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    Paradise and Precarity Merge in Jessica Taylor Bellamy’s Paintings of Los Angeles Life

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    “American Airlines Passenger Ticket 1 (after Warhol)” (2023), oil on canvas, 32 x 59 inches

    Paradise and Precarity Merge in Jessica Taylor Bellamy’s Paintings of Los Angeles Life

    February 7, 2025

    ArtClimate

    Kate Mothes

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    For Jessica Taylor Bellamy, juxtapositions, transparency, and layers shape a way of working that evokes her family history and notions of home and landscape. Born to an Ashkenazi Jewish mother and an Afro-Cuban Jamaican father, Bellamy was raised in Whittier, just southeast of Los Angeles.

    In glowing oil paintings, she draws from personal mementos like photographs, sales receipts, and newspaper clippings to explore the relationships between utopia and dystopia, humans and nature, image and text, and fantasy and reality.

    “Did She Nail It?” (2025), oil on canvas, 26 x 20 inches

    Bellamy portrays sunsets, landscapes, trees, urban streets, flora, animals, and cloud formations in a kind of dreamy washiness, adding patterns like chainlink fences, gates, and lace curtains suggestive of boundaries. Horizontal landscapes overlaid with American Airlines tickets echo Andy Warhol’s 1960s silkscreen prints of SAS airline tickets merged with floral motifs.

    “Bellamy’s observations are rooted in her experiences of the sprawling urban landscape of Los Angeles—a meeting of nature and civilization at the edge of a precarious paradise, formed by fire, drought, flood, and wind,” says a statement from Anat Ebgi, which represents the artist and opens her new solo exhibition, Temperature Check.

    A few works shown here, like “Did She Nail It?,” appear in the show, which merges landscapes and atmospheric lighting effects with references to DIY culture, what’s gendered as “men’s work,” and car and motorcycle culture. The Home Depot receipt, which typically uses the slogan “Did we nail it?,” is combined with an image of a rear-view mirror depicted so close that it initially appears abstract.

    Bellamy examines the dualities and precarity of life in Southern California—a seeming paradise we’ve witnessed can be swiftly devastated by fire and drought. The title Temperature Change is also a double entendre, suggesting meteorological readings and a figurative expression used when measuring a group mood or opinion. Through surreal imagery and echoes of mass production and consumerism, the artist invokes a noir reverie.

    Temperature Check runs from February 8 to March 22 in Los Angeles. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

    “Box Fan (AM)” (2025), oil on canvas, 57 1/2 x 32 inches

    “American Airlines Passenger Ticket 2 (after Warhol)” (2023), oil on canvas, 32 x 60 inches

    “Playa Larga (Coquina Combination Pill Pack)” (2023), oil on canvas, 23 3/4 x 42 1/2 inches

    “A Subspecies of Journalism” (2023), oil on canvas, 59 x 43 1/2 inches

    “A Splendid Paradox” (2022), oil on canvas, 70 x 52 inches

    “Curtain of Sky” (2024), oil on canvas, 57 1/2 x 48 inches

    “Horizontal Thrust I (Blue graffiti highway)” (2025), oil on canvas, 26 x 70 inches

    “Driveway Moment” (2025), oil on canvas, 57 1/2 x 47 inches

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      in Art

      Lauren Halsey’s ’emajendat’ Is an Energetic Celebration of South Central Los Angeles

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      Installation view of ’emajendat’ at Serpentine South. Installation photos by Hugo Glendinning, © Lauren Halsey, courtesy of Serpentine, shared with permission

      Lauren Halsey’s ’emajendat’ Is an Energetic Celebration of South Central Los Angeles

      January 14, 2025

      ArtSocial Issues

      Kate Mothes

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      Inspired by the South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Lauren Halsey’s family has lived for generations, vibrant sculptures and site-specific installations vividly reflect the artist’s community.

      At Serpentine South, a large-scale, maximalist exhibition titled emajendat highlights Halsey’s self-described obsession with material culture, her interest in remixing messages and symbols, and the need to confront issues that affect people of color, the queer community, and the working class.

      Installation view

      Halsey gathers photographs, posters, flyers, commercial signs, and found objects that relate to her communities’ activism, highlighting “a sense of civic urgency and free-flowing imagination,” says David Kordansky Gallery, which co-represents the artist with Gagosian. “Inspired by Afrofuturism and funk, as well as the signs and symbols that populate her local environments, Halsey creates a visionary form of culture that is at once radical and collaborative.”

      Past, present, and future merge in the artists exploration of how idols, architecture, history, and communication fuel how we perceive identities and society. She draws on the imagery of ancient Egypt, the African diaspora, Black and queer icons, and the visionary design associated with funk to construct a kind of ever-evolving archive.

      In a monumental rooftop installation titled “the eastside of south central los angeles hieroglyph prototype architecture (I),” Halsey nods to palatial, ancient Egyptian architecture, placing the faces of notable Black figures on the columns’ capitals, such as activist Susan Burton and ethnomusicologist Dr. Rachel Eubanks.

      Halsey’s eclectic “funkmound” sculptures also encompass numerous found items, harboring miniature dioramas and objects that appear as though they are emerging from heaps of cotton candy. Throughout emajendat, seemingly endless collages, sculptures, reflections, prismatic color, patterns, messages, and textures welcome the viewer into an enthusiastically immersive experience.

