LACMA: Franz West

This show of Viennese artist Franz West displays his works from 1972 to 2008.

Very tall paper mache masks.

He created paper mache objects that he called "adaptives." They were meant to be handled and played with.

These heavy, golf club-like "adaptives" made you want to swing them against the walls.

Oversized lamps... they looked like light trapped in a block of ice.

Earlier collages

Franz West is at LACMA until June 7th, 2009.

LACMA: Pompeii and the Roman Villa

Pompeii is infamous for being destroyed and immortalized by Mount Vesuvius.  However LACMA has put together an exhibit showcasing the art found in the villas of the region- a resort area known for their painters and sculptors. 

Also included in this show was art inspired by Pompeii.

This show is at LACMA until Oct 4th, 2009.

"Wounded" at LA Art House

There is a very cool show at the LA Art House of 3 emerging contemporary Chinese artists: Zhang Peng, Zhang Hui and Zhang Hayiying.

Zhang Peng portrays little girls in scenes where childhood innocence is somehow distorted.  

Zhang Hui has created a character she calls "Beijing Wawa" meaning Beijing Baby. It is a way for her to express the search for the modern day Beijing woman.

"Wounded" is at LA Art House until July 7th.

Dave Muller

I've browsed through several articles about Muller. However they didn't really inform what I saw at Blum & Poe this past weekend (except the fact that he is a music-lover.)

So instead of trying to talk about the work, I'm just gonna say the first thing that comes to mind when I see an image:

colorful noodles

dancing paper shredder

nature and chaos

decomposition

mmm... i dont know

uni with noodles 
D. Muller is at Blum & Poe until April 4th.

Melissa Manfull

M. Manfull's ink on paper drawings remind me of scenes from a sci-fi novel.  They are a blend of fantasy architectural structures and organic washes of color.   They are very, very pretty but the obsessive details give me a headache. (Click on the photos for a close-up)

M. Manfull's show is at Taylor de Cordoba until March 28th.

Kim Keever

Kim Keever's photographs remind me of classic oil paintings of American landscapes. But here is why I love these photographs: they are mini scenes created in a large fish tank, then filled with water and left to degrade and decompose. Pretty cool, huh?

Scroll down to the last images to better see his process and click on them for a close-up.

David Lefkowitz

A piece of the common garden hedge runs off and becomes...

an industrial cooling tower,

Corbusier's Villa Savoye,

and a city lamp post.

D. Lefkowitz is at the Carrie Secrist Gallery in Chicago until March 21st.