1. Isabelle Albuquerque X Robert Therrien at the Robert Therrien Studio

The late artist Robert Therrien was known for creating surreally outsized objects — a giant table and chair set that towers over viewers; a wobbly stack of dishes stacked in a monumental column. Across his time working in his downtown LA studio building, Therrien adapted the space to his work, a stack of massive pots and pans crowds a red-painted closet space, its door ajar; hidden artworks installed in nooks and crannies — the space itself is filled with pathos, of years spent making within its walls. 

Excitingly, the artist’s studio and estate has opened its doors to the public and invited a contemporary artist, Isabelle Albuquerque, to install her work across the multi-room studio building — the two artists’ work intermingling in conversation. Both have developed a cohesive and honed iconography — while Therrien’s work frequents pots, pans, raindrops, clouds, oil cans, and steeples, Albuquerque’s work centers on a sensual femme human form. Her figures are headless, made of plaster, bronze, resin, and silver, and are often lounging on low beds or plinths, seemingly consumed by their own self-pleasure. They explore quiet animalistic impulses — one (“Orgy for Ten People in One Body: 5”) has been flocked to look like a deer faun, with white spots up her back, another covered in fur and given a tail.  

While at first glance, the juxtaposition between Albuquerque’s sensuality and Therrien’s quiet insistence on depicting domestic objects may seem at odds, as I walked around the beautifully installed exhibition, the two seemed to be in a strange conversation with each other. Albuquerque’s figures often wear wedding rings, and intermingle with household (while phallic) objects like saxophones and brooms. They felt grounded by Therrien’s quiet domesticity while Therrien’s sculptures felt electrified by Albuquerque’s.

The show will remain on view through December 14th and will be open on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Visitors can DM the studio to schedule a visit.

On view: October 26th–December 14th, 2024

2. "Method" at Angel’s Gate Cultural Center 

Method, on view at Angel’s Gate Cultural Center is a group exhibition that focuses on systems. Guest juried by Kira Xonorika with SUPERCOLLIDER, the exhibition houses a range of materials and methods, from prints to videos to fiber, installation, and much more. In this way, each artwork is its own little system that creates its own logic.

Across the show, many works include natural elements like cotton, rocks, river water, and in one instance, even the artist’s own blood. Yet, amidst these natural materials, there is a strong digital and technological bent... In some cases technology seems to be working in concert with the human body or the natural elements, in others, it presents a juxtaposition. In some works, the futility of technology seems to come through, like in Devin Wilson’s sculptural piece “In-Techs Winged Conveyer Belt | Endless Loop,” a functioning conveyer belt with faux bird poop that’s been splattered on its belt, moving with each rotation on an endless loop or Jenna Caravello’s “Easy Ultra Fine,” an interactive virtual game where participants can punch numerical codes into a keypad, causing random objects and events to take place on the connected screens. 

Elsewhere, like in Ashton Phillips’ “Worm Bath, Altar Piece,” a functioning ecosystem containing municipal water being pumped through a rich natural mix (including the remains of plastic-eating mealworms and mycelium spores) that works to continuously evolve the ecosystem, making it more alive over time, suggest scientific solutions might work in concert to maintain and protect the natural world.

On view: September 14th–December 6th, 2024 | Open map

3. Ever Velasquez at Rusha & Co.

In Ever Velasquez’s Chispa at Rusha & Co, the artist uses magazine advertising imagery and reworks it to create playful collages. In the works, we see advertising’s usual trappings: blinged-out wrists, diamond rings, preening poses, perfectly lacquered nails, handbags, and models staring seductively into the camera. And yet, while we might look at advertising as an enforcer of consumer culture, and unhealthy body standards, Velasquez’s images seem to wade through these pools, turning their implications on their head to create something more joyful and full of life. 

Her titles do a lot of this work — one collage that features RuPaul in white cat-eye shades surrounded by tea cups and elaborate cakes has been playfully titled “Yumm that hits.” In another, the title “SO fRESH AND SO cleannnn” seems to counteract the serious “come hither” look of a lounging woman in a white negligee in the foreground, highlighting instead the community of toweled women in a steam room in the background. “Oooo gurrrl…you see her take that ?!” gives narrative to the collaged imagery of a woman forming her hand into an eyeglass over her eye next to another hand holding a piece of jewelry.

As we contend with so much uncertainty in our day-to-day lives (today, perhaps more than most!), Velasquez reminds us that play and joy can coexist alongside malcontent. And, in fact, perhaps we can rework the world around us to see things in a new light that celebrates togetherness, play, and community.

On view: September 28th–November 9th, 2024 | Open map

Finding the line between fantasy and reality

In an essay published in the Gagosian Quarterly, Aimee Gabbard writes that “Therrien’s studio, which like his work straddled the line between fantasy and reality, was as much a part of his oeuvre as a place for it. The studio was a living environment—a constantly evolving installation, enthralling and specific, home to at least one example of each of his essential forms. Perhaps from an innate desire to show rather than tell, he constantly referenced images of works not currently at the studio. ‘It’s sort of like a game, where the studio could be a world or a village, and this is sort of a collection of images. Some of them get eliminated, and, for particular ones, it seems like the space around me is incomplete if they are missing,’ Therrien explained.”

In launching its new project initiative, the Robert Therrien studio wrote to me that “this has been a very positive moment for the estate. Therrien was a groundbreaking and singular part of the Los Angeles art community. His studio manages to inspire all that get to see it. We look forward to offering opportunities to allow Therrien’s work to resonate in collaboration with other exceptional artists while keeping the spirit that makes the studio, and the ability to spend time there, a unique experience.”