Frieze Los Angeles:
Artwork Selections 2021
Ocula Advisory have singled out a selection of artworks showing in Frieze Los Angeles' Viewing Room. Characterised by unique approaches to colour and composition, highlights range from a luminous lightbox by Doug Aitken to the fluid strokes of Manisha Parekh.
Running between 27 July and 1 August 2021, with its physical edition set to open in the fair's new location in Beverly Hills in February 2022, this online edition of Frieze Los Angeles includes 47 leading galleries from the city and beyond.
Florian Maier-Aichen at Blum & Poe
Born in Stuttgart in 1973, Florian Maier-Aichen spent his early years in Germany before pursuing studies at Högskolan för Fotografi och Film in Gothenburg, Sweden, and later the University of Essen in Germany.
In 2001, Maier-Aichen earned an MFA from the University of California in Los Angeles. Iconic landscapes of the American West make up much of the artist's photographs, namely Hollywood and the Californian coastline.
Through different photographic approaches, including light leaks, double exposure, and unusual angles, Maier-Aichen transforms landscape imagery into ethereal scenes, transitioning documentary images into abstraction.
Doug Aitken at 303 Gallery
303 Gallery presents this mesmerising acrylic LED lightbox by multidisciplinary L.A.-based artist Doug Aitken.
Almost luminous in colour, the composition's sharp form and stark tonal contrasts sets the stage for a brilliantly dynamic and brooding landscape, leaving us wondering what world lies beyond the horizon.
Victoria Miro's Venice location is currently host to Doug Aitken's solo show Microcosms, exhibiting a new series of his handmade fabric wall hangings until 30 October.
Koen van den Broek at Gallery Baton
Originally trained as an architect, Koen van den Broek went on to receive formal art training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, followed by the Higher Institute of Fine Art Flanders, Antwerp, graduating in 2000.
Van den Broek's architectural background is present in his work, which deals with the modern urban landscape. Roads, street signs, and industrial buildings take centre stage in his large-scale oil paintings.
Wanderlust#2 presents a stripped-back landscape, rendered with a vivid colour palette and sweeping lines that outline a winding road, or perhaps a railway, snaking into the distance.
The daughter of artists Milton Avery and Sally Michael Avery, New York-based painter March Avery conjures enigmatic scenes from everyday life encompassing domestic settings, still lifes, and natural landscapes.
Whilst growing up Avery was surrounded by Abstract Expressionism, her unique style developed on its path, reducing forms to basic outlines and distinct colours that generate their compositional power.
Inspired by the natural world around her, Mimi Lauter creates brilliantly ethereal and surreal works using oil and soft pastel to mark and etch her way around her vivid and liminal universe.
Untitled (2021) is a beautiful drawing in which Lauter skilfully builds upon layers of oil pastel to create a dynamic explosion of colour.
Mendes Wood DM is currently host to the L.A.-based artist's first solo exhibition in Europe this summer, showing 20 new oil on canvas and pastel on paper works in their Brussels space until 14 August.
Manisha Parekh at Nature Morte
The daughter of renowned painters Manu and Madhavi Parekh, Manisha Parekh was born in Gujarat in 1964, and is a founding member of the New Delhi-based non-profit organisation Khoj International Artists Workshop, which supports work by artists in South Asia.
Having studied at the M.S. University in Baroda followed by the Royal College of Art in London, Parekh traverses media including painting, collage, drawing, and installation, to explore modes of abstraction.
Fluid, rhythmic lines feature throughout her organic compositions, as seen in Mustard Dream-2 (2021), which features earthy tones interspersed by bright, colourful splashes and details.
Sam Falls at 303 Gallery
Avoiding categorisation, Sam Falls works across a range of artistic practices, from conceptual photography and land art to minimalist painting and sculpture.
Best known for his exploration of the natural world while road tripping between his Hudson, New York and Los Angeles bases, Falls creates beautifully atmospheric works that crystallise organic structures of the natural world with vivid colour and flowing form.
Having had a successful solo exhibition at Galerie Eva Presenhuber earlier this year, Falls will also be showing at the prestigious MOCA Cleveland in 2022.
Main image: March Avery, Floating Salesmen (2006). Oil on canvas. 121.92 x 142.24 x 3.175 cm. © March Avery. Courtesy the artist and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles/New York/Tokyo.
