March 23 – April 29, 2017
Opening Reception: March 23, 7 – 9pm
Steve Turner is pleased to present Top Five Buddy Cop Films, an exhibition of collaborations between five pairs of Los Angeles-based artists, curated by Santi Vernetti. The exhibition features works by Amanda Ross-Ho & Diedrick Brackens, