Past and Perfect – Exhibitions at Durden and Ray, Wonzimer Gallery, and Persons Unknown

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Sometimes life just gets the best of you. You see great shows, post all the photos, and have no time to write the actual reviews. So here are three recently closed, truly wonderful exhibitions that deserve mention. Look for these galleries and artists in upcoming exhibitions throughout the year.

Wonzimer Gallery – We Insist On Growing – Cheyanne Washington 

Cheyanne Washington’s solo exhibition, We Insist On Growing, combined fiercely textured, exciting and sinuous forms wtih the astonishing use of her own natural pigments. If ever an artist deserved the description “alchemist” it would be Washington. Paintings, banners, and a wonderful sculptural work comprised this beautiful exhibition,  the title of which resonates with what the artist calls “the resilience and persistence found in nature.”

There’s a gravitational pull to these works, a life force that seems to arise from nature itself, embodied by the earth-rendered paints and clay. Washington shapes figurative art that exudes a sentient, sensual connection to the natural world, and transcends both its materials and subject, creating work that is serene and absorbing. Both paintings and ceramic works elevate the viewer’s grasp of nature, and relate to the intrinisic joy of creation itself.

If Washington insists on growing, then viewers everywhere should insist on watching her do so.

Currently at Wonzimer: (above) a solo exhibition by Gary Brewer, Everything is Radiant through May 15th, paintings and sculpture.

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Durden and Ray – Tieze – Group Exhibition

Curated by the powerful trio of Arezoo Bharthania, Dani Dodge, and Hagop Najarian, Tieze was the always-inventive collective gallery’s response to the bedecked halls of the Frieze art fair. Fresh and vibrant, the exhibition featured work by Ismael de Anda III, Carlos Beltran Arechiga, Arezoo Bharthania, Jorin Bossen, Gul Cagin, Sijia Chen, Joe Davidson, Dani Dodge, Vita Eruhimovitz, Jenny Hager, Regina Herod, David Leapman, Atilio Pernisco, Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, Carolyn Mason, Hagop Najarian, Ty Pownall, Max Presneill, Dylan Ricards, Stephanie Sherwood, Curtis Stage, Valerie Wilcox, Alexandra Wiesenfeld, and Steven Wolkoff.

From the swirling movement of figurative abstracts by Najarian to Wolkoff’s paint sculpture, magical video from Petrovic, asonishing sculptural works from Pownall and Davidson to small but mighty sculptures utilizing Monopoly pieces by Dodge, there was a medium and a message to compel the eye of any viewer. It would be hard to pick just one favorite among a myriad of stand outs. Bhartania and Hager showed vibrant, multi-layered paintings while Wilcox showed a delicate looking paper cocoon of a sculpture. A far cooler and more cutting edge group exhibition than was present at any of the commercial art fairs this year, the exhibition artists were all Durden and Ray artist/curators, participating in the only show each year dedicated to highlighting all of the Durden and Ray artists’ work as a group.

Currently at Durden and Ray (above): Smiling in Chaos – Group Show – Co-curated by Gonzalo García Gaitán, Ismael de Anda III, Carlos Beltrán Aréchiga through May 18th,  a collaboration between Columbian collective Si Nos Pagan Boys and Los Angeles based artists, all of whom use humor and levity in their work as a form of resistance.

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Persons Unknown – Into the Hamper’s Belly – Group Show

Into the Hamper’s Belly featured four artists working in sculpture, installation, and painting. The group exhibition was devoted to those who “revel in ongoing processes of accumulation and transmutation…[and] a sense of porous frementation.”

Artists Inga Hendrickson, Rachel Elizabeth Jones, Caitlin Servilio, and Corrine Yonce used a variety of atypical art materials ranging from cardboard, cement, pigment, foam, silicone, wax, plastic, sand, and even clamshells, to create an exhibition of diverse artists and art forms that nonetheless presented as a whole; a mystical and organic installation that merged into one being within the cutting-edge gallery floor.

And in the back studio space, the beautiful work of gallerist and artist Ariel Oakley Pelletier.

Currently at Persons Unknown (above): Fumbled Worlds – The Invented People of Alfonse Aletto – through May 20th, a survey of painted works from a prolific self-taught artist.

