Esoteric Survey

David Zwirner Gallery in Los Angeles has two really good exhibitions up at the moment. Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, organized by Shio Kusaka and Josef Albers, Duets.  Albers at Bauhaus Study for Tenayuca, c. 1942-1943 Luminous Day, 1947-1952 That's a lot of squares. Study for a Homage to the Square, c. 1970-1973 Three color studies for Homage to the Square Study for a Homage to the Square, 1964 One of the associates took me and a friend on a tour of the offices and viewing rooms upstairs. Magdalena rode her bike a lot around Venice. Magdalena on a classic Michael form. Josef and Magdalena at LACMA in 2024. This had to be the inspiration, right? More on that exhibition, here . Zwirner represents the John McCracken estate. They have another one on their back patio.

A mix of Downtown Modernism and other pick ups from the weekend. This is the second straight Downtown Modernism that I bought a Lawenda Lamp.  There is also Design Line, James Lovera and Laura Andreson. A 1950s sign for Redondo Beach architect, Corwin Eberting AIA  Post-Modern Time Last but certainly not least, a Magdalena Suarez Frimkess dog.

Picking up the Frimkess pieces last weekend reminded me that I never did a post on  LACMA's exhibition on Magdalena. I saw it in September of 2024.  Magdalena Suarez Frimkess: The Finest Disregard was the first museum exhibition dedicated to Magdalena. Although she is mostly known for her ceramics, the Venezuelan-born, Los Angeles-based artist was trained in painting, printmaking, and sculpture in Venezuela, Chile, and New York. Spanning more than five decades, the exhibition features ceramics, paintings, and drawings, including works created with her husband, Michael Frimkess. Magdalena was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1929. She was orphaned at seven years old when her mother passed from cancer. After being raised by nuns, she moved to Chile at 19. She moved to the US when she was 33 after she was offered a residency at the Clay Art Center in New York. That is where she met her future husband Michael. They moved to Los Angeles in 1964 and they opened there studio in V...