Women Around Town, Mid-April 2017

IN THE GALLERIES:

“POWER” is an exhibition at Spruth Magers gallery that surveys the work of various African-American women artists from the 19th century to the present. This show includes work by 37 artists beginning with those born soon after the Civil War. The examples provide some understanding of how these women artists dealt with issues of gender, race and class against the evolving cultural and artistic landscape. Among the artists represented in this significant gallery exhibition are Beverly Buchanan, Elizabeth Catlett, Ellen Gallagher, Senga Nengudi, Lorraine O’Grady, Mickalene Thomas, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Kara Walker and Carrie Mae Weems. Runs thru 6/10/17.

A stunning compliment to the “POWER” exhibition is the current show titled “Signifying Form” curated by Jill Moniz for Landing Gallery. This outstanding exhibition focuses on African-American women artists in Los Angeles and features sculptural works made by them between 1935 and 2016. It includes works by Maren Hassinger, Samella Lewis, Dominique Moody, Senga Nengudi, Allison Saar (image below left), Betye Saar and Brenna Youngblood. The exhibition examines the relationship between material and meaning and also focuses on race and gender vis-à-vis Los Angeles as the particular location that allowed these women the space to push the boundaries of what sculpture could be and signify. The exhibition also features foundational works by Elizabeth Catlett and Beulah Woodard, both of whom were instrumental in inspiring and cultivating black art in Los Angeles. Runs thru 6/3/17.

Alison Saar

“Joanne Julian-Defying Darkness” (image right) is a solo exhibition at the Carnegi e Museum of Art. Runs thru 5/21/17. For more about Julian, see my article about this artist on my blog, artfulamphora.

The Brand Library Art Center in Glendale presents “Man Made” with works by 7 Los Angeles based women artists: Anita Bunn, Chelsea Dean, Jennifer Gunlock, Jacqueline Bell Johnson, Jenene Nagy, Michelle Robinson and Sinziana Velicescu. This show exploring the urban ecology of our built environment through the distinctive work of these artists includes installation, sculpture, photography, printmaking, painting, drawing and collage. Runs thru 5/6/17.

Anita Bunn

“In the Light and Shadow of Morandi” is the title of an exhibition of photographs by Uta Barth at 1301 PE Gallery in Los Angeles. Barth (image left) is well-known for her photographs chronicling the effects of light in her studio with images that are minimal in both their appearance and sources. In this work she has created an ode to the modern Italian artist Giorgio Morandi, who repeatedly painted still lifes of bottles, bowls and pitchers in a monochromatic and poetically simplified manner. By placing colored glass vessels on a table in her studio, she photographed the effect of light passing through them to cast colored, rippling, fanciful shadows. Runs thru 4/22/17.

“Holly Coulis: Days and Nights, Lemons” is the current exhibition at Cherry and Martin Gallery. Her still life paintings reference 16th century European paintings with the vanitas theme. These oil on canvas paintings use bold color, line and shape in an exploration of this genre. Runs thru 4/22/17.

Walter Maciel Gallery presents “Señales de Humo (Smoke Signals)” by Brooklyn-based artist Pepa Prieto. Her work focuses on themes about migration and a sense of space. These abstract works reveal layers of shapes, lines and marks that conjure up the emotions and feelings of acclimating to a new culture and homeland.

Runs thru 4/29/17.

David Kordansk y Gallery presents paintings by Mary Weatherford (image below left). “like the land loves the sea” is a collection of large scale abstract color saturated paintings with some including a 3rd dimension provided by neon tubes. Weatherford’s approach to mark-making includes painterly gestures that are “the final articulations of a process that begins with the negotiation of psychological moods, pointed art historical reflection, and even meditation on current world events. As such, they are entrusted with carrying the fullest possible array of sensory and intellectual experiences.” The exhibition is receiving quite a bit acclaim including this review by Carolina Miranda for the Los Angeles Times. Runs thru 5/06/17.

Mary Weatherford

“Personal Narrative” continues at the The Annenberg Com munity Beach House Gallery. The participating artists with diverse backgrounds share personal narratives of immigrant diaspora and gender identity. These themes are examined in their individual bodies of work.

