We viewed four films today including three enlightening Q & A’s. Tomorrow will mark the first time we try the “second run” feature, each of these were premieres.
Starting with my favorite film, this evening’s premiere of the Swedish psychological thriller, Knocking, was a succinct, riveting portrayal with a terrifically fulfilling conclusion. Director Frida Kempff gives us a compact, beautifully shot film in which protagonist Molly, upon emerging from a stay in a psychiatric facility, is thrust into a real-or-imagined rescue. Played with intense focus by Cecilia Milocco, both character and film are haunting and haunted, leading to a deeply suspenseful film under 80 minutes. According to Kempff, the taut film was shot in an equally succinct 18 days, but the visual style is nonetheless riveting.
So too are the images from the surreal-tinged In the Earth, a horror thriller set in an English wilderness. Already acquired by Neon, director Ben Wheatley’s tale of magic, madness, and terror shifts gears with ease throughout, aided by lush visuals and an ominous score. Scientist Martin (Joel Fry) and ranger Alma (Ellora Torchia) are beset by the dark magic of a rogue scientist and her mad husband, played by Hayley Squires and Reece Shearsmith. If the film runs on a bit long and devolves a bit into the psychedelic, that can be forgiven; it’s a gorgeous film that does not ignore the current pandemic but nor does it pander to it.
The fine international production of Human Factors, from sophomore German writer-director Ronny Trocker, is a Roshomon-like story with weaving perspectives from son, daughter, husband, wife, and even a pet rat, peripherally revolving around a would-be robbery, but more pointedly around a disintegrating marriage between two advertising professionals. It also examines political extremism, and how that can come into play in a crumbling personal relationship as well as a socio-political one. Trocker embraces his ambiguous ending, revealing in a Q & A that it was “up to the viewer” to interpret and dissect; it fits the tense, threatening ambiguity throughout the film. Fascinating and discussable.
At the bottom of my viewing barrel was a film I wanted to love but simply could not, the comic end-of-the-world-by-comet fable, “How It Ends.” Set in LA and filmed during the pandemic, it’s comically beleaguered heroine, along with her “metaphysical younger self” traverse the streets of the Hollywood Hills along with a few other random Los Angeles locales looking for closure from parents, lovers, and friends. Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryl Wein’s film gives the protagonist (Lister-Jones) an on-foot to-do list of reconciliation that regrettably doesn’t do all that much. Some “high” comic moments – particularly a cameo by Nick Kroll – aside, this just didn’t click for me despite its whimsical nature.
Shockboxx Gallery, Minimalism exhibition; featured image “Freeway” is by Alison Corteen.
Pandemic or no pandemic, the show must go on. The art show that is. Shockboxx has been providing exciting new shows for by-appointment viewing in the gallery’s airy space, as well as offering virtual opening and closing events and artists’ talks since the pandemic first began. If establishing a community is more important to the art world than ever before, then this Hermosa Beach gallery is upholding that important mandate big time.
As we face a new wave of both viruses and restrictions, we would do well to visit gallerist Mike Collins’ “shockingly” good space in the South Bay whether virtually or with a visit IRL.
I am remiss in my coverage: I have seen two virtual and two live exhibitions here, and they have all been fantastic. Living in the Beach Cities myself, where there is a dearth of excellent art spaces (Torrance Art Museum aside), Shockboxx is all the more vital a space.
Let’s take a look around:
First up for me online this summer was a solo show by Brazillian-born, Hermosa Beach-local artist Drica Lobo, whose swooping, lush, brilliantly vibrant paintings were placed in a custom setting as awash with the sea and moon and female energy as you can get. The lovely, peaceful look of the exhibition was matched by a powerful sense of color and urgent motion.
It would be impossible to take in this truly gorgeous solo show without feeling as if you were swept up by the sea, enveloped by the aura of mermaids, magic, and moonlight — but in an entirely fresh and original way. Iconic local images were approached in gracious and brand new way, offering a new way of seeing familiar landscapes that rendered them as an entirely different world.
Transcendent use of color and light created a pattern that mesmerizes the viewer; Lobo’s lovely use of the gallery space made a visit a respite for pandemic-wearing souls and eyes.
