Art Talk
Artists Whose Art Bursts with Complex Stories
Edward Goldman talks about three current exhibitions by artists whose life and art is bursting with stories.
By Edward Goldman • • 3m ListenI want to start today’s program by urging you to rush to see the exhibition by American photographer Kwame Brathwaite (b. 1938), "Celebrity and the Everyday," at Philip Martin Gallery, before it closes this Saturday, January 12. The exhibition consists of photographs of the life, beauty, and dignity of the African American community, originally captured decades ago, and recently printed just for this show.
Kwame Brathwaite. L: Untitled (Ali, Training Camp), 1975, printed 2018. R: Untitled (Grace Jones Photoshoot), 1980s c., printed 2018. Photos courtesy Philip Martin Gallery.
Installation shot: Farrah Karapetian: Collective Memory. Von Lintel Gallery. Image courtesy of Farrah Karapetian.
Farrah Karapetian at Von Lintel Gallery will make you wonder – are you in a gallery? Or, in a bar? And, what kind of bar is this? There are large photos combined with sculptural installations, recreating the spirit of LA’s now-closed lesbian bar, Club Shine.
Top and Bottom - Installation shots: Farrah Karapetian: Collective Memory. Von Lintel Gallery. Image courtesy of Farrah Karapetian.
Dana Weiser. Enacting My Koreanness, (self-portrait performance) in Blue, 2018. Digital photograph. Walter Maciel Gallery. Photo by Edward Goldman.
Dana Weiser at Walter Maciel Gallery will challenge you in its own way. Her photographic self-portraits show her with dramatic face paint and dance crowns, inspired by traditional masks sold as tourist souvenirs in Korea and memories from her childhood. Her portraits are titled, Enacting My Koreanness, in reference to Weiser being an adoptee of an American family.
Dana Weiser. Home Is…, 2018. Fabric, wood, sequins, seed beads. Walter Maciel Gallery. Photo by Edward Goldman.
