Los Angeles
Valentin Carron
Man with Baby on Arm, 2023
cast aluminum and enamel paint
66 1/2 x 24 x 14 inches
(168.9 x 61 x 35.6 cm)
unique in a series of 3, with 1 AP
Valentin Carron
Man with Baby on Arm, 2023
cast aluminum and enamel paint
66 1/2 x 24 x 14 inches
(168.9 x 61 x 35.6 cm)
unique in a series of 3, with 1 AP
Chase Hall
Heavens, 2023
acrylic and coffee on cotton canvas
72 x 48 x 1 1/2 inches
(182.9 x 121.9 x 3.8 cm)
Chase Hall
Heavens, 2023
acrylic and coffee on cotton canvas
72 x 48 x 1 1/2 inches
(182.9 x 121.9 x 3.8 cm)
Jonas Wood
Interior with Japanese Landscapes, 2022
oil and acrylic on canvas
106 x 128 inches
(269.2 x 325.1 cm)
Jonas Wood
Interior with Japanese Landscapes, 2022
oil and acrylic on canvas
106 x 128 inches
(269.2 x 325.1 cm)
Sam Gilliam
Untitled, 2018
acrylic on Cerex nylon
installation dimensions variable
approximate installation dimensions:
131 x 75 x 37 inches
(332.7 x 190.5 x 94 cm)
Sam Gilliam
Untitled, 2018
acrylic on Cerex nylon
installation dimensions variable
approximate installation dimensions:
131 x 75 x 37 inches
(332.7 x 190.5 x 94 cm)
Lesley Vance
Untitled, 2023
oil on linen
36 x 28 x 1 inches
(91.4 x 71.1 x 2.5 cm)
Lesley Vance
Untitled, 2023
oil on linen
36 x 28 x 1 inches
(91.4 x 71.1 x 2.5 cm)
Fred Eversley
Untitled (parabolic lens), 2022
2-color, 2-layer cast polyester
19 1/8 x 19 1/8 x 6 1/4 inches
(48.6 x 48.6 x 15.9 cm)
Fred Eversley
Untitled (parabolic lens), 2022
2-color, 2-layer cast polyester
19 1/8 x 19 1/8 x 6 1/4 inches
(48.6 x 48.6 x 15.9 cm)
Adam Pendleton
Untitled (WE ARE NOT), 2023
silkscreen ink on canvas
96 x 120 inches
(243.8 x 304.8 cm)
Adam Pendleton
Untitled (WE ARE NOT), 2023
silkscreen ink on canvas
96 x 120 inches
(243.8 x 304.8 cm)
Torbjørn Rødland
Paint it Pink, 2017 - 2023
chromogenic print
55 1/8 x 43 3/8 inches
(140 x 110 cm)
framed:
56 1/8 x 44 3/8 x 2 inches
(142.6 x 112.7 x 5.1 cm)
Edition of 3, with 1 AP (#1/3)
Torbjørn Rødland
Paint it Pink, 2017 - 2023
chromogenic print
55 1/8 x 43 3/8 inches
(140 x 110 cm)
framed:
56 1/8 x 44 3/8 x 2 inches
(142.6 x 112.7 x 5.1 cm)
Edition of 3, with 1 AP (#1/3)
Matthew Brannon
There are no opening credits. It just begins. And when it’s over you watch it again. Expensive American images. Too young to know your lines., 2020
silkscreen with hand-painted elements on paper
103 x 52 1/2 inches
(261.6 x 133.4 cm)
framed:
106 1/4 x 55 3/4 x 2 inches
(269.9 x 141.6 x 5.1 cm)
unique
Matthew Brannon
There are no opening credits. It just begins. And when it’s over you watch it again. Expensive American images. Too young to know your lines., 2020
silkscreen with hand-painted elements on paper
103 x 52 1/2 inches
(261.6 x 133.4 cm)
framed:
106 1/4 x 55 3/4 x 2 inches
(269.9 x 141.6 x 5.1 cm)
unique
John Armleder
Divino, 2019
mixed media on canvas
in four parts, each:
138 x 69 x 1 3/4 inches
(350.5 x 175.3 x 4.4 cm)
overall:
