Jonathan Griffin

Criticism and essays on art and culture

Month: April, 2023

Patrisse Cullors and noé olivas

Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles

noé olivas, Prayers of Protection (2023) Garden shears, cooper, dichroic glass, metal 12 x 13 x 2 1/4 inches. Courtesy: noé olivas and Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles; Photo by Yubo Dong/ofstudio

At the Charlie James Gallery, in the Chinatown neighborhood here, a surprising exhibition of spiritually reflective and esoteric artwork opened recently. Surprising because the artists, Patrisse Cullors and noé olivas, are known for their activism and social engagement, and because the works in the show, “Freedom Portals,” reject the strident, declamatory tenor of much political art.

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Richard Tuttle

‘Calder/Tuttle:Tentative’, 2023, installation view. Courtesy: © 2023 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists RightsSociety (ARS), New York; photograph: Pace Gallery

Richard Tuttle’s work in sculpture, drawing, installation and poetry is delicate and attenuated, rarely exceeding the bounds of carefully measured economy. Subtlety and ambivalence have long defined his oeuvre. This month in Los Angeles, however, he is the architect of something close to a grandiose gesture. ‘Calder/Tuttle: Tentative’ spans two neighbouring galleries, David Kordansky Gallery and Pace Gallery, and platforms a conversation between two artists and two bodies of work, over eight decades apart.

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