Jennifer Sullivan
Smockshop
936 Mei Ling Way
Through September 21
Sadly, it's the final weeks of Andrea Zittel's Summer Smockshop, a temporary exhibition/performance/retail/collaboration/public meeting space set up at Chinatown's well-known rental space at 936 Mei Ling Way. There's still time to peruse the selection of hand-crafted wearable art, attend one of the Wednesday evening movement workshops, and make it to Smockshops blow-out screening event this Saturday. The shop will be presenting a selection of video works (which are also available for purchase) hand-picked by local artists and curators.
Simmons and Burke
Simmons and Burke
Kim Light Gallery/Lightbox
Through November 1
As the first solo exhibition for collaborative artists Case Simmons and Andrew Burke, this show will present a careful selection of collaged compositions and a sound installation comprised of a limited edition, pressed vinyl record. Though heavy on the appropriated digital clutter and pop-cultural references, the work promises to take on a new dimension when situated against the experimental sounds.
Eleanor Antin
Eleanor Antin
San Diego Museum of Art
Through November 2
Well worth the trip outside of the Los Angeles city limits, this exhibition brings together, for the first time, several of Eleanor Antin's large tableau photographs as well as a selection of earlier photo and video works. This show reveals the veteran conceptual artist's delight in classical history, high drama and theatricality through her careful staging of Greek and Roman allegories and subtle historical scenes.
Keiichi Nitta
Keiichi Nitta
The Constant Gallery
Through September 30
Keiichi Nitta's appealing and easily digestible images are caught between two worlds; they belong to the fashionable media machine of commercial photography and to the sexy quirkiness of high art. This should come as no surprise since Nitta spent six years working with Terry Richardson in New York. In this, his first U.S. solo exhibition, Nitta expertly examines beauty, cultural taboos, sex, and advertising while underscoring his own brand name as an artist.
Eduardo Consuegra
Eduardo Consuegra
Richard Telles Fine Art
Through October 4
Eduardo Consuegra's installations conflate the tropes of modernism with contemporary Latin American culture. Impeccable, reflective color fields are installed next to found, advertisement; industrial materials are situated near images from Latin American pop culture. This exhibition is one of Consuegra's first full-scale solo shows since receiving his MFA from Art Center College of Design last winter.
Urs Luthi
art/tapes/22
University Art Museum, California State University Long Beach
Through October 19
In the three years between 1973 and 1976, the independent video art studio art/tapes/22, located in Florence, Italy, hosted numerous international artists, allowing them access to top of the line video and editing equipment and a facility in which to produce new artworks. The program resulted in 150 original video works by artists including Eleanor Antin, Bill Viola, Vito Acconci, Jannis Kounellis, Urs Luthi and Daniel Buren, to name a few. Several are on view here for the first time in over thirty years.
Edgar Arceneaux
Edgar Arceneaux
Suzanne Vielmetter
Through October 30
This substantial new exhibition takes as its jumping-off point systems of science, pseudo-science and the human narratives and fictions that get tangled up in each. In addition to a new video work at the heart of the exhibition space, the show should include several large format graphite drawings punctuated with loaded media like dirt and spray paint.
Michael Muller
Michael Muller
Chung King Project
Through November 1
Opening in L.A. this month is another first U.S. solo show, in this case, German artist Michael Muller. This group of painting, sculpture video and drawings reflects on the past decade in the artist's practice. Many works resemble the after-effects of some scientific study like astronomical charts or arrays of microscopic organisms.
Photograph from the film 'La Cicatrice Interieure' (1972), directed by Philippe Garrel, used on Nico Desertshore album cover
Desertshore
Luckman Gallery
Through October 18
Curated by writer, Jan Tumlir, this group show of fifteen L.A.-based artists gets at much of the urban psychology of Southern California, that of decay and regeneration. While Tumlir's motivation hovers questionably around such nebulous ideas as reality/illusion or time/space, his selection of artists is quite strong and includes Harry Dodge and Stanya Kahn, Sterling Ruby, Brian Kennon and Andrea Zittel among others.
Julian Hoeber
Julian Hoeber
Blum and Poe
Through October 18
In his last solo show with Blum and Poe, Julian Hoeber presented a slickly produced and memorable video work. This year, Hoeber forgoes the video in favor of bronze, a new material for the artist that will likely be just as memorable.
Catherine Taft is a Los Angeles-based writer and critic. Her writing on contemporary art and culture has appeared in magazines including Modern Painters, Art Review, Artforum.com, and Metropolis M and in various museum catalogs. Her recent projects include curating a series of video and film screenings throughout LA, and research and curatorial assistance for the Getty Museum's exhibition, 'California Video' (March 2008).
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