Who Are You?: The Failure of Abstraction

Sayre Gomez

"I’m Different"

François Ghebaly Gallery

2245 E Washington Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90021

October 10 – November 22 2014

Press Release

Walk into a tangible netscape, (now François Ghebaly Gallery transformed by Chicago native Sayre Gomez). Surrounded by white walls, you are a blue, faceless mannequin, sat there in such a way that you want others to perceive you. You're in an outdoor environment, standing on a floor covered with wood chips and trash, showered with several sonic timelines coexisting simultaneously. You've walked into the main gallery space––the installation. 

On the walls, hang several paintings that have been made using airbrushed paint, as used on cars or buildings, further adding to their outdoor aesthetic. These paintings depict outdoor scenes pulled from imagery the artist found online, as well as window scenes looking out at nature. These window paintings are redolent of art historical classics, such as Matisse's window paintings.  This allusion supports the artist's notion that humans are intrinsically unoriginal or that an effort to be original will undoubtedly fail; everything is derived from something else, whether that's something we've seen on the internet or in a text book or on the street.  

In the next room, the smaller, indoor gallery space, hangs a large square painting titled "Generation Gap." It reads, "All you need is love," mirrored by the text "I hate myself and I want to die" just underneath, atop a moody, hazy, blue and black backdrop. The piece's orientation could be switched, so that the face-up message would change. This piece is intriguing, and funny at first. I'm sure it could be read to mean many different things, as all of Sayre's work could. Keeping consistent with the other works' themes of identity, this piece could underline how music has an effect on identity. If someone identifies themselves to be a fan of The Beatles, and outwardly shares this identifying characteristic, they are essentially hanging up a huge painting that reads "All You Need Is Love." "Hey, look at me; love is my philosophy." Conversely, if someone's a ravid Nirvana fan, they're putting themselves out there to be perceived as a whole different kind of person. (Not that you can't like Nirvana AND The Beatles). At the end of the day, the point is that the interests we "share" with the world, whether that be on social media or in conversation or by our clothing aesthetic, shape the way others perceive us. Often times, we consciously mold this regard or perception.

Speaking of molding...on two European style coffee tables in the same room, sit bronze casted items one may find laying on the coffee table in any affluent home; a spilled wine glass, an iPhone, an iPad, a stack of books. What's on your coffee table in your apartment? Let's say you have a book about classical music or jazz sitting on your coffee table. Do you play jazz piano? Did you invent opera in the 17th century? You have a wine glass, a designer watch layed out. Both of these items were made in a factory. Millions of others identical to yours exist. Are you really that different? I know I'm not.

The world that Sayre has created is brave. It forces us to reevaluate ourselves and our motivations, and search somewhere deeper than our Facebook profiles to find what makes us "different." 

It's meta. It's fresh. His world feeds back into what its criticizing, or at least commenting on. A gallery is essentially a coffee table, displaying things that it identifies with or wants to be associated with. Visitors of the gallery will undoubtedly snap pictures of the exhibition with their iPhones, and post them to their social media profiles. Why?

My Facebook––an abstraction of myself–– fails to accurately depict me. I look better in my profile picture than I do on an everyday basis and I only choose to share somewhat "interesting" things about my life, and interests I think are safe to say will be approved of. The bands and movies I like don't define me. The next person I click on probably shares 3/4 of my "interests." The things that truly define me are intangible, and transcend something I can post in a status or set on a coffee table. 

Penone : A Timeless Odyssey Through Nature

Giuseppe Penone: Ramificazioni del Pensiero/Branches of Thought

Gagosian Gallery
456 North Camden Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

September 5 - October 18, 2014

Giuseppe Penone was a force in the "poor art" movement of the 1960s and 70s. This movement responded to the artificiality of "pop" and the extreme plainness and harsh nature of minimalism. He strived to make art connect with the natural world, as we can see in this exhibition through his use of trees and marble. His career is defined by asking very simple questions:  What is time? What is sculpture? What's important about his questions is that they last throughout time and serve as precedents. His works are very simple, but reveal a lot of meaning about the fundamental aspects of life such as origin, age, mass, and form.

In one piece, titled Door Tree––Cedar, we see a tree with a six foot hole carved into it. Penone reveals the tree at a young age in this hole, perhaps at 15 years, depicting how it may have looked at this time. As a painter may create a portrait of a child and then one of that child as an adult, Penone has sculpted an organic depiction of life throughout time; amazingly, he has documented the dynamics of age in one piece.  Another piece shows marble cut away at by water. By portraying the effects that water has on solids, he presents the idea that things in nature have relationships with one another.  The form of marble responds to water beating against it; time as a force has an effect on the growth of trees. Analogously, humans mature with time and outside forces affect our appearance.

The Gagosian Gallery itself is extremely vast and open, with a lot of natural light peering through windows as well as soft lighting set up to illuminate the artwork.

It seems that with a tree as his muse, Penone is inspired by growth. Nature grows, evolves, and develops. So do we. As a collective human race, we travel through time and are connected by it.  Penone's work is universal: it binds together members of the human race.  But it doesn't stop there:  with its potential to affect the way viewers respond to the nature around them, this show may inspire them to find commonalities in all forms of life.

Doritos and Diet Coke

Katherine Bernhardt

Doritos and Diet Coke

September 6 to October 18, 2014
China Art Objects Galleries
6086 Comey Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Originally from Clayton, Missouri, New York based artist Katherine Bernhardt leads viewers of her exhibition at China Art Objects through time and space with large-scale, playful acrylic paintings.
Her paintings are arranged in two open concept rooms, with one or two  96"x120" painting to each wall.  The gallery space is well lit:  a skylight in each part of the gallery in conjunction with bright colors and cheeky subject matter create  a playful, upbeat vibe.  At first or even second or third glance, Bernhardt's work seems simple––even comical.  But it's that and so much more: it presents a nostalgic yet relevant, brutally honest, socio-political critique that maintains a relatable, humorous, air. The viewing experience is fulfilling but not overwhelming, achieved by the gallery's uncluttered, open display of Katherine's simple, analytic works.

The paintings depict modes of consumption––from "tajines" to "amphora" to capri sun juice boxes to cans of diet coke. She doesn't stop with drink, but includes an array of indulgences in our consumerist society––computers, cigarettes, hot dogs, french fries, and hamburgers. Although we must consume food and drink in order to nourish our bodies,  consumption within American society is driven by corporate profit rather than consumer health. So the focus shifts from nourishment to unhealthy indulgence, motivated by alluring advertisements, billboards, and commercials. Bernhardt's large, graphic patterns mirror these repetitive, persuasive advertisements. However, she depicts the analogy in an interesting way that differs from pictures in magazines: her portrayals of consumerist objects are not romanticized. Her brush strokes seem arbitrary and messy; she presents the objects as they are--flat, with no real emphasis on one object. Additionally, her titles for the paintings are extremely straightforward, showing that she isn't trying to fool the audience into believing what she is depicting is some idealized, promising product. Doritos and diet coke are just doritos and diet coke. They're not some "fulfilling snack" and "refreshing beverage." Magritte, C'EST une pipe, and Katherine Bernhardt won't lie to you about it.

This show is fantastic. It's the perfect balance of playful and serious. Bernhardt's work is very accessible which allows its impact to be far reaching and great. Her paintings––captivating on so many levels––convey a dialogue; one that is personal to the viewer regarding themselves and their own personal vices, but also one that comments on a consumerist society that we get sucked into. If you want to see a light-hearted yet analytical exhibition about which you can laugh and connect, this exhibition is more than worth visiting.