, whose exhibition with artworks critical of ICE was abruptly shuttered by the school last week.
- The foundation of artist Gilbert Baker, who designed the Pride flag in 1978, is suing the Trump administration for ordering the flag's removal from Stonewall National Monument, among other interventions at national parks.
- After months of protests, Brooklyn Navy Yard evicted a drone manufacturer that contracts with Customs and Border Patrol, the Israeli military, and an Israeli weapons manufacturer.
From Our Critics
The Self-Invention of Helene Schjerfbeck
The Finnish artist’s first major exhibition in the US is a moving and harrowing document of her growth, as well as the psychic and physical ravages of aging. | Bridget Quinn
Inside Pratt SCPS: Where Practice Meets the Spotlight
Discover what happens when working creatives, career pivoters, and lifelong makers plug into art and design education at Pratt’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
In Memoriam
Remembering Henrike Naumann, LaMonte McLemore, and Frederick Wiseman
This week, we honor Germany’s representative at the Venice Biennale, a singer and photographer, and a documentarian of the lives of institutions. | Lisa Yin Zhang
Member Comment
Antonio C. Cuyler on Denva Gallant's "All About Love From a Black Medieval Angel":
I also read this article thinking about why do we build hierarchies, and are they absolutely necessary for human societies to function, because human history has repeatedly taught us that "the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."
2026 DAG Visual Art Prize
The DAG Foundation is accepting applications for its annual $20,000 Visual Art Prize, which supports innovative, mid-career artists in the US as they explore new directions and build thriving, sustainable careers.
Deadline: March 18, 2026 | dagfoundation.org
See more in this month’s list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art workers!
From the Archive
Revel in the First Pride Flag, Long-assumed Lost, in San Francisco
The first Rainbow Flag, designed by artist and activist Gilbert Baker, was raised in 1978. | Valentina Di Liscia
