As you enter the spacious lobby you see a large mural by Devin Reynolds (born in Venice, California in 1991) titled Paradise Lost.
His grim vision of his beach hometown continues on the walls along the staircase.
Walking into the lovely inner courtyard, a shocking clay sculpture catches your eye. The author is Roksana Pirouzmand (born in Iran in 1990), who left her country 10 years ago and created this work, Until All Is Dissolved, to signify a prayer for help.
Watch the video to hear her explain it.
Upstairs you see a mountain of hands, strings and postcards, Border Quipu by the collective Ambos: Art Made Between Opposite Sides, founded by Tanya Aguiñiga. Watch the video about the plight of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana.
A giant sculpture by Ishi Glinsky (born in Tucson, Arizona in 1982), Inertia-Warn the Animals, occupies an entire room. Its intention is to link Native American “ancestral tradition with contemporary pop culture.”
In another room Maria Maea (born in Long Beach, California in 1988) mixes various materials to create a sculpture celebrating “her family’s Samoan Mexican American community.”
Kyle Kilty (born in Lake Tahoe, California in 1976), in a painting titled Mars, depicts “a fantastical universe packed with symbols.”
Esteban Ramón Pérez (born in Los Angeles in 1989) uses scraps of leather from his father’s upholstery shop to create abstract tapestries.
Dan Herschlein (born in Bayville, New York in 1989) makes “haunting scenes populated by fragmented bodies.”
Teresa Tolliver (born in Los Angeles in 1945) utilizes assemblage techniques tied to the Black diaspora for her series of small sculptures Wild Thing.
Made in L.A. opened on October 1, closes on Sunday December 31, 2023.
Text and photos by Elisa Leonelli