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Ocula Member Galleries are selected by a committee of respected gallerists to present only the best contemporary art on Ocula.
Read MoreWhether you love established artists or contemporary art by up-and-coming talent, you will find some of the world's best galleries across Los Angeles' vibrant art scene.
West Hollywood gathers some of the art world's biggest names: Hauser & Wirth, Pace Gallery, David Kordansky, and Sprüth Magers, among others. Karma and Simchowitz are among the newcomers who present colourful if not radical visions.
Founded in 1992, Hauser & Wirth represents well-established names including Lorna Simpson, Jenny Holzer, and Rashid Johnson, in addition to the estates of Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse, and the Henry Moore Family Collection. The gallery opens its second Los Angeles gallery on Santa Monica Boulevard in February 2023, galvanising its L.A. presence alongside its Downtown Arts District location.
Sean Kelly Gallery's significant new Hollywood space, which opened in September 2022, is a necessary stop for serious collectors. Since 1991, Sean Kelly, a former museum curator, has supported established and mid-career talents such as Marina Abramović, Dawoud Bey, Joseph Kosuth, and Awol Erizku.
Karma promises a breath of fresh air further west. Founded in 2011 by Brendan Dugan, the gallery started with project-based exhibitions at a small West Village storefront in New York, and now represents a blend of young and established talent across four locations in New York and L.A.
Simchowitz was inaugurated in 2021 by collector and renowned art collector and curator Stefan Simchowitz, with the intent to disrupt the gallery model by erasing waitlists and offering studios and workspaces to emerging artists. Set on Beverly Boulevard, the gallery represents Julian Pace, Elizabeth Ibarra, and Shaina McCoy, among others.
Sprüth Magers has become a legacy establishment in Europe since its 1998 inception by Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers. Showcasing artists with presiding cultural significance, the gallery represents cult figures in modern and contemporary art such as Andreas Gursky, Kara Walker, and Nancy Holt.
Founded in 1995 in Paris, Praz-Delavallade has retained strong ties with L.A. artists since opening on Wilshire Boulevard in 2016. Sam Durant, Jim Shaw, and Marnie Weber are among the names introduced by the gallery to the European art scene.
Nearby, Roberts Projects represent mid-career and established artists with a focus on installation-based exhibitions and critical discourse. The gallery platforms a range of voices including those of Betye Saar, Dominic Chambers, and Alexandre Diop.
Anat Ebgi was founded in 2012 to represent young, local talent in the Los Angeles area, and now has three galleries across Wilshire Boulevard, Fountain Avenue, and La Cienega Boulevard. Baik Art, whose additional outposts are sited in Seoul and Jakarta, also has a presence in L.A., showcasing a broad roster of international and diasporic artists.
Founded in Santa Monica in 1994, the blue-chip giant Blum & Poe represents over 50 artists worldwide. Its roster includes established names such as Lynda Benglis, Eddie Martinez, and Yoshitomo Nara, as well as younger artists including Collin Sekajugo.
Explore current and upcoming exhibitions across Los Angeles' best galleries, institutions, and non-profit art spaces.
Read MoreLos Angeles has long been a sanctuary for artists and collectors, with its world-class museums, renowned art schools, and proximity to Hollywood and the entertainment industry. A melting pot of cultures, L.A. has offered the contemporary art scene a breath of fresh air since the influx of commercial galleries in the 1940s and 50s.
Los Angeles, California, has long been a sanctuary for artists and collectors, with its world-class museums, renowned fashion and arts schools, prolific street art and proximity to Hollywood and the entertainment industry. A centre of American culture, fashion, and the arts for the last several decades, Los Angeles also hosts several significant eventsin the global art scene.
Some notable contemporary art museums and galleries include the Los Angeles County Museumof Art and David Kordansky Gallery, Hauser & Wirth for example.
Discover current and upcoming exhibitions and events across Los Angeles' best museums, institutions, and non-profit art spaces.
Although Los Angeles is considered a centre for culture, fashion, and the arts year-round, certain events draw art enthusiasts to the city each year. One of the most significant events is FriezeLos Angeles, held in February,. The West Coast edition of New York's and London's events of the same name, drawing collectors from around the globe. Another highlight is Made in L.A, which takes place biannually and focuses on local artists.
View our exhibition profiles to discover must-see exhibitions on display in Los Angeles. We've curated a selection of exhibitions and arts events featuring sculpture, painting on canvas and photographs, boasting endless possibilities to explore modern art, culture and fashion.
Each profile provides comprehensive information about the exhibition, delineating the specific art form showcased at the Los Angeles gallery showing the exhibition.readers can delve into insightful narratives about the artist and gain insights into the creative process behind the works on display.
Los Angeles is an ideal place to experience American fashion and the arts. Whether you're interested in viewing sculptures and ceramics, abstract paintings, ink and paper drawings or photography, a wide variety of works are on display in Los Angeles throughout the year.
Stay up-to-date with what's showing in each museum's art spaces, courtesy of our email newsletter.
Los Angeles is home to one of the world's most dynamic and vibrant arts scenes. Browse our extended selection of galleries to visit around the city, as recommended by the Ocula team.
Los Angeles' museums and institutions offer an exceptional arts and culture experience. Explore our selection of the best spaces to visit.
Read MoreThe largest art museum in the western U.S., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) boasts a collection of nearly 149,000 works that follow 6,000 years of artistic expression. The complex is currently under construction, with a new building for LACMA's permanent collection scheduled for completion in late 2024. In the meantime, collection displays can be viewed in BCAM and the Resnick Pavilion.
Uphill in the Santa Monica Mountains is the Getty Center, a campus of the Getty Museum designed by architect Richard Meier which includes the Getty Research Institute and the Getty Conservation Institute. The expansive collection spans historic masterpieces by Holbein and Rembrandt, to modern and contemporary works by Ed Ruscha, Roy Lichtenstein and more.
