10 Art Shows to See in Los Angeles This March
Matt Stromberg


The artists of Nature Morte gallery, Hayv Kahraman’s painted libations, Jesse Wiedel’s screwball American dream, the late Nona Olabisi’s homegrown muralism, and more. Los Angeles may be recovering from a bit of an art hangover after our dizzying fair week, but there are several excellent shows worth a closer look this month. At Vielmetter, Hayv Kahraman draws on personal loss to create mystical visions of resilience. Painters Jesse Wiedel and Cole Case focus on our nation’s complexities and contradictions, asking what freedom really means at this pivotal moment in time. Relatedly, a two-gallery Wally Hendrick retrospective and a deep dive into Wallace Berman’s Verifax collages emphasize the enduring vitality and revolutionary spirit of these 20th-century countercultural figures. And at Loyola Marymount University’s Laband Art Gallery, a Noni Olabisi survey gives institutional recognition to the late artist, whose murals are already prominent features of South LA’s landscape.

Stalking the Good Life portrays a screwball version of the American Dream in vivid color and expressionistic brushwork, as a motley cast of characters search the liminal spaces of the Western US for a slice of paradise. Jesse Wiedel paints gas stations, roadside churches, and RV parks populated by outsiders and misfits on quests of self-discovery and self-destruction. With a nod to both the idealistic regionalism of Thomas Hart Benton and the baroque frenzy of Robert Williams, Jesse Wiedel proffers a vision of regular people navigating the hopes, fears, and realities of our brave new world.

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