Join Whitewall as we celebrate the community of creatives coming together after an unfortunate time of grief and loss. Los Angeles Art Week prevails after the devastating fires, showing strength in community and love for the city, with a focus on Frieze LA. Here we highlight some of the talented artists like Alex Israel, Doug Aiken, George Rouy and more masterful works to see.
George Rouy
Hauser & Wirth
Downtown LA
Studio view George Rouy 2024, photo by Damian Griffiths.
On February 18, Hauser & Wirth unveils George Rouy’s debut solo show in the US, “The Bleed, Part II.” Open through June 1, the exhibition features work that delves into the dynamics of contemporary life with Ruoy’s large-scale abstract paintings. Named after the artist’s concept of “the bleed,” the works explore how figures and voids merge on the canvas, reflecting tensions between individuals and their environments. In this show, color is introduced, giving the figures a sense of body mapping at high speed. Drawing on art historical tragedies like Theodore Gericault’s The Raft of Medusa and Francisco Goya’s The 3 May 1808, Rouy examines collective care and conflict, questioning how we care for one another throughout life and the search for balance. The performance segment of the exhibit takes place opening week, titled “BODYSUIT.” It features five dancers choreographed by Rouy and Sharon Eyal, accompanied by flashing lights and electronic music.
What we love: The electronic music in the performance is composed by Rouy, intertwining his concept in multiple mediums to convey crisis and euphoria.
George Rouy at Hauser & Wirth
February 18— June 1, 2025
Kour Pour
Nazarian/ Curcio
Hollywood
Kour Pour, “Under Construction,” 2025
Acrylic on shaped canvases 36 1⁄2 x 63 x 3 in 92.7 x 160 x 7.6 cm
Courtesy of the Kour Pour and Nazarian / Curcio.
“Finding My Way Home” by Kour Pour at Nazarian/ Curcio is open through March 22. The artist draws from personal heritage to blend cultures, using thickly layered mediums on canvas experimenting with form, and technique. With references to Persian miniature painting, Islamic architecture, and sacred geometry, the exhibit explores the intersection of multiple identities. Pour’s art reflects both personal history and broader geopolitical themes, exploring the impact of migration, cultural exchange, and complex political relationships between the Middle East and the West. As an artist with American citizenship who is also Iranian and British, Pour challenges simplified views of identity.
What we love: The exhibition will also feature “Mehmooni,” a group show Pour curated, showcasing the work of Iranian artists in Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian diaspora in the world
Kour Pour at Narzarian/ Curcio
February 15— March 22, 2025
Sam McKinniss
David Kordansky Gallery
Mid-City
Installation view,
Sam McKinniss: The Perfect Tense, January 11 – February 23, 2025, David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Angel Xotlanihua, courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery.
Using images found online, Sam McKinniss documents an emotional life in his exhibit “The Perfect Tense” presented at David Kordansky Gallery. Images from pop culture transform to challenge the viewer’s perception of the human experience. Set in the past, this show carries motifs of loss using paintings to provoke beauty, joy, humor, and complex emotions. McKinniss’s focus on the intimacy of touch and the materiality of oil paint highlights the physicality of the world, while questioning the superficiality of digital culture. The exhibition also includes landscape paintings that range from serene to urgent, grounding McKinniss’s media-focused works in the physical world.
What we love: A beautiful painting of the case from the T.V show Friends gets new meaning accompanied by landscapes evoking new emotions.
Sam McKinniss at David Kordansky Gallery
January 11—February 23, 2025
Alex Israel
Gagosian
Beverly Hills
Alex Israel, Troubadour, 2024 (detail), acrylic on canvas, 54 × 96 inches (137.2 × 243.8 cm) © Alex Israel. Photo: Josh White
“Noir,” by artist Alex Israel, is on view through March 22 at Gagosian Beverly Hills. Israel’s streetscapes blend the noir of the 1940s-80s of LA with a sense of nostalgia and allure. In collaboration with animators and Warner Bros. Scenic Art, the exhibit features digital renderings that evolve into acrylic paintings. In a cascade of vivid colors diners, dealerships, and lingerie shops, are depicted in a disorienting sense of time and space, characteristic of noir’s psychological tension. Presented by Gagosian, the exhibit becomes a kaleidoscopic world using dramatic lights to reflect the seductive, magnetic and untrustworthy nature of the city. Here art bends the fabric of time and reality using the familiar to evoke a sense of curiosity, distrust, and awe.
What we love: A portion of the exhibit sales is to be donated to the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund.
Alex Israel for Gagosian
February 6— March 22, 2025
Doug Aitken
Regen Projects
Hollywood
Doug Aitken
Let it grow (Buffalo III)
2025
EPS Foam with resin exterior coating,
integrated planters
58 x 104 3/4 x 58 1/4 inches (147.3 x 266.1 x
148 cm)
Unique variation 1 of 3, with 1 AP
Doug Aitken’s “Psychic Debris Field” targets multiple senses, exploring a fever dream interpretation of landscapes. At Regen Projects, the artist’s light and sound installations, botanical artworks, and pieces in fabric that investigate the contrast between the ecological roots of our landscape and the modern ways in which we inhabit it. A song cycle, with vocal patterns shifting from violence to warmth, sets the tone for the scene, while a central sculpture of two stags colliding with glowing, interlocking horns draws the viewer’s eye. Aitken creates a surreal atmosphere utilizing organic subjects like plants, animals, and landscapes to push the boundaries of these existing realms.
What we love: The massive mountain lion sculpture titled P-22, is constructed from over eighty materials. A sight you must see in person.
