Women Around Town, April 2026 by Karen Schifman
I hope that some of you will join me at the Long Beach Museum of Art on Saturday, April 25 @ 11 a.m. Contact me if you are interested.
IN THE GALLERIES
Womzimer is featuring the work of Marta Thoma Hall in a solo exhibition titled Together Us. “Through an evocative collection of sculpture and mixed media, Marta Thoma Hall investigates the porous boundaries between the self, the collective, and the natural world. The exhibition poses a central existential question regarding where one human ends and another begins. Marta Thoma Hall draws deeply from the lineage of Surrealism, echoing the intuitive and experimental approaches of historical figures like Leonora Carrington and Louise Bourgeois. The work transcends traditional concepts of representation by blending the industrial with the organic. Materials such as weathered wood, steel, resin, fur, and tapestry converge to create objects that feel both primal and futuristic.” (Wonzimer) Thru April 17, 2026.
Roberts Projects presents Instant Theatre: Rachel Rosenthal and King Moody, an exhibition exploring the experimental theatre movement founded by Rachel Rosenthal in 1955 and continued with her husband, King Moody, from 1956–1966. The exhibit features archival material and design elements that invoke the setting and atmosphere of these ephemeral events, the exhibition reconstitutes Instant Theatre for the present while situating it historically as a precursor to the performance art of the 1960s and 1970s. While highlighting the importance of the movement itself, the exhibition also spotlights Rosenthal as a powerful artistic force in her own right—one whose influence and contributions continue to be felt today. April 4 thru May 23, 2026.
David Kordansky Gallery’s current exhibit features the work of two artists, Elizabeth Murray and Betty Woodman. Both of these artists pushed their respective mediums to new heights, Woodman in ceramics, Murray in painting. The exhibit highlights the duo’s keen ability to reimagine traditional art forms by foregrounding painterly techniques on untraditional surfaces and deconstructing hierarchies between surface and form. Thru April 25, 2026.
Elizabeth Murray
Betty Woodman
Don’t miss Destiny is a Rose: The Eileen Harris Norton Collection continuing at Hauser & Wirth’s downtown location. Renowned for her generosity to artists and institutions, Norton has built a collection and philanthropy actively focused upon the work of women, artists of color and her native California. The exhibit includes works by noted artists such as Kerry James Marshall, Mark Bradford, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, David Hammons, Glenn Ligon, Lorraine O’Grady, Adrian Piper, Betye Saar, Lorna Simpson, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems and many others. Thru August 16, 2026.
Additionally, the gallery is exhibiting Christina Quarles: The Ground Grows Black. “Created in the wake of the wildfires in Altadena, the artist’s latest body of work reflects an acute sense of displacement—geographical, emotional and corporeal.” Thru May 3, 2026.
IN THE MUSEUMS
Holding Time is an exhibition highlighting the work of Elyse Pignolet and MyungJin Kim, two contemporary Southern California women artists who use ceramics—particularly vessels—as a medium for storytelling is currently on view at the Long Beach Museum of Art. While their visual styles and narratives differ greatly, this exhibition brings their work together to explore how both artists have broken from the conceptual traditions of ceramics introduced by southern California ceramicists of the early 1960’s. They instead embrace historically rooted forms—vases, pots, tiles, and mirrors—to communicate personal and culturally resonant narratives. Despite their differences, Pignolet and Kim share a common language: the use of botanicals and decorative motifs on the surfaces of their vessels. These aesthetic elements become tools for layered, symbolic storytelling centered around themes such as femininity, social justice, cultural stereotypes, mythology, deities, and folk-art traditions. (LBMA) Thru June 7, 2026.
Elyse Pignolet
Kim MyungJin
A powerful photography exhibit continues at the Getty Center, Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985. “Among the many photographers whose work is on view are Carrie Mae Weems, Ming Smith, and some notable gentlemen as well such Gordon Parks and Ray Francis. Thru June 14, 2026. (The image below is an example of work by Weems).
How to be a Guerrilla Girl continues at the Getty Museum. Coinciding with the Guerrilla Girls’ 40th anniversary, the exhibition tells the story of their collaborative process and longstanding commitment to call for equity for women and artists of color in the art world. Thru April 12. 2026.
Dear Little Friend: Impressions of Galka Scheyer continues at Norton Simon Museum, Scheyer, a German-born art dealer played a significant role in bringing European modernism to the United States. The exhibition will focus on her legacy through the personal relationships she forged with both artists and supporters. The exhibit features portraits and ephemera, and on her mission to promote the Blue Four: Alexei Jawlensky, Lyonel Feininger, Paul Klee and Vassily Kandinsky. Continues thru July 20, 2026.
This is a painting of Galka by Jawlensky.
A unique collaboration between MOCA and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, this presentation brings together the work of internationally acclaimed visual artist Haegue Yang (b. 1971, Seoul) and her interest in and engagement with the late composer Isang Yun (1917-1995). The institutional collaboration unfolds over two distinct presentations: an exhibition featuring a sprawling installation Star-Crossed Rendezvous after Yun. (MOCA) Thru August 2, 2026.