Look for these galleries and previously exhibited artists as well as current shows ASAP.  Great art is a joy we should all be sharing — especially in today’s precarious world.

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis and provided by galleries

The Cheech Celebrates Art and Starts a Second Year

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Cheech Marin was there. But that’s not a surprise, given that the art celebration in mid-June was both to open three new exhibitions and commemorate a super successful first year at The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside.

Last year’s opening show was stunning, and this year offered a new bevy of treasures to mark the anniversary. And what an anniversary it is: the museum far surprassed predicted attendance by 30%, and provided a much needed home for Chicano art in Southern California.

The museum was developed as a public-private partnership between the City of Riverside, Riverside Art Museum, and Marin. As such the museum also received Marin’s prolific collection of major artworks – over 500 stellar works in all.

In helping to establish The Cheech, the Riverside Art Museum received the 2023 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries due to the significant contribution The Cheech made to the region. Marin is justifiably proud and pleased at both the response to the museum, and the exhibitions held there. The gloriously airy, modern space is equipped with comfortable, open galleries that showcase the work, and provide the room for large scale pieces and wall art alike.

Present at the celebration – which included make your own tacos, craft brews, ceviche, and Mexican pastries for desert – Marin stated his purpose. “Riverside Art Museum’s work in the community, its educational mission, and its broad support of Chicano art is why I decided to gift my collection and work with them to create a national center.” He cited the impact the museum has had on the community, and the ways in which the museum is providing the space to show Chicano art and educate viewers about it.

As honestly enormous of a cultural success as the museum is, it’s also a bastion of innovative, beautiful, and often profound art, revealing and passionately exploring political and social issues while presenting wall art and sculptural works that not only defy expectations but go beyond them.

The anniverary introduced three new exhibitions. On the first floor, there’s a new grouping of Marin’s personally collected works in Cheech Collects, an exhibition that included a few beauties viewed last year, but a lot of new pieces as well. The art is steeped in images of Southern California and family life, as well as in the social struggles, work, community, and protest that are a part of the rich Chicano community. Curated by Maria Esther Fernandez, Marin’s collection sings with color and light, and features many works by the always impressive Frank Romero, among 40 other artists. Romero’s “City of Night” is a vision of emerald green freeways.

Throughout the collection we see images such as Carlos Almaraz’ splendid “Mystery in the Park” diptych, and Eloy Torrez’  appropriate and beautifuly rendered “It’s a Brown World After All.” These works will be on display through next May.

In the upstairs galleries, Xican-a.o.x. Body intimately explores and celebrates the ways in which Chicanx artists have placed their physical and emotional bodies within these works, establishing their presence and also indicating a necessary willingness for protest and resistance. This exhibition was created by The American Federation of Arts, and features over 125 works ranging from photography to to sculptures – the visual grabber perhaps being a hot pink low rider, Justin Favela’s “Gypsy Rose Pinata (II) is a visual confection, an enormous and vibrant sculpture.  

Narsiso Martinez’ truly stunning “Magic Harvest,” is a dimensional, sculptural painting of a migrant worker created on boxes of the produce gathered, and is wonderful from all angles, bringing the depicted worker both physically and emotionally present and fully realized.  Linda Vallejo’s heartbreaking colored pencil and photographic “23.9% of Sex Trafficking Vicimes in the US were Latino in 2010” is both sharp in color and message. These works will be on view through early January of 2024.

Last but definitely not least, there are works of emerging and local artists curated by Cosmé Cordova. Among them are Man One, Andrew J. Castillo, Carlos Beltran Arechiga, Richie Velazquez, Martin Sanchez, Denise Silva, and Jacqueline Valenzuela. This one requires you to use a bit of alacrity in visiting The Cheech – it will close October 1st. Among the many fresh and riveting works, a massive geometrically abstract work from Carlos Beltran Arechiga, “Border Field State Park,” is a particular favorite, as woven as a tapestry, as complex as memory. Arechiga also has a smaller “Self Portrait” in the mix.

Yes, the 91E is a slog from LA to Riverside, but you’ll find a true oasis of art, culture, and meaning at The Cheech, and all you Los Angelenos owe it to yourself to make a visit.

The Cheech is located at 3581 Mission Avenue in Riverside.

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis