Michele Stueven
Starting on Thursday, Sept. 17 through Jan. 16, 2027, Hauser & Wirth West Hollywood will present Night Window. David Smith Spray Paintings, 1958 – 1964, an exhibition devoted to his pioneering Sprays, seldom-seen two-dimensional works that embody the artist’s gift for daring innovations of form and color, space and time, in every medium he chose.
Though he initially trained as a painter at the Art Students League in New York, much of Smith’s education took place on the factory floors of automobile and locomotive plants, where he acquired a hands-on mastery of metal. That perspective would redefine the cultural and material possibilities of sculpture over his 33-year career.
As he assembled metal components on whitewashed sections of his shop floor, his welding process left scorched silhouettes on the ground. Recognizing new artistic possibility in these traces, he began arranging scraps of metal, paper, and found materials on canvas, then coating the surface with commercial spray enamel—an industrial material with no precedent in fine art. He would often return to the compositions with white paint to heighten contrast and sharpen the interplay of elements.
There will be a free opening night talk for the show on Thursday, Sept. 17 with Carol S. Eliel, Senior Curator Emerita of Modern Art at LACMA, and artist Mary Weatherford.
Courtesy MASH Gallery
On view from Saturday, Sept. 26 through Saturday, Oct. 24, the Mash Gallery will present The Shape of Elsewhere, a group exhibition featuring Rachel Berkowitz, Mark Engel, David Gordon, John Grande, Haleh Mashian, Mike O’Guinn, Brigitte Puschmann, and Itaewon.
Moving across painting, collage, abstraction, figuration, street art, and fused glass, the Shape of Elsewhere enters a world where the recognizable becomes expansive. Bodies, landscapes, architecture, natural elements, and cultural imagery become starting points for experiences shaped by imagination and transformation.
Rooted in the early twentieth-century Surrealist movement’s interest in the unconscious and the liberation of imagination from rational constraints, the element of the surreal within the exhibit merges into a fluid mode of perception. Familiar forms move beyond their expected contexts and reorganize through altered scale, layered space, and surprising material relationships.
Visual artist Brittany Markert is presenting a book launch, photography showcase, and artist talk at The Loved One in Historic Filipinotown on Thursday, Sept. 17.
The Keeper, featuring Etta James, 2024, Silver gelatin print (Courtesy of Brittany Markert)
Noted for her traditional darkroom printmaking, 16mm filmmaking, and photographic explorations of the human psyche, death, desire, and the occult, Brittany’s practice is influenced by the Surrealist art movement, the writings of Carl Jung, depth psychology, and personal catharsis.
Her ongoing project In Rooms is a years-long, complex photographic universe that unfolds like an abstract diary. Her work explores psychological landscapes through archetypal imagery, dream logic, mythological references, and the divine feminine. Viewed in its entirety, In Rooms becomes an invitation and a space for collective healing, fostering unique relationships between artist, performer, and collector.
The event will be the first launch of her latest volume of the project, In Rooms III. All work is printed in the darkroom by the artist herself, and all effects are achieved in camera or in the darkroom.
More photography: Starting today through Friday, Oct. 16, the Leica Store & Gallery Los Angeles is bringing together two acclaimed photographers, Arthur Grace and Jim McHugh, whose distinct approaches to capturing people are showcased in a new exhibition. Arthur Grace: WTF? and Jim McHugh: Still At It highlight photography’s ability to look beyond the obvious and offer a deeper understanding of people and moments in time.
In WTF?, Arthur Grace captures unexpected moments he encountered while working in communist countries during the Cold War, providing a window into everyday life rarely seen by Western audiences. Alongside Grace’s work, Still At It displays Jim McHugh’s years spent building relationships that allowed him to capture intimate portraits of artists and cultural figures, including David Hockney, whom he has photographed for more than 40 years
Rome (Arthur Grace)