138 x 276 x 1 3/4 inches
(350.5 x 701 x 4.4 cm)
John Armleder
Divino, 2019
mixed media on canvas
in four parts, each:
138 x 69 x 1 3/4 inches
(350.5 x 175.3 x 4.4 cm)
overall:
138 x 276 x 1 3/4 inches
(350.5 x 701 x 4.4 cm)
David Altmejd
Dream Recall, 2023
epoxy clay, epoxy gel, expanding foam, glass eyes, acrylic paint, quartz crystals, human hair, glass rhinestones, pencil, steel, concrete, resin, and plaster
39 x 16 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches
(99.1 x 41.9 x 41.9 cm)
David Altmejd
Dream Recall, 2023
epoxy clay, epoxy gel, expanding foam, glass eyes, acrylic paint, quartz crystals, human hair, glass rhinestones, pencil, steel, concrete, resin, and plaster
39 x 16 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches
(99.1 x 41.9 x 41.9 cm)
Mario Ayala
Lipstick Bail Bonds, 2023
acrylic on canvas
51 x 61 inches
(129.5 x 154.9 cm)
Mario Ayala
Lipstick Bail Bonds, 2023
acrylic on canvas
51 x 61 inches
(129.5 x 154.9 cm)
Rashid Johnson
Seascape "Twenty Years", 2023
oil on linen
73 3/4 x 97 3/4 x 2 1/2 inches
(187.3 x 248.3 x 6.3 cm)
Rashid Johnson
Seascape "Twenty Years", 2023
oil on linen
73 3/4 x 97 3/4 x 2 1/2 inches
(187.3 x 248.3 x 6.3 cm)
Anthony Pearson
Untitled (Coupled Casement), 2023
cotton Spandex embedded in pigmented Hydrocal
18 x 12 x 3 inches
(45.7 x 30.5 x 7.6 cm)
Anthony Pearson
Untitled (Coupled Casement), 2023
cotton Spandex embedded in pigmented Hydrocal
18 x 12 x 3 inches
(45.7 x 30.5 x 7.6 cm)
Guan Xiao
Minty Paddler, 2022
bronze, iron, aluminum alloy, acrylic color, motorcycle handlebar, and carbon powder
96 x 36 x 35 inches
(243.8 x 91.4 x 88.9 cm)
unique in a series of 3
Guan Xiao
Minty Paddler, 2022
bronze, iron, aluminum alloy, acrylic color, motorcycle handlebar, and carbon powder
96 x 36 x 35 inches
(243.8 x 91.4 x 88.9 cm)
unique in a series of 3
Michael Williams
Weekend at Bernie’s 9, 2020 - 2022
oil on canvas
98 1/4 x 75 x 1 1/8 inches
(249.6 x 190.5 x 2.9 cm)
Michael Williams
Weekend at Bernie’s 9, 2020 - 2022
oil on canvas
98 1/4 x 75 x 1 1/8 inches
(249.6 x 190.5 x 2.9 cm)
Markus Amm
Untitled, 2023
oil on gesso board
23 7/8 x 20 x 1 1/4 inches
(60.6 x 50.8 x 3.2 cm)
Markus Amm
Untitled, 2023
oil on gesso board
23 7/8 x 20 x 1 1/4 inches
(60.6 x 50.8 x 3.2 cm)
Jason Fox
Chill Out America, 2023
oil, acrylic, pencil, collage on canvas
90 x 62 x 1 3/4 inches
(228.6 x 157.5 x 4.4 cm)
framed:
90 3/4 x 62 3/4 x 2 inches
(230.5 x 159.4 x 5.1 cm)
Jason Fox
Chill Out America, 2023
oil, acrylic, pencil, collage on canvas
90 x 62 x 1 3/4 inches
(228.6 x 157.5 x 4.4 cm)
framed:
90 3/4 x 62 3/4 x 2 inches
(230.5 x 159.4 x 5.1 cm)
Ruby Neri
Lightning Strikes Twice, 2023
ceramic with glaze
58 x 38 x 38 inches
(147.3 x 96.5 x 96.5 cm)
Ruby Neri
Lightning Strikes Twice, 2023
ceramic with glaze
58 x 38 x 38 inches
(147.3 x 96.5 x 96.5 cm)
Derek Fordjour
Anniversary, 2023
