Anna Sew Hoy, “hook & eye” at Karyn Lovegrove Gallery

Anna Sew Hoy’s new wall sculptures are investigations into craft, accessory and design. She uses clay, fabric, metal chains, computer cords and bits of clothing to create pieces that are all about the juxtaposition of texture and material. By introducing a common household hook, she plays with how sculpture can interact with domestic hardware. While most don’t echo human form, some are more anthropomorphic than others, becoming like clothing on a hanger, masks or disembodied genitals. What is really impressive is the installation itself: Sew Hoy has adhered whitewashed plywood to all walls, providing a rich textural landscape in which her figures play. An interesting tension is created by their allusion to functionality, the fact that they almost seem useful. In the center of the room there is a massive tangle that functions as a sort of hub or mother ship, its tendrils extended like severed umbilical cords to the pieces on the wall.

6150 Wilshire Blvd., No. 8, L.A. | (323) 525-1755 | www.karynlovegrovegallery.com | Tues.–Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. | Through December 22

Sue de Beer, “Permanent Revolution” at Sandroni Rey

“Our school was founded after the horror of war .?.?.” begins the voice-over, a quote from Oskar Schlemmer’s Bauhaus manifesto, in Sue de Beer’s new video. “Permanent Revolution” is inspired by theories borrowed from Karl Marx and the Bauhaus movement and is shown in a constructed room within the white space of the gallery. One steps up and enters a darkened room with floor pillows to watch the 27-minute work, which consists of nine titled sections. There are soldiers packing up their weapons, masked dancers swinging to a 1960s soundtrack, a long-haired magician playing the organ interspersed with psychedelic patterns and lighting, and in many scenes a voice-over from the classic 1920s Bauhaus text. De Beer questions the role of the artist as a revolutionary today, begging us to recall and be inspired rather than put off by history, all the while infusing playfulness into a loaded subject.

2762 S. La Cienega Blvd., L.A. | (310) 280-0111 | www.sandronirey.com | Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. | Through December 20

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