When it comes to Los Angeles exhibitions, the scene is undergoing something of a gold rush. Drawn to the city's light, space and multifarious identifies, a flurry of East Coast-anchored and European galleries have announced new outposts in Los Angeles, including Pace, Lisson, Sean Kelly, The Hole and Hauser & Wirth, which anchor the city during events like the relatively nascent (but monumental in scope) Frieze Los Angeles fair.
Nowhere does art quite like Los Angeles. Explore the top Los Angeles exhibitions to visit under the California sun
Los Angeles exhibitions: current
Thomas Albdorf: ‘Body Double’
Until 29 July 2023
Webber LA
Four Letters, Part Two, 2022
Open now at Webber’s new LA outpost, Thomas Albdorfs ‘Body Double’ explores visual myth-building. It’s a practice common to Los Angeles, the setting to which Albdorf alludes, with its associations of Hollywood and sun-soaked concrete; and also to AI imaging processes, a tool of the artist’s, which invent the unreal through reference to the real. Talking about the future of photography, the Austrian artist tells us, ‘I am concerned about losing our connection with reality, our way of looking at and engaging with the world through a camera, but I am also curious about where artificial images can lead us too.’ With this concern and curiosity existing simultaneously, Albdorf’s ‘Body Double’ asks us to reflect upon the assumptions we make of our visual languages and the consequential narratives.
Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: ‘In Dialogue’
Getty Center
Until 9 July 2023
Untitled (Woman and daughter with children), 1990, Carrie Mae Weems.) Gelatin silver print
After meeting each other both aged just 23, Dawoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems individually grew influential practices across the past five decades while sharing a dialogue of creativity, identity, and social consciousness. Now, in this Los Angeles exhibition at the Getty Center, audiences are for the first time fully let in on the dynamic connections and contrasts between these artist friends as they explore the everyday realities of Black Americans across changing years, while also speaking to the broader human condition.
Christine Sun Kim: ‘Bounce Back’
ICA LA
Until 10 September 2023
Christine Sun Kim, preparatory drawing for Bounce Back, 2023 at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Berlin-based American artist Christine Sun Kim will soon adorn the façade of the ICA in a new large-scale mural that engages with the limits and possibilities of language (spoken, signed, or scripted). Bounce Back (2022) takes debt as its subject, signed in American Sign Language (ASL) by one index finger tapping the open palm of the other. The piece explores how one sign can carry a number of nuanced meanings in ASL, as well as layered issues of systemic inequity and the experience of those in debt.
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Reed Krakoff ushers John Hardy jewellery into a new era, and refreshes its New York storeThe ‘Spear’ jewellery collection riffs on John Hardy’s signature handwoven chain, while the boutique nods to the brand’s Balinese heritage
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New Aesop store in Rome opens, an ode to the Eternal City
At the new Aesop Via del Corso store in Rome, architect Jakob Sprenger hosted a celebratory event with Wallpaper*, including a panel discussion chaired by contributing editor Dal Chodha
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Marc Newson on his electric hydrofoil collaboration with Fliteboard
The Fliteboard x Marc Newson eFoil promises a smooth surfing experience with cutting-edge materials and space-age design
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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
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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
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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
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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’
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Edinburgh Art Festival 2023: from bog dancing to binge drinking
What to see at Edinburgh Art Festival 2023, championing women and queer artists, whether exploring Scottish bogland on film or casting hedonism in ceramic
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Last chance to see: Devon Turnbull’s ‘HiFi Listening Room Dream No. 1’ at Lisson Gallery, London
Devon Turnbull/OJAS’ handmade sound system matches minimalist aesthetics with a profound audiophonic experience – he tells us more
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Hospital Rooms and Hauser & Wirth unite for a sensorial London exhibition and auction
Hospital Rooms and Hauser & Wirth are working together to raise money for arts and mental health charities
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Kim Gordon on art and the iPhone, band dynamics, and her next step
American visual artist and musician Kim Gordon, formerly of Sonic Youth, discusses her recent show of paintings, creative collaboration and new ventures
