Inspirational Work from Late Artist Nadege Monchera Baer at The Front and in Stunning Group Show, Mother Memory at Wonzimer

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Inspirational Work from Late Artist Nadege Monchera Baer at The Front and in Stunning Group Show, Mother Memory at Wonzimer

                                                                                        Genie Davis

It’s been a summer of changes and some chaos, but it is past time to catch up on some of the wonderful exhibitions I’ve had the joy of experiencing in July and August.

It’s only fitting to post first a tribute to Nadege Monchera Baer, a brilliantly imaginative artist whose articulate use of color and pattern, exquisite precision, and enormous artistic and personal grace I am proud to have known over the last 13 years. In my coverage of past exhibitions, I’ve touched on her versatility, her lush textures, her frankly dazzling use of materials, and her constant willingness to both experiment and offer experiential vibrancy to her viewers.

From her dazzling pointillist work to unique laminated dimensional sculptures, her inventive passion for art, and her ever-fresh use of mediums and style were, and will always remain, magical.  Of the latter work,  in 2016, Baer said, “I want to do more of this, laminate different drawings. I love the possibility that the door has maybe begun opening to doing something else with my work.”

At last weekend’s pop-up exhibition of her work at The Front in Lincoln Heights, the luminosity of her work was almost overwhelming.

Whether creating lush works that resemble flowers, a bird of bright plumage, or the human form, her mix of abstract and figurative work shapes the alchemic. In another exhibition as part of the BLAM collective which frequently exhibited on Santa Fe Avenue in DTLA, she even made beautiful a depiction of an oil spill clean-up, saying “I’m always painting changes in the environment. I’m trying to show our concern about the environment. ”

She also profoundly witnessed and depicted the intense wonder in the world.

Invention, beauty, grace: Baer offered each with a generous heart and spirit. She was an artistic force to be reckoned with. Earlier this summer she was a part of a stunning small group show at FOCA, curated by Aline Mare; and along with the brilliant tribute exhibition at The Front, which has now closed, last weekend also brought viewers to Baer’s work at an exciting group exhibition, Mother Memory, at Wonzimer Gallery, curated by Toti O’Brien, and running through September 12th.

At the latter show,  amid a collection of powerful artists’ works, Baer is still a standout, her eye for color, for texture, for pattern, and above all, for the mystical meaning within the heart of her work made her images both bold and exciting.

That exhibition is a don’t-miss extravaganza of joy, mystery, and passion from artists including: Anita Getzler, Gina Lawson Egan, Peter Liashkov, Marina Moevs, Toti O’Brien, Melinda Smith Altshuler, Nancy Kay Turner, J Michael Walker, and of course, the unforgettable Nadege Monchera Baer.

The show richly dives into a wide range of mothering experiences: memories of mothers, the idea of mothering, the experience of motherhood, and the expression of memory itself as a mother to our minds and souls.  O’Brien’s poetic curation asks viewers to examine how memory itself is a mother to us, and the ways in which our memories create and shape us, nurture us and guide us. Of course, memories can also bring tears, wild imagination, revisionist history,  exuberant moments relived, and aspects of our past, our future legacy, and the passage of time that both succor us and can devastate.

In just such a way, this potent exhibition honors Baer, even as her work honors the viewer with its presence. We have our memories of her art, her vibrant personality, her stunning fashion sense, culled from a background in fashion and film abroad. We have our own memories in which her work dances, as well as memories yet formed and yet shaped of her work, her passions, and that of all the artists exhibiting here.

Each work in this show is a gem: an installation from Nancy Kay Turner features elements of glitter and bronze within collages of past memories and evocations of our own collective history…

Curator and exhibiting artist Toti O’Brien’s whimsical, alive, and stirring wall sculptures of the female form are provocative and fun at the same time…

Anita Getzler pays tribute to those who lost their lives to Covid in both video and sculptural forms involving dried roses, which sculpturally are hung like the beads on an abacus that counts the passage of time…

Gina Lawson Egan’s intensely original sculptural totems and figures take the viewer on an evocative but accessible fantasy ride, looking like the stuff dreams are made of.