acrylic, charcoal, cardboard, oil pastel, and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
62 1/4 x 92 1/4 inches
(158.1 x 234.3 cm)
Derek Fordjour
Anniversary, 2023
acrylic, charcoal, cardboard, oil pastel, and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
62 1/4 x 92 1/4 inches
(158.1 x 234.3 cm)
Kathryn Andrews
Tit Job, 2023
stainless steel, glass, Plexiglas, vinyl, and U.S. currency
20 x 42 x 10 3/4 inches
(50.8 x 106.7 x 27.3 cm)
Kathryn Andrews
Tit Job, 2023
stainless steel, glass, Plexiglas, vinyl, and U.S. currency
20 x 42 x 10 3/4 inches
(50.8 x 106.7 x 27.3 cm)
Odili Donald Odita
Vanishing Point, 2023
acrylic on canvas
84 1/4 x 140 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches
(214 x 356.2 x 3.8 cm)
Odili Donald Odita
Vanishing Point, 2023
acrylic on canvas
84 1/4 x 140 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches
(214 x 356.2 x 3.8 cm)
Tobias Pils
Sh, 2023
oil on canvas
74 3/4 x 59 inches
(190 x 150 cm)
framed:
77 1/8 x 61 3/8 x 2 3/8 inches
(196 x 156 x 6 cm)
Tobias Pils
Sh, 2023
oil on canvas
74 3/4 x 59 inches
(190 x 150 cm)
framed:
77 1/8 x 61 3/8 x 2 3/8 inches
(196 x 156 x 6 cm)
Mary Weatherford
Ocean View, 2021 - 2023
Flashe and neon on linen
122 x 117 inches
(309.9 x 297.2 cm)
Mary Weatherford
Ocean View, 2021 - 2023
Flashe and neon on linen
122 x 117 inches
(309.9 x 297.2 cm)
Doyle Lane
Weed Pot, c. 1960 - 1978
glazed ceramic
3 3/4 x 3 x 3 inches
(9.5 x 7.6 x 7.6 cm)
Doyle Lane
Weed Pot, c. 1960 - 1978
glazed ceramic
2 1/4 x 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches
(5.7 x 6.4 x 6.4 cm)
Doyle Lane
Weed Pot, c. 1960 - 1978
glazed ceramic
2 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches
(6.4 x 6.4 x 6.4 cm)
Doyle Lane
Weed Pot, c. 1960 - 1978
glazed ceramic
2 x 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches
(5.1 x 5.7 x 5.7 cm)
Andrea Büttner
Duck and Daisy, 2015
woodcut
two parts, each:
76 3/4 x 48 1/2 inches
(194.9 x 123.2 cm)
framed:
77 1/2 x 96 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches
(196.9 x 244.5 x 3.8 cm)
unique
Andrea Büttner
Duck and Daisy, 2015
woodcut
two parts, each:
76 3/4 x 48 1/2 inches
(194.9 x 123.2 cm)
framed:
77 1/2 x 96 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches
(196.9 x 244.5 x 3.8 cm)
unique
Deana Lawson
Andreen, 2022
pigment print
49 7/8 x 35 inches
(126.7 x 88.9 cm)
framed:
50 3/4 x 36 x 1 3/4 inches
(128.9 x 91.4 x 4.4 cm)
Edition of 4, with 2 AP (#4/4)
Deana Lawson
Andreen, 2022
pigment print
49 7/8 x 35 inches
(126.7 x 88.9 cm)
framed:
50 3/4 x 36 x 1 3/4 inches
(128.9 x 91.4 x 4.4 cm)
Edition of 4, with 2 AP (#4/4)
Aaron Curry
Machine Sky, 2023
painted aluminum and synthetic polymer
46 3/4 x 26 5/8 x 24 1/4 inches
(118.7 x 67.6 x 61.6 cm)
Aaron Curry
Machine Sky, 2023
painted aluminum and synthetic polymer
46 3/4 x 26 5/8 x 24 1/4 inches
(118.7 x 67.6 x 61.6 cm)
Chris Martin
Happening Now, 2022
acrylic, oil, and sequins on canvas
