dayoutlast is a record of my direct engagement with mostly contemporary art, mostly Los Angelean.

As this blog has evolved since its 2010 inception, so has my perspective. What I once perceived as central within the investigation was what was central, literally, within the photographic frame that I shared here. While still an important consideration, such thinking has also given way to more peripheral considerations, ones also accompanied occasionally by text (written manifestation of thought) and the oscillations between them. What's missing here are larger unknowns surrounding issues of presentation and representation; the amount of time and space it actually takes to accomplish such first-hand observations; and the quandaries between documentation and interpretation.

Despite my attempt to communicate here with image and text what is essential in some respect about the artwork, neither representation should ever be considered a substitution for the primary viewing experience. Of course, occasionally there are exceptions.

Most of the time, these posts are merely remnants---residual fragments---from my last day out.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Dean Levin "XTC" @ Kohn Gallery

















116, 2016
Oil, acrylic, ink and paper on linen
51 x 38 inches



16, 2016
Oil, acrylic, ink and paper on linen
51 x 38 inches



XTC, 2015
Singed oil on linen
24 x 18 inches



A fascinating grouping of works in terms of perceiving and thinking about space and spatial relations in both 2, 3 and more dimensions, it was difficult to isolate works discretely in order to view their autonomous presence(s).  Were the multidimensional works meant to be considered as a whole unified installation, it would have made more sense how they were actually displayed, positioned with respect to one another. As it were according to the checklist, it was a cluster of artworks placed very close to one and even on top of one another.  Such a number of works could fill a gallery this size and beyond and would need to be spread out or isolated in separate rooms in order to appreciate the subtleties within individual constellations.  That challenge aside which was huge, moments between light, surface, and color interplayed nicely and convincingly where such focus could be attained.  While the 2D works in the adjacent space may have provided mapping clues for how to consider the organization of sculptures next door, it wasn't quite clear how far to go with this thinking.  The 2D works were also intriguing in their own right as they conjured evolution of thoughts about spatial divisions.  Again, if taken as a whole exhibition, it could have worked.  As it were, it was a bit disjointed and therefore disappointing, again, in order to isolate what I think are important concepts proposed in the work about time, space, and scale as referenced via light, color, surface, and form.

Aside from the installation/viewer concerns (which really are intrinsic to works like these on their own terms and in relation to other artists who seem to consider the relation of interior/exterior conditions as temporally sublime (Smithson, Morgan Fisher, et al)), it was enjoyable to go amongst and between the works of the two exhibition spaces thinking about passages both real and virtual.

Lita Albuquerque "Embodiment" @ Kohn Gallery


ALLOCHTHONOUS ACCELERATION, 2015
Pigment on panel and 24kt gold leaf on resin
84 x 84 inches






ONOKI ACCELERATION, 2016
Pigment on panel and 24kt gold leaf on resin
60 x 60 inches


SIDEREAL ACCELERATION, 2016
Pigment on panel and white gold leaf on resin
72 x 72 inches


SUBLIMITY ACCELERATION, 2015
Pigment on panel and 24kt gold leaf on resin
60 x 60 inches


AETHER ACCELERATION, 2016
Pigment on panel and white gold leaf on resin
84 x 84 inches







LIGHT ACCELERATION, 2016
Pigment on panel and 24kt gold leaf on resin
60 x 60 inches


EOLIAN ACCELERATION, 2016
Pigment on panel and white gold leaf on resin
60 x 60 inches


ULTRAVIOLET ACCELERATION, 2015
Pigment on panel and white gold leaf on resin
60 x 60 inches





PLANETARY RED SHIFT, 2016
obsidian, salt, copper
25 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 24 12/ inches




ALLOCTHONUS, 2016
decomposed granite, salt, glass, steel
25 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 24 inches



ALBION, 2015
obsidian, honey, glass, steel
25 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 24 1/2


Marcia Hafif @ Marc Selwyn Fine Art




Neutral Tint (Scheveningen), 2001
Oil on canvas
16 x 16 inches



March 29, 1976, 1976
Pencil on paper
25 1/2 x 40 1/2









March 31, 1974, 1974
Pencil on paper
40 1/2 x 25 1/2



Arm Drawing, 1978
Pencil on paper
13 x 13 1/4 inches



Painstaking, persistent and meditative. Works on paper set up an appreciation for the brushwork in the smaller monochromes, paintings similar in tone and scale to the works shown in Made in LA 2014 at the Hammer Museum. See here.

Mechanical drawings of body parts attenuated by joints. So, what a hand and wrist can do to make things in repetition and consequence.

Hatch marks somehow recall Jasper Johns works from the 70s.

Diana Thater "Sympathetic Imagination" @ LACMA


Untitled Videowall (Butterflies), 2008
Six video monitors, one player, six 48-inch fluorescent light fixtures, and Lee filters
Dimensions variable

















Abyss of Light, 1993
Three video projectors, three players, and Lee filters
Dimensions variable






Day for Night One, Two, and Three, 2013
Each: Nine-monitor video wall
Dimensions variable






Delphine, 1999
Four video projectors, nine-monitor video wall, five players,
and four LED wash lights
Dimensions variable









knots + surfaces, 2001
Five video projectors, sixteen-monitor video wall,
and six players
Dimensions variable






Six-Color Video Wall, 2000
Six video monitors and six players; horizontal stack
Dimensions variable




A Series of Events, 2003/2015
Vinyl text on yellow wall with two LED wash lights
Dimensions variable















Surface Effect, 1997
Two monitors and two players
Dimensions variable






Life is a Time-Based Medium, 2015
Three video projectors, display computer, and one player
Dimensions variable













A Cast of Falcons, 2008
Four video projectors, display computer, and two spotlights
Dimensions variable







Chernobyl, 2011
Six video projectors and six players
Dimensions variable









The Caucus Race, 1998/2015
Video monitor and player; excerpt
Dimensions variable