Next up for me was the semi-response to Lobo’s astute, pastel-driven, meditative aura: the rowdy, darker, prankster-laden visuals of the all-male group show Swordfight. Described more as a distaff companion to the all-female artists of the gallery’s earlier Powerhouse show, it nonetheless was a wonderful counterpoint to Lobo’s solo as well.
Jack George
Here there was a rich counter-play of images that expressed a wonderful energy, one that was also tinged with angst, anger, fun, and an edge of frustration infused with hope.
Online – the opening included performance art
Terrific curation and a great conversation between artworks fueled a show both fast and furious – for an adrenaline boost to the eye and the spirit that was not without its darker, introspective moments.
Scott Meskill has art in and curated the splendid SwordfightMike Collins “Le tournoi des meurtres,” Mike CollinsGlitter Shark – Paul RoustanScott MeskillPreston Smith
Following the passionate Swordfight came the group open show, 2021? – an overflowing feast of art, with a wide range of mediums, perceptions, and textures.
Tanya Britkina, “Eve and Her Cat”Karrie Ross Justin ProughChloe Allred
As inclusive as it was cutting edge, there were not only a broad selection of tastes and palettes, but a sense of connection and intimacy between the works and viewers. Some group shows seem haphazardly curated, but not this one: works were positioned to truly interact – from Aimee Mandala’s giant boot to MUKA’s fabulous teddy bear.
Routine Traffic Stop by Jonathan Crowart
Glancing from side to side or traversing back to front in the gallery space, it had an immersive, museum-quality aesthetic that actually took viewers on a journey from the more realism driven to the more fanciful and back again – as if the exhibit itself represented time spent in our own heads, planning for the future, regretting the past, working through the ongoing roadblocks of the present. In short, the ultimate group show for pandemic times.
Monica Marks
Like a palette cleanser if you will, the current Shockboxx exhibition, Minimalism, is just that – subtle and suspended, allowing the windows and doors of the mind to open and travel through these powerfully limited landscapes.
Mark EisendrathJoy RayYoung Shin Frederika Roeder – “Whiteout – Whiteout”
Mimialism will close physically this coming weekend, but you can continue to view works online.
But here’s the thing: whatever is next on the walls at Shockboxx, go get electrified by it – whether you’re Zooming in or stopping by after a brisk walk on the beach, you can bet that this gallery will get you plugged in.
The gallery is located at 636 Cypress Ave. in Hermosa Beach; visit online at Shockboxprojects.com
Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis, and courtesy of Shockboxx/exhibiting artists. Note: Featured image is by Alison Corteen
Creating a portrait of people is what inspires photographic artist and filmmaker Alice Esposito but surrounding her subjects with light and space is what informs her work. Calling her subjects her “community,” and explaining her work as a response to and documentation of her life, Esposito’s still images appear visually entwined with her film work.
“I grew up watching, Italian Neorealism, Nouvelle Vague and Film Noir; they all influence my work greatly in photography and film,” she says. “In my movies I like more of an experimental approach, exploring existential themes. I’m interested in the change in the psyche and approach of everyday life and its conditions, from social issues, oppression, injustice, especially the use of irony as a tool to explore these themes.”
Both bodies of work are poetic and lyrical and evoke a sense of connection with the viewer. “I rarely photograph people without having a conversation with them, I want to understand the person I’m about to photograph, their mannerisms, their posture, what makes them laugh, cry, and think. I love to see the place where they live, to know what they’re passionate about, what kind of energy surrounds them.”
Viewing one’s home as a personal “temple,” she frequently uses this setting in her work, saying this is where her subjects are most comfortable in expressing themselves, and revealing an intimate sense of their spirits.
“When you understand the soul, the essence of a person, it becomes easy to capture their attitude and presence with the camera,” Esposito explains. “Having and using a camera should be seen as an honor, you are put in an extremely privileged position. It’s like having a friend that will never abandon you, and it has a special gift to see things that otherwise you could not.” She adds “It’s basically like having a superpower, when the shutter goes down inside the camera, you don’t actually see what’s going on, everything can happen in 1/1000 of a second.”
She terms the best photographs “happy accidents…you can set up at the scene perfectly and try to control all the elements of it, but you need to be ready for things to go wrong and play with it, you need to have a sense of contingency, you need to be willing to transform your expectations and reshape your initial idea.”