Founded in 1990, the Hammer Museum houses works by European masters such as Manet, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. The Hammer Projects series, of which there are around 15 each year, spotlights local and international contemporary and emerging artists.
L.A.'s only artist-founded museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is dedicated to the collection and exhibition of art created after 1940. Its permanent collection represents an impressive selection of artists, including Mark Rothko, Cindy Sherman, and Andy Warhol.
Further afield in Pasadena, the Norton Simon Museum holds around 12,000 objects that span 2,000 years. Modern U.S. and European artworks are a notable highlight, including Picasso's Woman with a book (1932).
In downtown L.A., Spring Arts Tower hosts the Spring Arts Collective, five artists who organise exhibitions and receptions throughout the year.
Ocula Magazine is an online platform dedicated to publishing the best in contemporary art internationally. Explore our in-depth conversations, insights, features, news stories, and photologs covering Los Angeles' arts scene here.
Read MoreSince its launch in 2010, Ocula Magazine has interviewed some of Los Angeles' most significant artists including Lauren Halsey, as well as important figures who have shaped Los Angeles' art scene, not limited to Doryun Chong and Jessica Morgan. Ocula Magazine has also published features of artists such as Betye Saar and Awol Erizku.
In any given week, works by some of the world's most exciting artists can be seen in Los Angeles. Here you will find a selection of artists whose works are currently on show.
Read MoreSign up to My Ocula to follow artists and galleries, save artworks to your favourites, and be informed when new exhibitions and features are published.
Los Angeles has propelled the careers of local and international artists, with its museums and galleries providing a global stage for seminal exhibitions. Notable artists who have shown in the city include Richard Tuttle, Martin Creed, Greg Ito, and Cao Fei.
The sprawling city of Los Angeles remains true to its diverse ethos, allowing space for expansive, internationally focused art institutions as well as D.I.Y., artist-run spaces. Explore the Los Angeles City Art Guide to discover more about the Los Angeles art scene.
Read MoreChosen as an additional site for Frieze Los Angeles in 2019, the city has a particular ethos with each of its neighbourhoods. Downtown Los Angeles hosts the two locations of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA).
MOCA was founded in 1979 to meet the desire for a Los Angeles contemporary art scene, becoming the first museum in the city to be exclusively devoted to contemporary art. The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA was opened in 1983 in the Little Tokyo district of Downtown Los Angeles as a temporary space called 'Temporary Contemporary' while the main branch, MOCA Grand, was being built. The largest of the three and opened to much critical and public acclaim, Temporary Contemporary's lease was extended. The museum's permanent collection carries more than 7,000 objects in the form of sculpture, painting, and photography; including works by Louise Nevelson, Mark Rothko, Mike Kelley, Ana Mendieta, Lee Krasner, and more.
Downtown Los Angeles' museums include institutions such as The Broad, founded by philanthropists and avid art collectors Eli and Edythe Broad. Across the street from MOCA Grand and opened in 2015, The Broad's collection includes 2,000 works of postwar and contemporary art. Offering free admission, the museum is equally known for their spectacular installations that subsequently have full visiting lists, such as Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013). Other prominent artists in their collection include Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barbara Kruger, Cy Twombly, Ed Ruscha, Kara Walker, and Cindy Sherman.
Downtown Los Angeles' galleries and art spaces also include François Ghebaly gallery, Night Gallery, and REDCAT, a multidisciplinary centre for visual, media, and performing arts, as inaugurated by CalArts in 2003. The project's architecture was designed by Frank Gehry and is located inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex. In addition to local and international artists, the centre is the hub for avantgarde plays and shows. Art schools have had a major impact on the Los Angeles arts scene, with many art school graduates leading and expanding it, as relayed by major art and cultural critics and writers such as Chris Kraus.
Another major Los Angeles' art institution affiliated with a school is the Hammer Museum by University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The Hammer Museum was founded by Dr. Armand Hammer and opened in 1990, featuring works from his collections, which were dominated by 19th-century and early 20th-century French impressionist and postimpressionist paintings. It wasn't until 1994 when the museum created a partnership with UCLA and in 1999 built on the Hammer Contemporary Collection. The Hammer is now known for its progressive exhibitions—both historical and contemporary—and focus on artists that have often been historically overlooked. Inaugurated in 2012, Made in L.A. is a biennial Los Angeles' exhibition organised by the Hammer Museum and featuring work exclusively by Los Angeles artists. The museum houses five collections: The Hammer Contemporary Collection; the collection of the UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts; the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden; the Armand Hammer Collection, and the Armand Hammer Daumier and Contemporaries Collection. These collections include works ranging from Abstract Expressionism to European old master prints.
Nearby the Hammer Museum is the Getty Center, part of the larger J. Paul Getty Museum, popularly known as the Getty. The Getty Center was founded in 1997 and features Western art from the Middle Ages to contemporary. The second location, the Getty Villa, in Malibu, displays art from Ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria and was founded in 1974 and reopened in 2006, having closed during the Getty Center's opening. Known for its collection of antiquities, drawings, manuscripts, paintings, photographs, and sculptural and decorative arts, highlights include works by Rembrandt, Édouard Manet, Robert Mapplethorpe, Greek and Roman marble statues, and Byzantine manuscripts. The Getty hosts a variety of other programmes dedicated to research and conservation, maintaining an important relationship in both conserving and generating arts in Los Angeles.
Major art landmarks in Los Angeles include the Watts Towers—a sculpture by 'outsider artist' Simon Rodia—and the exhibition space, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, known for its archive of the visual arts in the city, and experimental venue, Human Resources.
