Minerva Cuevas at MC

The press release for Minerva Cuevas’ show is a short story by Tomás Meabe, who was a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party. Cuevas’ main work at MC is a video of a child reading the narrative: A rich man is troubled by the fact that he has nothing in common with a poor man dying in the streets; both are bitten by the same disease-carrying mosquito and the disease is passed from the poor man to the rich man, who dies still not knowing they had anything in common. The camera starts close in on the child’s face, and as the story progresses it pulls slowly back, revealing a large drawing of a mosquito on the wall behind the boy. There are quite a few works in the show, including sculpture, photographic documentation of performance pieces, and a three-channel installation of found footage shown on TV monitors. There is also a huge text piece on the wall outside the gallery: “To be governed means that at every move, operation or transaction one is noted, registered, entered in a census, taxed, stamped, priced, assessed, patented, licensed, authorized, recommended, admonished, prevented, reformed . . . exploited, monopolized, extorted, pressured, mystified, robbed . . . all in the name of public utility and the general good.”

6086 Comey Ave., Los Angeles | www.mckunst.com | (323) 939-3777 | Through September 8

Timothy Tompkins, Shana Lutker, Justin Beal and Mateo Tannatt, and Allie Bogle at Susanne Vielmetter Projects

Timothy Tompkins shows new paintings from his “Left Over” series, inspired by Chardin’s still lives. Basing the work on photographs he takes of sale merchandise that major department stores have a hard time getting rid of, Tompkins makes use of the unwanted items by placing them into “seasons” according to their color. The objects are almost theatrically placed, in a way that simultaneously showcases any possible potential or subjective attachment while exploiting the glory of the objects’ utter uselessness.

Vielmetter’s two project spaces have been curated by gallery directors Gosia Wojas and Joanna Szupinska. Shana Lutker, Justin Beal and Mateo Tannatt offer a shift in perception or different view of reality. Lukter’s sculptures and drawings are works that have come to her in her dreams. In this case, she created a site-specific installation, transforming the room by covering the glass doors in gold doilies. Beal and Tannatt collaborated on a video in which they take an exceedingly long time to dismantle a sofa to create space for an exhibition. Baldessari-like spots soon appear over their faces to obscure their identity, while on a second monitor the spots are synchronized, offering a more abstract or surreal view into the same scenario.

Allie Bogle, who is currently an MFA student at CalArts, has filled a room with fake snow. Snow of any kind is wonderful to see in L.A., period, let alone in the stifling month of August. Each viewer gets to participate and create a new sculpture of sorts, whether it’s merely a flip-flopped footprint or something more ambitious or intentional. Bogle’s medium plays with the white-gallery-space cliché; her sense of humor is more than welcome.

5795 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City | www.vielmetter.com | (323) 933-2117 | Through September 1

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