Doug Aitken for Regen Projects
January 11—February 22, 2025
Joseph Beuys
The Broad
Downtown LA
Defense of Nature, 1984 color offset on heavy paper. 25 5/8 x 34 1/4 x 1 1/8 in. (65.09 x 87 x 2.86
cm).
From now until March 23, The Broad presents “Joseph Beuys: In Defense of Nature.” Alongside the exhibition of Joseph Beuys’ work is an engaging reforestation effort from The Broad, “Social Forest: Oaks of Tovaangar” offering programs for locals to immerse themselves in nature and the conversation of Indigenous Stewardship practices. Following Beuys’ beliefs that “everyone is an artist,” the events target environmental repair with close interaction of Los Angeles’s natural landscapes. Programs such as the L.A Zine Fest, and Intuition Festival open discussion of Beuys work through Tongva perspectives. In addition, a curriculum will be extended to classrooms and public parks across the city. Artist Lazaro Arvizu Jr. and archaeologist Desireé Reneé Martinez aided in the creation of the curriculum as Tongva leaders.
What we love: The exhibit is engaging for all ages, portraying Joseph Beuys’ artistic legacy and its ties to the physical environment of L.A.
Joseph Beuys at The Broad
November 16—March 23, 2025
Noctis Imago
Francois Ghebaly
Downtown Los Angeles
Courtesy of the Artist, François Ghebaly, Los Angeles, New York. Photo: Paul Salveson
Courtesy of the Artist, François Ghebaly, Los Angeles, New York. Photo by Paul Salveson.
Artists Jorge Camacho, Ánima Correa, Victor Estrada, Max Hooper Schneider, Jeffrey Meris, Berenice Olmedo, and Reginald Sylvester II feature their variety of work in the exhibition “Noctis Imago” presented by Francois Ghebaly. The seven artists uniquely portray the shared space of bodies and interaction with its systems through mythological references. An innovative mix of pop culture, Latin American history, and marine ecology is present in Correa’s mixed media work while Hooper unites the fields of biology, philosophy, and landscape architecture. From sculptures to paintings the exhibit is a diverse collection of art from different perspectives.
What we love: The captivating contrast between talented artists Jeffery Meris and Victor Estrada displaying sculptures and textured paintings.
Noctis Imago at Francois Ghebaly
January 18—February 22, 2025
Sarah Cain
Honor Fraser
Culvery City
Courtesy of Honor Fraser.
Courtesy of Honor Fraser.
The ever-evolving present is captured in vivid sky blues, electric reds, and silky shades of pink by Los Angeles-based artist Sarah Cain. Her solo exhibition, “Tell the Poets,” at Honor Fraser, transforms architecture into a colorful conversation on political events around the world. Her feminist rage fuels her paintings evoking emotions of joy and fear. Curator Jamilla James commented, “At their very core, Cain’s abstract paintings are radical and disorienting in the best possible way,” highlighting the artist’s ability to command space. Evolved from abandoned buildings to large scale museums, Cain’s art becomes a mirror reflecting intense lived experiences. The final gallery showcases new canvas works, where Cain’s poetic style extends beyond traditional framing.
What we love: The title nods to the story telling of poets as Cain’s art portrays her emotions on politics.
Sarah Cain for Honor Fraser
February 15—April 19, 2025
Jessica Taylor Bellamy
Anat Ebgi
Wilshire
Jessica Taylor Bellamy, “Miss Fix it (Ambition),” 2025, oil on canvas, 36 x 56 inches, courtesy of the artist and Anat Ebgi.
Anat Ebgi presents “Temperature Check” by Jessica Taylor Bellamy through March 22. This solo show includes new pieces drawing from personal photographs to explore climate disasters and politics. Emerging from Bellamy’s interest in car culture, her work explores the anatomy of machinery with her physical body. Inspired by artist Andy Warhol‘s portrait of Elvis Presely, a trio of paintings titled, Miss Fix It, convey the drive to achievement. Bellamy’s attention to detail is magnetic in the piece Foliage Gas Pump, combining nature, the suffocating heat, and progressive machinery.
What we love: Bellamy utilizes a beautiful palette of colors from pastel sunsets, to vivid pops of pink to depict male dominated hobbies like car culture.
Jessica Taylor Bellamy for Anat Ebgi
February 8— March 22, 2025
Imagining Black Diasporas: 21st-Century Art and Poetics
LACMA
Mid-Wilshire
Ibrahim Mahama
Tamale, Ghana, b. 1987; active Tamale, Accra, and Kumasi. KAMARIA KPATASCO GRC, 2019. Dye coupler print
Primary support: 38 5/16 × 25 5/8 in.; image: 38 5/16 × 25 5/8 in. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by the Ralph M. Parsons Fund
Radcliffe Bailey
New Jersey, United States, 1968–2023; active Atlanta
Night Float, 2022
Acrylic paint and glitter on tarpaulin
110 1/2 × 200 1/2 × 1/8 in.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by Andy Song.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s (LACMA) “Imagining Black Diasporas: 21st-Century Art and Poetics,” is a bold, boundary pushing exploration of Black identity, migration, and creative reinvention. Curated by Dhyandra Lawson, the exhibit features 60 artists from Africa, Europe, and the Americas to capture the complex meaning of diaspora. The collection spans paintings, sculpture, and photography emerging from the themes of speech and silence, movement and transformation, imagination, and representation. The survival, transformation, and radical immigration of diaspora are conveyed throughout the exhibit highlighting the history, but also the future of the community.
What we love: Viewers are immersed in the concept of diaspora through mediums of textiles and sculpture.
Imagining Black Diasporas: 21st-Century Art and Poetics at LACMA
December 15, 2024 —August 3, 2025