That sense of spontaneity, her love of light, and her engagement with her subjects is vividly present in her work, as is her love of storytelling. “I want the full life experience of the person in front of me. Sometimes,” she admits, “I become obsessed with this method, before taking a portrait of a person it takes me days, weeks, to find the perfect moment, or sometimes, it’s after 5 minutes. It depends when I see what I want to capture, then I’m ready to get behind the camera.”
From a personal standpoint, Esposito admits “I think camera offers me some kind of protection, but it also gives me courage. I don’t only appreciate and love the camera as a tool for my work, but also as an instrument for me to come out of my shell without being too scared, I guess.”
As an admirer of Fellini and Antonioni, Goddard and Truffaut, Diane Arbus and Nan Goldin, both her films and photographs have a quality of dreamy imagination; they are tinged with both a touch of magic and the surreal.
“I want to create a unique and bizarre atmosphere, I love using both natural light and stark artificial lighting effects, to achieve a particular feeling. I often play with double exposure when using film…I want to navigate between the reality at the surface of life and bring a dreamy nostalgia [to it].”
As her process has become more methodical over time, she says today she’s most interested in expressing allusions and subtle meanings, creating a more analytical approach to her work – while still welcome the unpredictable moments, she asserts. Her work itself has been a spiritual evolution, she adds “Photography gave me a freedom to be who I am without being scared or worried.”
That openness of self-expression has not changed due to the pandemic, though certainly her subjects have. “I haven’t had many chances to see people, apart from a window of social distancing. This has been the chance for me to complete or reprise some unfinished work, and in my editing work, I’m spending a lot of time on the computer and I’m building a huge archive, conceptualizing ideas I could apply now to my work now or later, when I’ll be finally free to leave my studio.”
Esposito recognizes that when she does so, it will be as if emerging into a changed world, altered in terms of many intimate relationships, as well as through pandemic restrictions and changes. Undoubtedly she’ll capture it all through her camera.
Hagop Najarian enters the exhibition space at High Beams 2
Held in the Gallery Also parking lot in Lincoln Park, High Beams 2 was an absolutely terrific treat for Halloween night. In a year like this one, an outdoor show with wildly wonderful art and artists in costumes as well as pandemic-safe masks, would’ve been a great experience no matter what art was being shown.
But thankfully, High Beams 2 went far beyond that base line, to present an exciting, visually stimulating, perfect-for-nighttime show that literally and figuratively was a blast of light.
The High Beams concept of collectives that each show an installation of art is planned to continue next year, which is something to look forward to. This was the second iteration of the concept, the first having taken place on a parking garage roof and involving drive-through attendees.
Halloween night featured a curatorial collection of primarily Bendix Building art spaces in a walk-through exhibition.
Some were interactive, such as a wonderful, haunted pirate themed mini-golf course from Gallery Also, and the mesmerizing shifting portal of Sean Noyce’s projected work, “Portal 2,” presented through his gallery with Katya Utvitsky, Noysky Projects.
He describes the piece as “using conventions common to a witches’ magic circle, a gateway to the paternal spirits of my family in Utah.” The work uses a pyramid to harness both “masculine and feminine power, concentrating their energy at the zenith where the four corners meet.” Noyce views the work as “an opportunity to learn from the mistakes and blunders of my ancestors, while cumulatively building on their core strengths and values.” The digital projection, from a purely visual perspective, is stunning, while culturally fascinating in its exploration of homage paid to ancestors who “were imperfect at best and downright repugnant at worst.”
Noyce viewed the exhibition itself as “a refreshing way to experience the social aspects of an art opening, but without all the safety issues related to a traditional one. We’re all figuring out how to live our lives by maintaining our mental health and other ancillary aspects that are germane to being an artist. It makes you realize how important it all is.”
ARLAARLA
From projected images such as Noyce’s and superb film by Ibuki Kuramochi, to the mixed media sculptures presented by ARLA, to a gorgeous, crystal-like pillar of changing colors and mind-skewing geometric shape, the exhibits each had a somewhat supernatural quality that fit the theme of “The dead tell no tales.”
