Arts and Letters
ARTS AND LETTERS
Images and thoughts on Exhibitions from artist, Eva Montealegre
November/December 2024
SHANA NYS DAMBROT, Number 1 LA Art Critic says: Eva Montealegre: Deep Matter opens Sunday, November 3, 4-8pm at Matter Studio Gallery. In the heartily textured, expressively drawn, chromatically saturated abstractions by Eva Montealegre, the artist’s own process of self-discovery plays out in organic, macro/micro shapes and patterns that don’t so much communicate her hard-won insights as offer local evidence of the journey. Pondering interconnectedness from the cell to the star, light waves and brain waves, archetypes of the individual psyche and collective unconscious, along with natural and culturally-activated principles of color, she also draws parallels between the sinewy body and the undulating oceans, tracing energy fields and fractal musicality as one among many ways to understand what life is. On view through December 1; matterstudiogallery.com. —SND
Deep 9, 60" x 36" oil on canvas with bronze, can be hung vertical or horizontal
October 2024
Susan Feldman at Matters Studio Gallery on Pico in Los Angeles
A delightful conversation between Curator, Karla Funderburk, and artist, Susan Feldman, about Susan's joyful approach to her work delighted the viewers.
Curator, Karla Funderburk, noting the connections.
I suspect art critic, extraordinaire, Shana Nys Dambrot is doing the same.
The Makery Gallery Los Angeles, Enter the Goddesses, curated by Laura Brody.
The ENTER THE GODDESSES exhibit is simply fabulous! It features the work of multiple talented artists (including two paintings of mine) and making it even more exciting was the fantastic, and I do mean fantastic, exhibit downstairs of THE ART OF COSTUME (wearable art.)
Monica Marks presented both a goddess piece and a wearable artwork and next time I will do the same! But many of the works had a spectacular aspect that made this group show shine out among the many group shows in Downtown Los Angeles. The themes of both exhibits were tangible, visceral and curated with a keen eye. We have to acknowledge the talent of Laura Brody. Not only for her own creations but for her respect for her artists and her pure curatorial ability. I especially like the idea of recycled, upcycled and found object wearable art and there were many pieces of this ilk. Artist talk coming up on October 27th from 1 to 4 pm, poster below. I hope you will join us. You're going to want to hear what these women have to say!
Neotropolis by Monica Marks 2023 - repurposed textiles, EL wire, umbrella 7'x4'x4' $1,414
May 2024
Sterling Ruby, installation view in Gagosian’s booth at Frieze New York, 2024. Photo by Maris Hutchinson. Courtesy of Gagosian.
"The four massive Sterling Ruby paintings at Gagosian’s booth are commanding anchors on the ground floor of Frieze New York. Drawing a sizeable crowd for most of the VIP day, these works, part of his acclaimed “TURBINE” series (2016–present), are crafted through Ruby’s distinctive process of overdyeing canvases, then laying them on the floor of his studio, where they accumulate layers of incidental and deliberate marks, from splashes of paint to footprints. “I have referred to [his work] a lot in the terms of archaeology…because elements of these [works] are from the paintings that happened before,” said senior director Serena Cattaneo Adorno."
Maxwell Rabb and Arun Kakar
Meet Aydin Hamami at Matter Studio Gallery. He just moved here from New York, love his work!
He is working with tar from the LaBrea Tar pits. Go see the whole show! To learn more about him go to
www.aydinhamami.com
March 2024
!Fuerte!
Downtown Artwalk March 7th, 6:00 – 9 pm.
FUERTE! The Downtown Artwalk, March 7th 6-9 pm
Come and be with!
Fuerte! exhibit features 10 Female Artists, their work and their thoughts.
Curators: Dr. Betty Ann Brown & Eva Montealegre
Showing through March 30th @ Makery Gallery.
Print catalog available
MAKERY GALLERY is open 12-6 Sat & Sun, 260 s. Los Angeles St., LA CA 90012.
Also open at your convenience with an appointment. Call Eva Montealegre at 310.351.9592 to schedule.
Upon request you can receive a personal curator or artist walk-through.
Richelle Rich, one of the 10 artists featured in FUERTE!
Her work is presented in both rooms of the exhibit.
March 3 - 30 at Makery Gallery, 260. S. Los Angeles Street, LA 90012
March 2024
!Fuerte!
Downtown Artwalk March 7th, 6:30 – 9 pm.
This Thursday the 7th of March is the
downtown artwalk, so see you there!
Don't miss it.
!Fuerte! @ THE MAKERY GALLERY MARCH 3 - MARCH 30TH
260 S. Los Angeles Street, LA CA 90012
Dr. Betty Ann Brown and Eva Montealegre co-curated a show together titled, FUERTE! We tended
toward a multi-cultural flair, photo below from the day of installation and more to come.
The Wounds, paintings by Eva Montealegre, arrived for installation. Photo by Cathy Immordino.
