Frieze Los Angeles:
Artwork Selections 2022

Peter Schlesinger at David Lewis Gallery

Peter Schlesinger is an American multidisciplinary artist renowned for his sun-drenched photographs of artist and celebrity circles in California.

In 1968, Schlesigner relocated to London, where he developed a painting practice while at the Slade School of Art, later shifting to ceramics. A collection of the artist's ceramic sculptures is now on view at David Lewis Gallery in New York until 26 February 2022.

Mildred Thompson at Galerie Lelong & Co.

Galerie Lelong & Co.'s inclusion of this pastel on paper by Mildred Thompson follows on from the gallery's exhibition dedicated to the artist's paper inquiries from the 1960s and 90s.

The vibrant strokes in Hysteresis IX appear to hover above fine dashes of cream-coloured pastel resembling wood grain. Wood was a key source of exploration for the artist, whose 'Wood Pictures' were made up of stacked, variously sized pieces of the material, allowing her to develop a new language of abstraction.

Thompson developed the series in Duren, Germany, where she lived in self-imposed exile as a result of the discrimination she faced as a Black woman in the United States.

Gary Hume at Sprüth Magers

Gary Hume's distinctive compositions are formed with an emphasis on negative space, allowing colourful shapes and outlines to create a sense of remove from the original subject.

Graduating from Goldsmiths College in London in 1988 alongside YBA artists Damien Hirst, Mat Collishaw, and Sarah Lucas, Hume became known for his 'door paintings' created in the 1990s, in which swing doors from hospitals have been abstracted into clean geometric shapes in bold colours.

Painted in household gloss on MDF and aluminium, the artist described these paintings as 'paradoxical objects', appearing both loaded and still at the same time—a quality shared by this more recent composition.

Naotaka Hiro at Bortolami Gallery

Naotaka Hiro graduated from California Institute of the Arts with an MFA in 2000 and has since developed a practice spanning sculpture, painting, and film.

One of his key concerns is exploring 'the unknowability of the body', reflecting the limitations of being able to perceive one's own physicality as it is seen through other means, such as cameras and mirrors.

The resulting works are visceral, containing layers of organic shapes as in the case of this piece, rendered in acrylic, graphite, grease pencil, and crayon on wood. Last year, a series of the California-based artist's works appeared in London for his solo exhibition Green Door at Herald St.

Renée Green at Bortolami Gallery

Rénee Green is a writer, filmmaker, and teacher whose practice interrogates the question of identity. Critical of colonialism, her works are often text-based and since the late 1980s have formed an intricate interrogation of power structures.

This painted assemblage belongs to a body of work that was created in response to the role of the U.S. in supporting violence on the ground in Central and South America during the 1980s, as well as her own time spent in Mexico.

This year, Green's work will be included in the Whitney Biennial, marking the second time the artist has participated in the exhibition following her 1993 participation. An installation by the artist is also now on view at ICA Boston until 27 February 2022.

Nora Turato at LambdaLambdaLambda

With a background in graphic design, Amsterdam-based artist Nora Turato has developed a practice based on text and performance.

Absorbing content from the online world and her immediate surroundings, Turato reflects the 'textual hysteria' that we are confronted with as we gaze at our screens. Combining enticing colours with text, her paintings—like this one—have taken up entire walls and acted as backdrops to her performances.

A book and performance by the artist will be launched as part of MoMA's Studio Now events series in March. Alongside his solo exhibition at Tank Shanghai, 52 Walker in New York, Turato will be featured in a group exhibition at Kunsthaus Hamburg, both opening in the spring.

Sam Gilliam at Alexander Gray Associates

Born and raised in Tupelo, Mississippi, Gilliam moved to Washington, D.C. in 1962 where he was introduced to the Washington Color School and its founders Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis.

Sun Melody, a colour-soaked canvas demarcated by stark tones, evidences the movement's influence on Gilliam's practice.

Paintings by the late African-American artist will be on view in the group exhibition Epistrophy at Pace Gallery's New York space in April, alongside works by fellow friends and artists, Melvin Edwards and William T. Williams.

Jack Whitten at Zeno X Gallery

Born in Bessemer, Alabama, Jack Whitten moved to New York in 1960, receiving his BFA from Cooper Union in 1964.

Whitten's process-based approach to gestural abstraction involved, as in the case of this work, paint being dragged across the canvas with squeegees and rakes, yielding a surface texture akin to that of a rock.

This November, the contemporary art organisation Dia Beacon will present a solo exhibition of Jack Whitten's 'Greek Alphabet' series, for which he created one painting for each letter. The exhibition marks the first time the series will be presented in its entirety.

Urs Fischer at Sadie Coles HQ

Urs Fischer has gained notoriety for his provocative artworks that subvert elements from contemporary pop culture.

Traversing sculpture, painting, photography, and large-scale installation, Fischer's practice tests the limits of materiality and viewers' perception of space. In Solace, photographs have been sliced, divided, and pasted on top of one another, creating an almost topographical assemblage of bright-hued cut-outs.

Opening on 2 April, Museo Jumex in Mexico City will host a 20-year survey of Fischer's work, marking the first major presentation of the conceptual artist's work in Mexico.