Museum Adjacentfrom Museum Adjacent’s installation
At Musuem Adjacent location, according to Hagop Najarian, “Our concept was to say goodbye to and destroy old things from 2020, so each member from our group made a video of themselves destroying their art work. I made a loop video of all 5 members videos that we palyed all night. The display was a memorial/ graveyard, if you will, of our works.”
Seen below, the wonderful pillar is Ismael de Anda III’s “Lazaro’s Run,” a riff on the science-fiction film Logan’s Run, depicting a utopian future society, revealed as a dystopia where everyone who reaches the age of thirty dies.
“To track this, each person is implanted at birth with a ‘life-clock’ crystal in the palm of the hand that changes color as they get older and begins blinking as they approach their ‘Last Day,’” de Anda explains. “’Lazaro’s Run’ is a thirteen-foot-tall mutationof the giant robotic crystal hand sculpture featured in the film… A varied, geometric, negative space ‘crystal’ pattern is featured in the center of the cardboard hand with pulsating LED lights placed inside the sculpture, allowing colored light to emanate as a beacon from the center…”
de Anda with his work
He adds “From the original film’s title, Logan is changed to Lazaro, my grandfather’s name, the Spanish version of Lazarus, a biblical figure that rises from the dead.”
Exhibiting for Durden and Ray along with fellow collective artist Tom Dunn, who offered complex, intense, and involving wall artwork, de Anda calls his inclusion “an honor. It was exciting how all the organizers for the High Beams events are continuously looking for alternative and innovative ways to present art to the public… On this astronomical night of the rare blue full moon, observing safety protocols, I had the rare opportunity during these times to make new friends and feel a reinvigorated solidarity with L.A.’s dynamic and unique artist community.”
Work by Tom Dunn, to the rightde Anda by Tom Dunn’s work
According to Durden and Ray collective curator Alanna Marcelletti, termsthe exhibition exuded “a fun-house-style” creative experience, “It has been such an exciting experience to create a show… with an amazing mix of curators from different artistic backgrounds and curatorial initiatives.”
Carl Baratta, left
Artist and curator Carl Baratta says the motivation for holding the second High Beams exhibition on Halloween night was primarily “fun. We knew the following week would start to get cold, and the elections were gearing up, and like everyone else, we wondered if we were trying to hold an event with ideas of civil war or whatever floating around. The pandemic is hard enough as it is, so, we decided to pick the most fun night we could to keep the momentum going after our successful run with the drive-through exhibition.”
Monte Vista Projects
Baratta notes “We just thought carving out some space to take a break and see unexpected things not on video chat would hopefully energize folks for the week(s) to come with election madness. We also really love throwing these events for our art community and miss the interaction, so we really pushed hard to get things together in time. For me it was really nice to show Ibuki Kuramochi who’s at home taking care of an elderly loved one. She couldn’t make it to the event in person, but it still gave her something to look forward to, and that’s in rare supply these days. We all need something to look forward to that’s positive.” Describing the experience as “great” and one that offered a fresh mix of artists, Baratta says the collectives are looking forward to more alt space High Beams events in March 2021. He says the group will “start hatching new plans for 2021 on Monday.”
Participating art spaces/collectives this time around included: Acceptable Risk LA, Durden and Ray, Gallery ALSO, Monte Vista Projects, Museum Adjacent, Noysky Projects, TSALA, Wow Project LA, and 515 Gallery, the latter offering a musical presentation.
Featured artists were Ismael de Anda III, Rachel Apthorp, Carl Baratta, Michael Castañeda, Coby Cerna, Carly Chubak, Sean Cully, Tirsa Delate, Tom Dunn, Dominick Garritano, Lesya Godfrey, Linus Gruszewski, Matt Haywood, Ibuki Kuramochi, Kim Marra, Easton Miller, Oliver Mayhall, Lauren Moradi, Hagop Najarian, Sean Noyce, Alaïa Parhizi, Alyssa Rogers, Adrienne Sacks, Katie Shanks, Katya Usvitsky, Josh Vasquez, Cheyann Washington, Surge Witron, Larissa Nickel.
Ismael de Anda III and Tom DunnKatya Usvitsky and Sean Noyce
Genie Davis; photos, Genie Davis and Ismael de Anda III