97 x 88 x 2 3/4 inches
(246.4 x 223.5 x 7 cm)
Chris Martin
Happening Now, 2022
acrylic, oil, and sequins on canvas
97 x 88 x 2 3/4 inches
(246.4 x 223.5 x 7 cm)
Mai-Thu Perret
On the water’s dustless surface, waves wash over waves, 2023
glazed ceramic
18 1/8 x 13 3/4 x 4 1/4 inches
(46 x 34.9 x 10.8 cm)
Mai-Thu Perret
On the water’s dustless surface, waves wash over waves, 2023
glazed ceramic
18 1/8 x 13 3/4 x 4 1/4 inches
(46 x 34.9 x 10.8 cm)
Ivan Morley
A True Tale, 2023
thread, ink, and watercolor on canvas
54 1/8 x 54 1/8 x 1 1/2 inches
(137.5 x 137.5 x 3.8 cm)
framed:
54 7/8 x 54 7/8 x 2 inches
(139.4 x 139.4 x 5.1 cm)
Ivan Morley
A True Tale, 2023
thread, ink, and watercolor on canvas
54 1/8 x 54 1/8 x 1 1/2 inches
(137.5 x 137.5 x 3.8 cm)
framed:
54 7/8 x 54 7/8 x 2 inches
(139.4 x 139.4 x 5.1 cm)
Evan Holloway
Figure with Shadows and Incense, 2021
aluminum and incense
80 x 34 x 34 inches
(203.2 x 86.4 x 86.4 cm)
Evan Holloway
Figure with Shadows and Incense, 2021
aluminum and incense
80 x 34 x 34 inches
(203.2 x 86.4 x 86.4 cm)
Joel Mesler
Untitled (Mazel Tov), 2023
pigment on linen
80 x 70 x 1 1/4 inches
(203.2 x 177.8 x 3.2 cm)
framed:
80 3/4 x 70 3/4 x 2 inches
(205.1 x 179.7 x 5.1 cm)
Joel Mesler
Untitled (Mazel Tov), 2023
pigment on linen
80 x 70 x 1 1/4 inches
(203.2 x 177.8 x 3.2 cm)
framed:
80 3/4 x 70 3/4 x 2 inches
(205.1 x 179.7 x 5.1 cm)
Tom of Finland
Untitled (from Kake vol. 17 - "Loading Zone"), 1975
pen and ink on paper
12 7/8 x 9 3/8 inches
(32.7 x 23.8 cm)
framed:
18 1/4 x 14 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches
(46.4 x 37.5 x 3.8 cm)
Tom of Finland
Untitled (from Kake vol. 17 - "Loading Zone"), 1975
pen and ink on paper
13 x 9 1/2 inches
(33 x 24.1 cm)
framed:
18 5/8 x 15 1/8 x 1 1/2 inches
(47.3 x 38.4 x 3.8 cm)
Tom of Finland
Untitled (from Kake vol. 17 - "Loading Zone"), 1975
pen and ink on paper
12 7/8 x 9 1/2 inches
(32.7 x 24.1 cm)
framed:
18 5/8 x 15 1/8 x 1 1/2 inches
(47.3 x 38.4 x 3.8 cm)
Tom of Finland
Untitled (from Kake vol. 17 - "Loading Zone"), 1975
pen and ink on paper
12 7/8 x 9 1/2 inches
(32.7 x 24.1 cm)
framed:
18 5/8 x 15 1/8 x 1 1/2 inches
(47.3 x 38.4 x 3.8 cm)
Betty Woodman
Red Room with Lattice, 2010
glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, and canvas
87 x 86 x 13 inches
(221 x 218.4 x 33 cm)
Betty Woodman
Red Room with Lattice, 2010
glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, and canvas
87 x 86 x 13 inches
(221 x 218.4 x 33 cm)
Lucy Bull
20:57, 2023
oil on linen
55 1/8 x 138 x 1 5/8 inches
(140 x 350.5 x 4.1 cm)
Lucy Bull
20:57, 2023
oil on linen
55 1/8 x 138 x 1 5/8 inches
(140 x 350.5 x 4.1 cm)
Shahryar Nashat
Lover_18.JPEG, 2022
synthetic polymer and fiberglass
27 x 73 x 25 inches
(68.6 x 185.4 x 63.5 cm)
Shahryar Nashat
Lover_18.JPEG, 2022
synthetic polymer and fiberglass
27 x 73 x 25 inches
(68.6 x 185.4 x 63.5 cm)
Will Boone
