Life in LA: Ariana Papademetropoulos explores sex, lies and the city

‘My dad, grandpa, uncle and cousins are all architects on both sides of my family, so I'm really interested in interiors and rooms without people in them and figuring out the clues of what's going on,’ says the Los Angeleno painter Ariana Papademetropoulos on a tour of her latest exhibition, 'Wonderland Avenue', now on view at MAMA Gallery, in Los Angeles' Arts District. ‘There's a certain mystery about it that I'm interested in.’
The spaces on display at MAMA are inspired by the artist's upbringing in Pasadena (think classical 1950s vignettes); lifestyle magazines from the 1960s and 70s (slick midcentury modernist kitchens to shagadelic sitting rooms); slices of film stills (from vintage porn to the bedroom scene in Poltergeist) that are rendered as if they were being viewed through smears in fogged glass; and nude lenticular postcards, whose ‘in-between states’ were captured by Papademetropoulos, first in photographs, then in oil.
‘For me, it's between a memory and the peripherals of something and there's always some kind of conflict involved, even though you can't always see it,’ says Papademetropoulos, pointing to one lenticular, Nude, Pensive, that features a beautiful blond woman morphing between pre-and-post-coital poses. ‘When she's clothed she's very seductive, but in the image behind it she's naked on a bed and very sad, looking down. It's like a before/after. It's very funny.’
In the middle of the gallery is a bright yellow room (meant to invoke an unsettling version of the artist's own boudoir) where stands a tiny bed with a dirty floral sheet set, a chess board topped with lipstick tubes as pieces, Witchcraft and Strip-Tac-Toe parlor games, a figurative lamp from her house, and a gold-veined mirror reflecting the trippy mise-en-scene, including a pink and orange gradient painting that bears the phrase ‘Just Before the Horror’.
‘I wanted people to be able to walk inside the paintings, so in a sense this is a rip in the room,’ she says, walking through an ovoid portal that mimics the abstracted rips in three large interiors studies. In All Flesh is Grass, which can be seen from the yellow room, a green carpeted salon is interrupted by a wood-paneled den appointed with yellow furniture whose floral painting seemingly battles with the abstract landscape in the green room. Across the large gallery, Armchair Revival takes a page from the artist's home library in Pasadena, alternating between the brightness of day and the danger of night. Meanwhile, the epic Another Picnic Painting, in the backroom, fuses a greyscale midcentury kitchen with a Rosenquist-styled picnic scene filled with ghost-like figures whose faces are blurred into agonised states.
‘Even though it's scaled so you think you could walk in there, the rip reminds you that it's not a real space, it brings you back to collage, it reminds you that it's not really tangible,’ says Papademetropoulos.
This intangibility strikes at the heart of the show's title, which is a reference to the idyllic Laurel Canyon street (and community) that was torn apart by a gruesome quadruple homicide at a townhouse frequented by porn stars, on the titular avenue that was home to the drug-dealing Wonderland Gang.
‘It's about how all these different things can happen in one space. It's also kind of about Los Angeles as a whole, and myths, and the duality of certain things, the dark side and facade.’
In the middle of the gallery is a bright yellow room, intended to invoke an unsettling version of Papademetropoulos' own boudoir
Dressed with a tiny bed, a chess board topped with lipstick tubes as pieces, a figurative lamp from her house, and a gold-veined mirror reflecting the trippy mise-en-scene, the scene can be entered through an ovoid portal
In All Flesh is Grass (pictured), a green carpeted salon is interrupted by a wood-paneled den appointed with yellow furniture, whose floral painting seemingly battles with the abstract landscape in the green room
‘For me, it's between a memory and the peripherals of something and there's always some kind of conflict involved, even though you can't always see it,’ says Papademetropoulos of her work
‘My dad, grandpa, uncle and cousins are all architects on both sides of my family, so I'm really interested in interiors and rooms without people in them and figuring out the clues of what's going on,’ she continues. Pictured: Another Picnic Painting, 2016
The exhibition also includes several lenticular works, including Rumours of Spring, 2015 (pictured), which shows the subject in two provocative postures
INFORMATION
’Wonderland Avenue’ is on view until 23 April. For more information, visit MAMA Gallery’s website
Photography courtesy of the artist and MAMA Gallery
ADDRESS
MAMA Gallery
1242 Palmetto Street
Los Angeles
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Frank Traynor makes everyday objects extraordinary
Frank Traynor’s ‘A Can Opener of Myself’ – a ‘maximalist, minimalist contradiction’ of adorned objects – is at The Future Perfect, New York (until 31 December 2023)
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
New M&C Saatchi Berlin office interiors embrace bold colour
Llot Llov’s M&C Saatchi Berlin office interiors bring a shot of colour to their brutalist setting
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Comme Si’s first store in Brooklyn is a design lover’s temple to socks
Sock and loungewear brand Comme Si launches a temporary Brooklyn store, a rich and inviting space created with designers Elias Studio, John Sohn and Yoonjee Kwak
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
Sheila Metzner’s jewel-toned fashion photography goes on show in Los Angeles
‘Sheila Metzner: From Life’ is at the Getty Center until 18 February 2024, including her richly toned fashion photography and still lifes; the artist tells us more
By Hunter Drohojowska-Philp Published
-
Takashi Murakami on his monsterizing San Francisco show
Takashi Murakami tells us of pandemic-inspired creatures, eye-popping flowers, and NFTs as he explains the making of his exhibition at Asian Art Museum in San Francisco
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
How to conquer the Atomic City: the story behind U2 at the new Las Vegas Sphere
U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere redefines the 21st-century rock concert. We spoke to the band and its team about the genesis of this expansive art and music experience that marks the opening of the high-tech venue
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Ceramicist Jonathan Cross on crafting art from desert materials in the Mojave
Jonathan Cross’ flourishing practice incorporates local sand and stones from his base on the edge of Joshua Tree to create minimalist works with a unique patina
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
Ken Gun Min’s mixed-media montages reframe cultural influences and queer identity
South Korean-born, LA-based Ken Gun Min illusively combines painting, embroidery and illustration
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
Jack Pierson’s photographs and sculptures go on show in New York
Artist Jack Pierson draws on life experiences for a new show, ‘Pomegranates’, at Lisson Gallery, New York
By Hannah Silver Published
-
TikTok gets tangible: artist Devon Rodriguez opens his first exhibition, in New York
Devon Rodriguez, who until now has reserved his work for his 31 million TikTok followers, has opened his first exhibition at UTA Artist Space’s pop-up gallery in Chelsea, New York
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Man Ray’s sculptures go on show in New York
‘Man Ray: Other Objects’ opens at Luxembourg + Co, New York, revealing their author’s ‘artistic revolution’
By Hannah Silver Published