Category: Art in Los Angeles
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Ed Clark: The Motion of the Stroke
In the 1960s a new generation of Black abstract artists faced a double bind, caught between the commercial gallery system’s failure to acknowledge Black artists practicing abstract art, and established Black artists known for figurative work who shunned abstraction as a non-representational expression of the Black experience. Despite these limitations of perception, a group of…
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A Collective Constellation at Art + Practice
Art + Practice’s latest show, Collective Constellation: Selections from the Eileen Harris Norton Collection is an exhibition that I always needed to see, I just didn’t realize why until now. Over the last several years, I’ve committed the month February to posting Artist a Day profiles where Black artists are highlighted and celebrated. In 2017…
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Artist a Day: Alison Saar
During Frieze week there were two booths that I regret not seeing in person. Alison Saar’s booth hosted by L.A. Louver was one of them. Her solo presentation, Chaos in the Kitchen featured a series of sculptures and prints by the artist that pay homage to the sanctity of the kitchen as a place of…
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Artist a Day: Genevieve Gaignard
My inbox is overloaded with art fair mail that I wistfully looked at this week while secretly breathing a sigh of relief that I’m safely in North Carolina while the frenzy, appropriately dubbed #artmageddon by Carolina Miranda of the L.A. Times, kicks off in full swing. Alas, this morning, the FOMO is officially in full…
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Artist a Day: Vashti Harrison
In 2017 director Matthew Cherry announced a Kickstarter campaign to produce a short film about a little girl’s natural hair journey. At the time, artist Vashti Harrison was garnering a large social media following for her beautiful illustrations that capture the magic that’s found in the simple joys of childhood. Her expressive characters could be…
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Artist a Day (Design Edition): Cliff Vaughs
Last year I wrote a piece about a lowrider motorcycle exhibition called Viva Viclas at CAM Raleigh, and one of the things that struck me during the research for the piece was how Black and brown motorcyclists formed strong connections in the early years of motorcycle and chopper culture. I wonder what happened, because those…
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Artist a Day: Noah Davis
Over the last 3 weeks I’ve seen the laudatory reviews and images on Noah Davis’s solo show at David Zwirner and one painting keeps sticking out to me. It features a little girl in a dress with white knee-high socks and a pair of t-strap Mary Janes. The little girl’s hands are politely folded in…
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Artist a Day, Super Bowl Edition: Ernie Barnes
Today, I’m celebrating Super Bowl Sunday my way, by honoring a great Black artist whose career began as a professional football player. Ernie Barnes was from Durham, North Carolina where he endured Jim Crow segregation and childhood bullying, using football and art to strengthen his body and his resolve. He earned a scholarship to play…
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Artist a Day: Karen Collins
It’s February 1, and I’m back at it again! Last year I continued to pivot away from the blog to pursue more freelance/paid work, which meant that my Artist a Day and Culture Shock Art posts had to rest on the back burner for a bit. Oh, and I also relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina…
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A Case for Black Art History Month in Los Angeles
We tend to define key visual art moments through seminal shows that seek to define, map, and place an artist’s work in a historical context. In Los Angeles, many of these moments revolve around large-scale exhibitions like the Hammer’s Made in L.A. biennial or the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time. When they are executed well, these…
Colony Little, Culture Shock Art 