Time Served, 2023
automotive paint, enamel, metal flake, resin, and dog training collar on canvas
66 x 54 x 1 1/2 inches
(167.6 x 137.2 x 3.8 cm)
Will Boone
Time Served, 2023
automotive paint, enamel, metal flake, resin, and dog training collar on canvas
66 x 54 x 1 1/2 inches
(167.6 x 137.2 x 3.8 cm)
Shara Hughes
In My Palm, 2021
oil and acrylic on canvas
60 1/4 x 52 x 1 3/4 inches
(153 x 132.1 x 4.4 cm)
Shara Hughes
In My Palm, 2021
oil and acrylic on canvas
60 1/4 x 52 x 1 3/4 inches
(153 x 132.1 x 4.4 cm)
Richard Tuttle
Blue/Red - Velvet Squares, 2003
acrylic and velvet on plywood
16 1/4 x 17 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches
(41.3 x 44.5 x 3.8 cm)
Richard Tuttle
Blue/Red - Velvet Squares, 2003
acrylic and velvet on plywood
16 1/4 x 17 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches
(41.3 x 44.5 x 3.8 cm)
Richard Tuttle
Summation, 2021
pine wood, acrylic paint, and metal wire
installation dimensions variable
approximate installation dimensions:
8 1/4 x 34 x 23 1/4 inches
(21 x 86.4 x 59.1 cm)
Richard Tuttle
Summation, 2021
pine wood, acrylic paint, and metal wire
installation dimensions variable
approximate installation dimensions:
8 1/4 x 34 x 23 1/4 inches
(21 x 86.4 x 59.1 cm)
Jenna Gribbon
Popcorn painting, 2023
oil on linen
80 1/8 x 64 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches
(203.5 x 163.2 x 3.2 cm)
Jenna Gribbon
Popcorn painting, 2023
oil on linen
80 1/8 x 64 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches
(203.5 x 163.2 x 3.2 cm)
Raul Guerrero
El Amazonas, 2023
oil on linen
56 x 76 1/8 x 1 3/8 inches
(142.2 x 193.4 x 3.5 cm)
Raul Guerrero
El Amazonas, 2023
oil on linen
56 x 76 1/8 x 1 3/8 inches
(142.2 x 193.4 x 3.5 cm)
Tala Madani
Puzzle Pussy (Crushed), 2023
oil on linen
98 x 80 inches
(248.9 x 203.2 cm)
Tala Madani
Puzzle Pussy (Crushed), 2023
oil on linen
98 x 80 inches
(248.9 x 203.2 cm)
William E. Jones
Esquerita, 2022
oil on canvas
16 x 12 x 5/8 inches
(40.6 x 30.5 x 1.6 cm)
framed:
16 5/8 x 12 5/8 x 1 1/8 inches
(42.2 x 32.1 x 2.9 cm)
William E. Jones
Esquerita, 2022
oil on canvas
16 x 12 x 5/8 inches
(40.6 x 30.5 x 1.6 cm)
framed:
16 5/8 x 12 5/8 x 1 1/8 inches
(42.2 x 32.1 x 2.9 cm)
William E. Jones
Maurice Blanchot, 2023
oil on canvas
16 x 12 x 5/8 inches
(40.6 x 30.5 x 1.6 cm)
framed:
16 5/8 x 12 5/8 x 1 1/8 inches
(42.2 x 32.1 x 2.9 cm)
William E. Jones
Maurice Blanchot, 2023
oil on canvas
16 x 12 x 5/8 inches
(40.6 x 30.5 x 1.6 cm)
framed:
16 5/8 x 12 5/8 x 1 1/8 inches
(42.2 x 32.1 x 2.9 cm)
William E. Jones
Sid Vicious, 2023
oil on canvas
14 x 11 x 5/8 inches
(35.6 x 27.9 x 1.6 cm)
framed:
14 5/8 x 11 5/8 x 1 1/8 inches
(37.1 x 29.5 x 2.9 cm)
William E. Jones
Sid Vicious, 2023
oil on canvas
14 x 11 x 5/8 inches
(35.6 x 27.9 x 1.6 cm)
framed:
14 5/8 x 11 5/8 x 1 1/8 inches
(37.1 x 29.5 x 2.9 cm)
Ricky Swallow
Chair with Stringer (1st), 2023
patinated bronze and oil paint