November 2023
Eva's painting, HEAL THYSELF!, is featured in Bellingham National Whatcom Museum. Such an honor!
October 2023
Judy Chicago, installation view of “Herstory” at the New Museum, New York, 2023. Photo bv Dario Lasagni. Courtesy of the New Museum. 
Article must read: How Judy Chicago Hacked The Patriarch by Zoe Hopkins. Judy Chicago, What if Women Ruled the World? from “The Female Divine,” 2020.
© Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS).
Gallery 169
159 Channel Road.
Rustic Canyon, CA 90404
A profound Richelle Rich photography exhibit set the crowd into meaningful conversations after an interview with Shana Ryse Dambrot, leading art critic. Richelle is a British-Swiss multidisciplinary conceptual artist. 
July 2023
Billis Williams Gallery
2716 S La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034
May/June 2023
The Art of Wellness, Plummer Park, West Hollywood
Eva Montealegre and Sarah Rubalcaba viewing work by curator, Lisa Rasmussen
April 2023
HAUSER & WIRTH
Downtown Los Angeles
South Gallery
Zeng Fanzhi solo exhibition
Eva Montealegre at Hauser & Wirth, Zeng Fanzhi solo exhibition
Paintings that constitute "a restless journey of discovery" and I must say, I love the painter's new abstract work of gestural landscapes.
ELEPHANT ART SPACE
3325 Division Street, LA CA 90065
(Glassell Park)
I attended a great show last night. I was greeted warmly and given a small direction to participate in a subtle art performance that aligned with the show.
Elephant Art Space aka: Ed Ruscha's first studio
presents the work of Alise Spinella, The Secret Minerals
April 8 - April 29, 2023
Gallery Hours: Saturdays 12 -4 and by appointment
Elephant Art Space
Amber (Tree Ring) 2023 20" x 16"
Acrylic, ink gouache, pastel and graphite on linen
Artist, Alise Spinella with her painting
Opal, Shedding, 2023, 20" x 16"
Acrylic, ink, gouache, pastel, graphite on linen
Moonstone, 2023, 20" x 16" Acrlic, ink,
gouache, flashe and graphite on linen
"These new paintings explore what might be witnessed if we could travel dark underground,
down through the strata, to find the hidden things..."
Alise Spinella
There are several more paintings, and a lovely back patio where attendees gathered. Elephant Art Space is a great LA art experience.
November/December 2022
I invite you to New York to consider the meaning that the voice of the people is the voice of God.
Here are a few words from Ayanna Dozier.
On view through January 7, 2023, the exhibition is curated by 52 Walker director Ebony Haynes, who organized Lewis’s first New York solo shows back in 2018. Next year will bring a new level of institutional recognition for the Toronto-born, New York–based artist with a string of solo exhibitions at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, Hayward Gallery in London, and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami. Her final presentation in 2022, at 52 Walker, is named after an old Latin proverb that translates to the “voice of the people is the voice of God.” During the press preview this past November, Lewis described the sculptures as avatars that allow for communication with angels, ancestors, or any other figure lost in time. Not unlike religious statues, Lewis’s sculptures seek to unite audiences with the immaterial, including the divine.
Tau Lewis, installation view of “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” at 52 Walker, 2022. Courtesy of 52 Walker, New York.
Lewis’s practice can be encompassed by Octavia Butler’s writings on ritual, time, and futurism. Like Butler’s protagonists in Parable of the Sower (1993) and Kindred (1979), Lewis works emphatically to relate and converse with figures beyond our time periods. In this way, her masks spiritually time-travel audiences, connecting us with those who have passed and those who have yet to come.
Toby Huss, Matters Studio Gallery
I know this artist because of his acting career. I especially love his work in historical dramas.
Toby Huss, the artist, the guy in the hat
Amazing art
Toby Huss exhibit of artwork at Matters Studio Gallery on Pico.
August 2022/September 2022
Betsy Leuke Art Center hosts SCWCA pronounced swicka,
Southern California Women's Caucus for Art exhibit, What's Next!
Our incoming prez, Susan Specter with her work,
Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes
July 2022
bG Gallery
Bergamot Station in Santa Monica
I met artist, Bob Langstrom, at bG Gallery
June 2022
ROSE GALLERY
Godelein De Rosumel
A delightful gallery and a talented ceramic artist
who collects items from her local shoreline as accents.
May 2022
10 WEST GALLERY
in Santa Barbara
a favorite gallery on Anapamu Street with scads of talented artists
Storefront
Director and Artist, Jan Ziegler
Collective Concious, Pamela Grau
April 2022
THE FUTURE IS FEMALE
BERMUDEZ PROJECTS GALLERY
Curator, Julian has fast forwarded with a show for the future
Birds of a feather
Curator, Julian Bermudes with his artists
and the work
Kristina Shomaker's Plus, Hardrock Cafe series
Leigh Salgado's Pearl, 2019
Linda Vallejo, with her installation Objects of Opulence
This year Linda was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award
from SCWCA (Southern California Women's Caucus for Art)
and previously...
