5 Must-See Summer Exhibitions
in Los Angeles

1. Honor Titus at Gagosian

Honor Titus' debut exhibition with Gagosian Beverly Hills is an ode to tennis.

Drawn to what he refers to as the 'tonality of tennis', the Brooklyn-born artist's exhibition, Advantage In (20 July–1 September 2023), portrays people of colour playing tennis, relaxing between games, and serving as ball boys, often in front of oversized sponsors' logos.

In Second Serve (2023), Titus depicts a player mid-swing, her muscular arm highlighted by his deft use of contrast. The player stands in front of a midnight blue background, with only a crisp, white court line and a fluorescent yellow ball to compete for our attention.

The exhibition also features an immersive installation that mimics a real-life tennis court. Visitors are invited to step onto the court, which has a decorative iron barrier in place of the net—an ornamental flourish that echoes the status-giving details—including the Rolex crown and the Lacoste crocodile— in Titus' paintings.

2. Faith Ringgold at Jeffrey Deitch

Located at Jeffrey Deitch's Orange Drive location is Faith Ringgold's first survey show in Los Angeles.

Known for her brilliantly colourful and eclectic practice, Ringgold's works wrestle with social justice, feminist, and post-colonial issues. Bringing together a display of story quilts, oil paintings, prints, and sculptures, Faith Ringgold: A Survey (20 May–12 August 2023) presents work that intertwines complex narratives—fictional, autobiographical, and historical.

In The Lover's Trilogy #2: Sleeping (1986), Ringgold depicts lovers sleeping beneath a blanket of diary-like texts about their relationship. Though the blanket reveals hard truths between the two, both figures look peaceful and content. Their story is complex yet loving.

Ringgold frames her couple in a colourful patchwork quilt that alludes to their African heritage.

3. Thaddeus Mosley at Karma

While this is by no means Karma's first exhibition with the prolific sculptor Thaddeus Mosley, Recent Sculpture (15 July–9 September 2023) marks the first time his bronze and hand-carved wood sculptures stand side-by-side in an exhibition.

Mosley only began using bronze in 2020, basing his new bronze sculptures off moulds taken from the original wooden sculptures. Mosley uses the age-old lost-wax casting method ensuring each bronze surface is adorned with the same natural gradations as its host and no detail is lost in the process.

'Mosley has compared his improvisational technique to the spontaneity of Jazz—he was raised in a family of musicians—and has called his work 'animated sculpture', wrote Ocula Advisory.

The balance of delicacy and density is the key to Mosley's totem sculptures, and his translation from wood to bronze underscores the brilliance with which he has perfected this duality throughout his 60-year-long career.

4. Julien Nguyen at Matthew Marks Gallery

For the first time in seven years, Vietnamese American artist Julien Nguyen is the subject of a one-man show in his hometown. The exhibition Julien Nguyen (24 June–12 August 2023) is taking place at Matthew Marks Gallery's 1062 North Orange Grove space.

Nguyen is known for honing in on the likeness of people he is closest to, and for this exhibition the focus is on a man called Nikos.

Going about everyday activities, Nikos can be seen at leisure, smoking in a hotel, pulling on a hoodie, or tying a tie.

Popularity for Nguyen's video game-inspired aesthetic reached new heights at Sotheby's The Now Evening Auction, when his lot Semper Solus (2007) received 14 bids—the highest of the evening. It hammered for £453,600 ($503,723), more than ten times the low estimate of £40,000.

5. Njideka Akunyili Crosby at David Zwirner

Going into its last week, Njideka Akunyili Crosby's solo exhibition, Coming Back to See Through, Again (23 May–29 July 2023) is a great one to catch at David Zwirner's new Los Angeles location.

The exhibition marks Akunyili Crosby's debut with the gallery after joining their roster in 2019. Her visual tapestries populate the large, open space and draw from contemporary life in her native Nigeria and the nuances of African diasporic identity.

Lush vegetation and plant life from Nigeria feature prominently in the show, as they did in her 2022 solo exhibition at the Blanton Museum of Art, Austin. It's a love affair which she expands upon in a conversation with Lagos-based artist and curator Temitayo Ogunbiyi.

'One of the ways we've connected is through our love for plants, which can be such an interesting way to think about mapping people's movements across the world,' she says.

The show travels to David Zwirner New York in September.