34 3/8 x 39 x 18 inches
(87.3 x 99.1 x 45.7 cm)
Ricky Swallow
Chair with Stringer (1st), 2023
patinated bronze and oil paint
34 3/8 x 39 x 18 inches
(87.3 x 99.1 x 45.7 cm)
Lauren Halsey
portal hoppin hood poppin, 2023
mixed media on foil-insulated foam and wood
122 1/4 x 105 3/4 x 18 1/2 inches
(310.5 x 268.6 x 47 cm)
Lauren Halsey
portal hoppin hood poppin, 2023
mixed media on foil-insulated foam and wood
122 1/4 x 105 3/4 x 18 1/2 inches
(310.5 x 268.6 x 47 cm)
Hilary Pecis
M&W, 2023
acrylic on canvas
64 x 74 x 1 5/8 inches
(162.6 x 188 x 4.1 cm)
Hilary Pecis
M&W, 2023
acrylic on canvas
64 x 74 x 1 5/8 inches
(162.6 x 188 x 4.1 cm)
Larry Johnson
Untitled (L+R), 2020
diptych, color photographs
two parts, each:
76 x 59 1/2 inches
(193 x 151.1 cm)
framed, each:
77 1/2 x 61 x 2 inches
(196.9 x 154.9 x 5.1 cm)
Edition of 4, with 2 AP (#1/4)
Larry Johnson
Untitled (L+R), 2020
diptych, color photographs
two parts, each:
76 x 59 1/2 inches
(193 x 151.1 cm)
framed, each:
77 1/2 x 61 x 2 inches
(196.9 x 154.9 x 5.1 cm)
Edition of 4, with 2 AP (#1/4)
Huma Bhabha
It's All Good, 2023
cork, Limulidae, acrylic, oil, oilstick, nail polish, and MDF
61 3/4 x 22 x 22 inches
(156.8 x 55.9 x 55.9 cm)
Huma Bhabha
It's All Good, 2023
cork, Limulidae, acrylic, oil, oilstick, nail polish, and MDF
61 3/4 x 22 x 22 inches
(156.8 x 55.9 x 55.9 cm)
Jennifer Guidi
Infinite Possibilities in a Magical World (Painted Pink Sand, Rainbow, Black Ground), 2023
sand, acrylic, and oil on linen
60 x 48 x 1 1/2 inches
(152.4 x 121.9 x 3.8 cm)
Jennifer Guidi
Infinite Possibilities in a Magical World (Painted Pink Sand, Rainbow, Black Ground), 2023
sand, acrylic, and oil on linen
60 x 48 x 1 1/2 inches
(152.4 x 121.9 x 3.8 cm)
David Kordansky Gallery is pleased to present 20, a group exhibition celebrating the gallery’s twentieth anniversary, on view in Los Angeles at 5130 W. Edgewood Pl. from July 8 to August 19, 2023. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, July 8 from 6 to 8 PM.
Since 2003, when it first opened in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, David Kordansky Gallery has grown into one of the defining galleries of its generation, as well as one that comprehensively embodies concurrent transformations in the Los Angeles art world and beyond. 20 provides an up-to-the-moment snapshot of the gallery’s program, highlighting the dialogues, correspondences, and distinctions between the members of its diverse community of artists. Featuring many works created especially for this occasion, the exhibition provides windows into the minds of artists who interact with the world, their chosen materials, and their ideas and impressions in singular ways; it also provides a window into a collective experience of artmaking at this particular time, when the world of art has undergone profound structural, geographic, economic, and social changes.
Because David Kordansky Gallery’s evolution directly informed the evolution of Los Angeles as a global hub for contemporary art, 20 tells the story of transformations that are larger and more profound than those contained in any one institution. It also shows how each iteration of the gallery remains present and alive in its current—and still-changing—state. The gallery’s ability to represent the tight-knit, community-based ethos of its first years of activity in Chinatown at international art fairs, for instance, was instrumental in fostering dialogues between young artists in Los Angeles, London, and continental Europe—conversations that are very much ongoing among the artists included in this exhibition.
As the gallery expanded in the period between 2008 to 2014, establishing itself in a larger space in the Culver City neighborhood and constellating a growing concentration of artistic activity there, it expanded both its reach and its impact, producing ambitious shows, and encouraging artists to realize complex, large-scale, genre-defying projects. With the 2014 move to its new Los Angeles home in Mid-City and subsequent expansion to New York in 2022, this artist-centered mission continued, as did its propensity for engaging with the cultural world more broadly through its publication and programming initiatives. A selection of books and ephemera, curated by David Kordansky, offers visitors the opportunity to learn about the gallery’s print history and important influences that have shaped its growth, attesting to the gallery’s ongoing commitment to fostering communication and questioning the foundational values that drive commercial and non-commercial activity in the arts.
Given the many generational and intergenerational forces that move through the gallery’s activities, reflections about intergenerational cross-pollination and artistic discourse at a geographical distance become living, observable facts. In 20, works by Los Angeles-based artists born in the 1990s, like Mario Ayala and Lucy Bull, can be seen alongside major works by internationally recognized icons like Sam Gilliam and Betty Woodman, who were born in the 1930s and have impacted the trajectory of twentieth and twenty-first century art in influential and documented ways.
Showcasing such juxtapositions has long been one of the gallery’s primary aims, even from its beginning twenty years ago when a local group of young artists constituted the core of its program. One of its first shows in 2003 featured the Los Angeles-based filmmaker, photographer, and writer William E. Jones, who is represented in 20 with the debut of a new series of paintings—a move that captures both the historical spirit and present-centered experimentation that animate the exhibition and underscore the gallery’s openness to regeneration.
David Kordansky Gallery has long been concerned with providing space for artists to look both inward, toward the development of their mediums and the personal motivations that drive them to make art, and outward, toward the environments in which their artmaking arises and evolves. Regional, global, intimate, expansive: any given work can be a contradiction that provokes the rearticulation of pre-existing categories. A new painting by Raul Guerrero, for instance, wryly depicts conquistadors trudging through a flora- and fauna-filled jungle scene where futility, exasperation, loss, and the fecund humor of the natural world co-exist uneasily, requiring second, third, and fourth glances to make sense of their complex relationships. An expansive neon painting by Mary Weatherford, meanwhile, suggests that experiences of the ocean are not only expressions of visual or tactical sensory perception, but also internal reflections in which poetic association, historical musing, and emotional responses all play important roles.
During decades in which internet-based communication and social media have become dominant forces, the gallery has steadfastly advocated for the importance of physically embodied encounters with art, even when exhibiting artists like Guan Xiao and Shahryar Nashat whose work directly addresses digital conditions. As artists like Huma Bhabha, Evan Holloway, Ruby Neri, and Ricky Swallow make plain, however, technology does not always have to do with what is new. It is also present in handmade things and processes that are as old as civilization, in materials like wood, clay, and bronze whose use requires cutting, casting, glazing, and changes in temperature. Regardless of medium and position relative to historicity, art offers opportunities for real-time interaction with the products of human creativity. The gallery has long held that this interaction is itself a creative act that cannot be replicated virtually, despite the important ways new modes of communication have made dialogues around art more expansive and democratic.
Communication, and the symbols of which it is built, gives people access to each other’s dreams and memories. For the entirety of its twenty-year history, David Kordansky Gallery has sought to provide a container whose clarity, care, and heart enable artists to engage in such communication as openly and as fearlessly as possible. 20 is, in this respect, no more and no less than another show. Inasmuch as it commemorates the past and posits new directions for the future, the exhibition is primarily oriented toward making space for what its four dozen artists have to say today, about today. It is, in other words, a celebration of the current moment. Like the work of artists as distinct from one another as Lauren Halsey, Chris Martin, and Tom of Finland, 20 is also a paean to the power of community.