      Installation view of ‘The Roof Garden Commission: Lauren Halsey,’ “the eastside of south central los angeles hieroglyph prototype architecture (I)” (2022). Photo by Hyla Skopitz, © Lauren Halsey, courtesy of the artist; David Kordansky Gallery and The Metropolitan Museum of Art

      The social element of Halsey’s work is amplified by a community center she founded in 2019 called Summaeverythang, located adjacent to her studio in South Central. The nonprofit initiative is “dedicated to the empowerment and transcendence of Black and Brown folks socio-politically, economically, intellectually, and artistically.”

      emajendat continues through February 23 in Kensington Gardens, London. Plan your visit on the gallery’s website.

      Foreground: “keepers of the krown (susan burton)” (2024), glass fiber, reinforced concrete, and mixed media, 261 3/4 x 48 1/8 x 48 1/8 inches. Background: “keepers of the krown (dr. rachel eubanks)” (2024), glass fiber, reinforced concrete, and mixed media 261 3/4 x 48 1/8 x 48 1/8 inches. Photo by Andrea Avezzù, © Lauren Halsey, courtesy of the artist, David Kordansky Gallery, and Gagosian

      Installation view

      Installation detail

      Installation view

      Installation detail

      Installation collage detail

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    • 50 Shares109 Views

      in Street Art

      WRDSMTH supporting WGA Strike

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      In the bustling entertainment capital of the world, Los Angeles, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike has become a defining moment in the ongoing struggle for writers’ rights. A city that thrives on creativity and storytelling is facing a significant disruption as writers unite to demand fair treatment, fair wages, and better working conditions. The WGA represents thousands of writers across film, television, and digital media. In recent years, these writers have expressed growing concerns over issues like stagnant wages, long working hours, lack of healthcare benefits, and the ever-increasing demands from studios and production companies. Dissatisfaction reached a boiling point when negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) failed to yield meaningful results. In light of these unresolved concerns, the WGA leadership decided to call for a strike, viewing it as a necessary step to draw attention to the disparities in the industry and press for meaningful change. The writers’ demands encompassed fair compensation, reasonable working hours, and provisions for job security in an evolving entertainment landscape dominated by streaming platforms and digital media.Public opinion is a critical aspect of any strike, and the WGA has been actively trying to garner support from fans, fellow industry professionals, and the wider public. Social media has played a crucial role in amplifying the writers’ message, with hashtags like #WGAstrike trending on various platforms. Writers have been sharing their personal stories, shedding light on the harsh realities of their profession, and explaining why their demands are justified. WRDSMTH is supporting the @WGAWest / @SAGAftra strike placing some renegade work all around Los Angeles, including Hollywood, Universal City and Culver City. ”The pasteups were done on utility boxes because I noticed a plethora of  “blank” boxes across the street or in close proximity of the picket lines, which makes for A+ placement in support.”Take a look at more images below and check back with us soon for more updates. More

    • 88 Shares159 Views

      in Street Art

      “Kobe Bryant” by Odeith in Los Angeles

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      Portuguese artist Odeith is currently in Los Angeles where he teamed up with Branded Arts to create a new mural showing Kobe Bryant, Gigi Bryant and Black Mamba.This mural pays tribute to the power of inspiration, which Kobe used in the stories he told with his company Granity Studios.The completed project “GRANA” is located 2 blocks from the arena at 1147 S. Hope St. in Downtown LA!Take a look at more images below and check back with us soon for more updates. More

    • 213 Shares129 Views

      in Art

      Light Casts a Magical Glow on the Residential Hills of Los Angeles in Paintings by Seth Armstrong

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      Art

      #landscapes
      #Los Angeles
      #oil painting
      #painting

      April 6, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Purple Mountain” (2020), oil on wood panel, 48 x 36 inches. All images © Seth Armstrong, shared with permission
      “Color and light are basically all I think about when I’m painting,” says Seth Armstrong. Working with oil paints on wood, the Los Angeles-based artist renders the sloping hills of his native California county in bold, saturated tones. Depicting the staggered houses and vegetation in the glow of golden hour or just after sunrise, Armstrong balances both hyperrealism and more sweeping, gestural strokes. He includes the occasional candy-colored hue to veil the densely populated landscape—the artist notes that small details can be difficult to perceive when not viewing the works in person—with a layer of magic. “The paintings do become, for me, more than a depiction of light and color,” he writes. “But that’s a personal relationship we have.”
      A limited-edition print of “Purple Mountain” releases on April 12 through Unit Drops, and Armstrong will have a solo show at Unit London this fall. Check out his Instagram for a larger collection of his paintings and glimpses into his home studio, where he works alongside ceramicist Madeleine Pellegren. (via This Isn’t Happiness)

      “5:30,” oil on wood panel, 12 x 12 inches
      “Green House” (2020), oil on wood panel, 14.5 x 14.5 inches
      “Pink Moment” (2020), oil on wood panel, 12 x 12 inches
      “November” (2020), oil on wood panel, 19.75 x 27.5 inches
      “September” (2020), oil on wood panel, 18 x 18 inches
      “March” (2020), oil on wood panel, 36 x 36 inches

      #landscapes
      #Los Angeles
      #oil painting
      #painting

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