Each of the artists here provide an insight into memory and movement and invention, the ways in which we, as human beings, bring our own marks into the future, recreate our pasts, and preserve our lives and legacy through art and understanding.

While she may have left us bereft here on Mother Earth, Baer (work above) continues to grace our lives with her eternally living artwork. And the group show at Wonzimer highlights both her work and that of the other exhibiting artists in an exhibition that demands to be seen, felt, and carried in our hearts.

Wonzimer Gallery is located at 341 S. Avenue 17 in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles. The gallery is open Wednesday-Sunday, and do visit Mother Memory, up until September 12th.

To see more of Nadege Monchera Baer‘s works, visit her garden of images on Instagram.

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis

 

Vojislav Radovanovic’s Bird Circuit Sings

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           Vojislav Radovanovic’s Bird Circuit Sings – by Genie Davis

Vojislav Radovanovic’s stunning solo exhibition Bird Circuit soars through a poetic exploration of identity, self-expression, and joy. Using an exciting, primarily brilliant palette and perfectly detailed images of wonderous birds as its starting point, the exhibition is inspired by the historical bird circuit, a collection of bars with names inspired by birds, which welcomed guests to queer-friendly spaces in cities such as New York and Los Angeles when such were considered to be illegal.

Radovanovic’s work is a lesson in painterly perfection and magical realism. As curated by Jason Jenn, the vibrant images fly through a variety of remarkable, mystical paintings which in many cases landing in immersive installation space.

Above, “Bejeweled Finch” is rich in layers, materials, and the intricate lovliness that is the make-up of each piece in this exhibition. Here, Radovanovic uses mixed media on light reflector, glass and wood bead, and thread to create a delicate and dreamy image.

Each of the artist’s works here are both profoundly lovely and filled with dynamic energy. The winged cultural mascots he depicts herald the strength of cultural resistance to oppression, the vibrancy of which has never been more pertinent and vital than today. These avian figures pull viewers into stories that were born in a network of gay bars, sanctuaries for connection. In these images, birds indicating these places of sanctuary lead one into a world of metaphor and music as potent as birdsong. There are anthropomorphic figures, playful scenes, loving couples, and alchemic mystery — the latter firmly embued in each work.

Along with the birds themselves, there are elements of magic. Mysteriously dark, seemingly shape shifting birds clad in top hats appear in  “Magician; a silver bird astride an artist’s brush with a half moon perched between his wings, in “Omen.”

 

Some of the paintings are magical in approach if not subject. These are layered in theapplication of paint and the precision of Radovanovic’s brush strokes, or involve the quilts of smaller previous paintings conjoined into larger work, as in “Urge to Sing,” below.

And along with his paintings, Radovanovic offers sculptural images, including fantastical blue wooden swans sailing across a shiny silver lake in one gallery, and video projected on soft fabric behind shimmery curtains in another.

 

 

The fabric serving as the location of the video projection makes the images move and dance like ripples on a clear lake, each embodying a different reflection. In the same gallery are the artist’s assemblage, “Ladders,” and the lush collage of “Let Love Flourish (Cape),” an elaborately embroidered silver cape with a dimensional collage that once again speaks to the idea of magic, of talismans, or a conjurer’s protection from risk.

Other sculptural pieces also shine. “The Frog” is a whimsically vivid green friend, accompanied by a wildly blooming water lily, while “Small Birds” are layered, hinged sculptural visions in green and blue,  enjoying a small water source surrounded by pink flowers.

Each of these transformative paintings and sculptures speak to the power of love, and the ways in which love always finds a way. They are also powerful rebukes to the hatred and ugliness of the world in the past, and even more certainly of the present. They are a reclamation and a redemption.

“Swans” form a beatific heart in one intensely moving piece, awash in moonlight, moody and romantic with its sliver of perfect moon and palette of watery blues.

“Ultraviolet”  presents the ways in which the unique vision of birds allows them to see the world through vision that far exceeds human sight in their perception of colors and light, including ultraviolet light. A velvety blue flower features an eye, while two blue birds pluck intensely ruby-colored berries from a branch, and two red mushrooms pulse with sensual energy.

