Upcoming Exhibitions

• Bamboo

  May 27 - September 9, 2018

  Bamboo explores the trajectory of historical and contemporary Japanese bamboo basketry. Influenced by utilitarian woven forms to exquisitely crafted Chinese tea ceremony baskets, the art form developed into a distinctive Japanese style encompassing a diverse range of functional and sculptural forms. A major selection of historical and contemporary works from the Los Angeles-based Cotsen Collection form the foundation of the exhibition, demonstrating the breadth of techniques and approaches utilized by bamboo artists over the years. The exhibition culminates with a large, site-specific bamboo installation by Japan-based artist Akio Hizume.
  
  This exhibition is supported by Japan Foundation, Los Angeles, with additional support from the Pasadena Art Alliance.

• Katherine Gray: As Clear as the Experience

  May 27 - September 9, 2018

  LA-based artist Katherine Gray creates conceptual installations of glass, often combining her hand-blown vessels with found, mass-produced glassware and dramatic lighting. Gray draws on the rich historical traditions of glassblowing, as well as her personal explorations into unique surface treatments and viewer interaction. Gray’s installations explore the impact of manufacturing on the environment and on how humans interact with the surrounding world and each other.
  
  This exhibition is supported in part by the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass.

  

• Merion Estes: Unnatural Disasters

  September 30, 2018 – January 6, 2019

  Merion Estes’ stunning, multi-layered paintings explore the destruction caused by present-day environmental crises and the lasting impact of these events. Estes combines found fabrics with mixed paint applications and photo transfers to create evocative, saturated landscapes that are simultaneously beautiful and disturbing. Estes was part of the Pattern and Decoration movement and feminist art movements in New York City and California in the 1970s, and her early foundation in these movements continues to influence her work. Curated by Howard N. Fox, Emeritus Curator (Curator of Contemporary Art, LACMA, 1985-2008).
  
  This exhibition is supported by the Antonia and Vladimir Kulaev Cultural Heritage Fund and the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation.

• Sherin Guirguis: Of Thorns and Love

  September 30, 2018 – January 6, 2019

  Los Angeles-based Egyptian-born artist Sherin Guirguis addresses neglected histories in social and artistic hierarchies. Her first solo museum exhibition in Los Angeles, Of Thorns and Love, presents her research of Egyptian feminist poet, activist, and writer Doria Shafik (1908 –75). Shafik was a prominent leader of the Egyptian feminist movement where her publications and political actions helped ensure the rights of women. Guirguis’ will generate a new body of two- and three-dimensional works that draw upon important architectural sites, poems, and political actions in Shafik’s life as a way to echo the silenced voices of the past and the invisible histories they represent.

  Sponsored by the Fellows of Contemporary Art.