Among the artists whose work is included in this exhibition are Susan Amorde, Terry Arena, Bibi Davidson, Dwora Fried , J.J. L’Heureux, Linda Sue Price and Kristine Schomaker. Runs thru 6/4/17. Artist talk on Saturday, 5/6/17 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. RSVP here.

Dwora Fried

IN THE MUSEUMS:

There are two exciting museum exhibitions simultaneously celebrating the contributions by two important female art dealers, Galka Scheyer (1889-1945) and Virginia Dwan (b. 1931). Both of these women have had a significant impact on art history.

The Nort on Simon Museum presents “Maven of Modernism: Galka Scheyer in California” (image left by Emile Nolde), an exhibition that delves into the life of the enterprising dealer. Scheyer is known for arranging exhibitions, lectures and publications of the work of what is known as the “Blue Four” (Lyonel Feininger, Alexei Jawlensky, Vasily Kandinsky and Paul Klee). She not only cultivated taste for their work but negotiated sales on their behalf. The exhibition features examples from her personal collection by the Blue Four artists, as well as works by other artists including Alexander Archipenko, László Moholy-Nagy, Pablo Picasso and Diego Rivera. Her Hollywood home, designed by Richard Neutra, functioned as a meeting place and gallery for a cadre of art collectors and specialists. Runs thru 9/25/17.

Lecture: Curator, Gloria Williams Sander--Saturday, 4/22/17; 4-5 p.m.

“Los Angeles to New York: Dwan Gallery 1959-1971” is presented at LACMA. This traveling

exhibition was expanded with curation by Stephanie Barron to emphasize Virginia Dwan’s contributions in Los Angeles with her Westwood Gallery (1959-1967). It was the one of the only galleries in LA to exhibit serious contemporary art. Dwan imported artists and exhibitions from New York and Europe. Her West Coast enterprise was a leading avant-garde space in the early 1960s, presenting works by abstract expressionists, neo-dadaists, pop artists, and nouveaux réalistes, including Niki de Saint Phalle, Philip Guston, Franz Kline, Joseph Kosuth, Claus Oldenburg, Robert Rausenberg, Ad Reinhardt and Jean Tinguely. In 1965 Dwan opened a New York venue and became the first to have bi-coastal galleries. Her support and dedication to the Land Art Movement are extremely significant. Enjoy this video to gain a better understanding of her impact on the art world:

Los Angeles to New York: Dwan Gallery, 1959-1971. Runs thru 9/10/17.

Virginia Dwan

The Palm Springs Mu seum of Art features a significant exhibition titled “Women of Abstract Expressionism.” It presents the work of 12 American women artists active in New York City and the San Francisco Bay area in the 1940s and 1950s. As part of a circle of painters known as Abstract Expressionists, they helped forge the first fully American modern art movement. More than 50 major paintings will be on view by artists Mary Abbott, Jay DeFeo, Elaine de Kooning, Perle Fine, Helen Frankenthaler, Sonia Gechtoff, Judith Godwin, Grace Hartigan, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, Deborah Remington and Ethel Schwabacher. Runs thru 5/28/17.

Read the excellent review of this exhibition in the Los Angeles Times.

Elaine de Kooning

“Chapters: Book Arts in Southern California” at the Craft and Folk Art Museum is a comprehensive exhibition. Women artists included are Kim Abeles, Jacki Apple, Lisa Anne Auerbach, Terry Braunstein, Eugenia P. Butler, Joyce Cutler-Shaw, Carol Es, Patricia Fernández, Cheri Gaulke, Nancy Jo Haselbacher, Susan Elizabeth King, Suzanne Lacy, Cynthia Marsh, Laura Owens, Sue Ann Robinson, Betye Saar, Susan Sironi, Alexis Smith, Barbara T. Smith and Linda Vallejo. Runs thru 5/7/17.

Susan Sironi

The Hammer Museum presents a selection of works from the Hammer Contemporary Collection by Liz Craft. This exhibition is organized by chief curator Connie Butler with curatorial associate Emily Gonzalez-Jarrett. Runs thru 4/30/17.

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