In a way, the artist’s perception is equally heightened. He sees not just the subjects he paints but presents their innermost souls, rich and rewarding, as multiply layered as the feathers on bird wings. He embraces the need for sanctuary, succor, sweetness, and celebration in every work, weaving the fantastical with the fabulous, the fierce with the importance of faith, magic, and hope.

There are many ideas nesting within Radovanovic’s work, but one of the most vital is the importance of joy and the ability to take flight above the darkest of times, claiming special places as our own, always seeking the radiance of love and freedom, and envisioning the promise of delight.

Bird Circuit closes Saturday, June 28 2-5 p.m. at the Ronald H. Silverman Gallery with a closing reception, catalog signing, and artist and curator walk-through. The exhibition will also be on view at https://www.laartdocuments.com/ if you’ve missed this beautiful show live.

  • Genie Davis; photos provided by the artist and curator

 

Annie Clavel Explores Human History in Vivid Color

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Annie Clavel Explores Human History in Vivid Color by Genie Davis

Human History, Annie Clavel’s lustrous new exhibition opening Saturday June 14th at LAAA Gallery 825, is the story of humanity and the restless and relentless human drive to explore the unknown and overcome adversity. The exhibition takes note of the fact that human beings venture beyond their homelands to search for a better life and sustenence, something that has been true since early man formed tribes all the way up to today’s migrations.

Her visionary approach explores how these global shifts and movements shape and reshape our world over time, transforming it. Examining this impact is a celebration: of the courage necessary to face the unknown and the spirit of hope that moves humanity ever forward. It is a positive and beautiful message that is especially resonant in the current political climate.

According to the artist, “This exhibition is a consideration on migrations over time, on the movement of populations, whether voluntary or forced, and on the dynamics of history.  For a long time, the source of my inspiration has been my interest in cosmology, astronomy, the infinitely small and the infinitely large. However, the events that I paid attention to and that furnished my reflections were not visible in my painting: population movements, effects of natural disasters on humanity, consequences of famines and wars.”

Clavel adds “In my immediate surroundings, I have seen the increase in poverty in the U.S. [which fuels migration]. In addition, I like to think about the different countries from which I come or in which I have lived: my father’s Indochina (Vietnam); my mother’s France, and also  Germany, Tunisia and the United States.”

She notes that “The history of recent decades has also led me to read numerous articles and books on migration. A book deepened my thinking on the history of migrations [was] The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan. The book was described by Vanity Fair magazines as “an exhilarating companion for the journey along the routes which conveyed silk, slaves, ideas, religion, and disease, and around which today may hang the destiny of the world.”

To create her exhibition at Gallery 825, Clavel started on a series of small paintings, beginning with the representation of currents and water in nature, in an abstract way. Then the idea of perpetual migrations inspired me and a whole series of paintings with silhouettes of migrants was born.”

She notes that she wanted to integrate a third dimension to the art for this exhibition by building small sculptures. “This gave me the opportunity to emphasize the permanence of migrations in space and time. I cut long strips from large watercolors on Yupo. I had initially imagined assembling Moebius strips. They have neither front nor back, and you can imagine walking indefinitely on one of them without seeing the end.”

Clavel says that her initial idea needed to evolve, in part because of “the difficulty of gluing the two ends of the strip together without the joint being visible. The sculptures became convolutions of strips springing from a wooden base. To demonstrate the historical connection, I named each sculpture with mythical place names.”

She views this new body of work as both a continuation from and a departure from her past work. “My previous paintings have often expressed movement… Look at the titles of several of them, ‘Rip Current,’  ‘Tsunami,’ and ‘Turbulence.'”

As an artist, Clavel relates that she has always wanted to incorporate human forms into her abstract paintings, and while this is not exactly what she has done in this series, the new work represents a step in her process, one she views as being “neither realistic nor objective,” while expressing her intention that she may introduce the human figure in her next series. Instead, here, she points out “we can see silhouettes, even large groups of human beings. They run to avoid floods, they jump to escape a catastrophe, they are forced to flee without knowing where to go.”