Linda Vallejo's "Objects of Opulence," 2022 at Bermudez Projects.
"Objects of Opulence" 2022, Re-purposed antiques, acrylic, custom wall and floor
treatment, data-based works on paper and upholstery.
Linda Vallejo is on her job in the studio.
Bermudez Projects presents Objects of Opulence, work by Linda Vallejo, appropriates
culture and history from the Gilded Age of great wealth in the US and symbolically
returns it to the “brown” Latino/x essential workers who helped to build American
business and wealth. Objects of Opulence examines and interprets the politics of
color, class, culture, and power through the themes of wealth and power, cultural
identity & awareness, and pop culture. Runs through May 14, 2022.
Be there for the art talk with Linda.
Linda struts up to her night of honor at LA Memo at LA Plaza.
A night to remember.
March 2022
For March Gallery 825 features many wonderful talented abstract artists
under the direction of curator, Roberto Benetiz.
Wall Sculpture, Nancy Ivanhoe
Scions, Kay Zetlmaier
TRACK 16 is now running an exhibit, Atmospheric Pressures, in the Bendix Building downtown. Along with Alicia's work at the building housing numerous galleries, the TRACK 16 website features Alicia Piller and Jill Moniz in conversation. They are two women having a "talk" that I found fascinating. You can view the whole show and this very important conversation online! @ https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/2016016?utm_source=vdp-social-share - Alicia's artwork conveys awareness and the transformation of our throw-away culture. A completely cosmic subject matter that also deals with trauma. Alicia considers her work a fragmented mirror of our times.
Alicia Piller, the artist with her work
I've also been visiting Liz Gordon's exhibits at her gallery, Liz's Loft.
Liz Gordon, Gallerist, Liz's Loft
Liz is the queen of recycled, re-imagined objects and her love for this artistic expression is fun and inventive.
These images below are from the Ron H. Silverman Gallery which she curated with Mika Cho.
Years Come to My Eyes, Monica Wyatt
Fall Silent, Monica Wyatt
February 2022
Blu Moon 54" x 96" oil on canvas with silver
an original painting by Eva Montealegre
Simultaneously, LAAA 825 Gallery features a brick-and-mortar exhibition of solo shows. I visited the gallery last week and had the opportunity to meet one of the featured artists.
Snezana Saraswati Petrovic was working with her photographer documenting the exhibit when I arrived. It is an ambitious installation titled, Collateral Damage Recall. Its message is the "impermanence of our own existence and how that is inseparable from this blue island floating in a black, lonely universe." I was reminded of Lee Bontecou and her series of floating and flying fish. I spoke with Snezana at length and we discovered a shared background in costume design and costume construction. We spoke of our convictions and our dedication to creating an experience as artists.
Snezana Saraswati Petrovi standing beside
her installation Collateral Damage Recall
Roeder, Harper, and Brown are also featured artists in solo shows January 15 – February 18, 2022, by appointment @ Gallery 825, 825 N. La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90069
January 2022
On Saturday, January 22nd I had the good fortune to attend the reception of Products of Empire and Ideas of Practice at ArtShare Gallery. I have to say this is one of the most exciting gallery exhibits I've attended in some time. Curated by Badir McCleary, I found the space enlivened by attendees and artists of every color and stature. I met both young artists who are on the precipice of an exciting career and veteran artists who have built themselves a legacy. Their work was impressive. Below you will find only a few of the artists but there were many artists featured and it is worth your time to check out these exhibits to get a glimpse of what is happening in the art world of Los Angeles. Artshare is located in the DTLA Arts District.
The sculptor, Chukes, with his wife next to his work,
Black Power Black Superman
Chukes shared with me how writing was an influence on his work and his ability to formulate and articulate his ideas for his sculpture. He also had kind words for his wife being a strong partner in his life. She's a librarian.
Badir McCleary, the curator, in front of the crowd
Artist Pam Douglas, with her work, tapestry with soft sculpture
Pam explained that her series is on the plight of refugees. She uses the combination of burlap and other items with the soft sculpture for her message.
The artist, Luz, with his paintings
Luz is a young artist, twenty-one years old. I expect he has an exciting career ahead of him. Collect his work now.
Birth by Connie Vee Hawkins, 24" x 30" mixed media
Connie explained that all the materials in her painting had been discarded, including the film negatives that make the headpiece of her queen giving birth to herself. You really must see this piece in person to understand the texture and its beauty.
The Products Of Empire and Ideas Of Practice Exhibitions are located at Art Share Los Angeles, 801 E. 4th Place., Los Angeles, CA 90013. The exhibit will be on view to the public from January 22nd through February 20th.