She says that her palette is chosen before she starts painting, and like much of her work, it is based on her own feelings and artistic impulse. “I don’t think about the composition in advance, I just think about how I feel. In this series, I started with blue and green, painting wide open spaces and river currents. I added bird migrations to a few paintings, then began adding migratory flows of human creatures. For the sculptures, I used the same palette as [that in] my paintings.”

Come see the new series of Clavel’s lucious work Human History at Gallery 825 at 825 N La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, running from June 14 to July 11th. The opening reception will be held on the 14th from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Note that Clavel also has work in these two exhibitions:
Summer Salon
juried by Baha H. Danesh
June 7 – July 12, 2025  at Artshare LA in DTLA

and

A Woman Perspective
organized by the Southern California Women’s Caucus for Art (SCWCA)
June 22 – July 19, 2025; opening reception June 22, 1-4 p.m.
Long Beach Creative Center, 2221 East Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90803

  • Genie Davis; photos provided by artist

From Entrepreneur to Artist: Visceral Work from Andrew Max Modlin

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From Entrepreneur to Artist: Visceral Work from Andrew Max Modlin – Genie Davis

Andrew Max Modlin has made quite a journey from visionary entrepreneurship to full-time artist. His road may have been a bit circuitous, but he’s made a return to his first passion.

“Design, branding, and cannabis took up around 15 years of my life, so when I was in- between projects for the first time during COVID, I decided I was going to give myself a one-year break to see what I wanted to do next. The fact that I wasn’t painting haunted me all those years because I always felt like that was my life calling,” he explains. “While I got to hone my design skills, painting was the skill that I had developed and practiced up until I went into business, and now that skill, partially, was being wasted.”

After moving to Amsterdam, he developed the technique of drawing digitally on his iPad, and shortly thereafter decided to paint in the same style as his drawings. His studio work upon his return to Los Angeles has “focused on how I could translate my digital sketches to the canvas.”

With art once again Modlin’s calling, he works in vivid color that evokes places he has seen and been. “I like to think about a place’s palette while I’m in it. Each location has its own unique set of colors shaped by the season, the light, and the energy of the place itself. I’m always thinking about how I can interact with those colors through something familiar, like a landscape,” he relates, “If you paint a tree green, no one thinks twice. But paint it pink, and suddenly people are interested.”

Widely traveled, Modlin views Amsterdam as a future home, but among other locales, he loves Thailand and the uniqueness of Tibet. About the latter location, he notes “It’s fascinating to experience a place that hasn’t been fully westernized, and just getting there and around is its own kind of adventure.”

Describing his work as “extremely tactile,” he notes that while his subjects are rooted in place, “It’s more about the paint and the act of painting itself than the subject matter. While I do aim to arrange shapes in a way that feels balanced or compelling, the real interest lies in the paint: the texture, the layers, the movement.”

Currently residing and painting in West Hollywood, Modlin is opening a pop-up solo exhibition, Through the Brush, next Saturday, June 7th. Curated by Peter Frank, the show presents Modlin’s large-scale paintings and dreamlike landscapes depicting a wide range of locations from his travels to Iceland, Hawaii, Punta Mita, and Amsterdam.

He describes his work here as “a convergence…this work feels like it unlocks everything I’ve been building toward over the last 30 years. When I was first making art during and right after school it was all about color and layering. Then I spent over a decade focused on graphic design and architecture. These paintings feel like a full-circle moment, combining all that experience into something cohesive and personal.”

Modlin reveals that while his work leads through a variety of terrains, the images are “a dialogue between hand, surface, and time. I weave in fragments of my past life in design to make graphic forms, grids, and sharp contrasts only to disrupt them with unruly textures, neon pulses, and gestural mark making.”

Intimate and alive, the wildly beautiful and evocative work is a plunge into the unknown beauty of memory and place, of location and love for the natural world. It’s a look into soul of place and most of all the place of personal longing within, as well as a way for the artist to explore his own relationship to art and the world itself.

“Through the Brush” opens at 411 N. La Cienega in West Hollywood, running June 7-21, with artist’s reception June 7th, 4-9 p.m. The show will be open Wednesday-Saturday noon to 5 through the 21st, when a closing reception will be held from 4-9 p.m.

  • Genie Davis; images provided by the artist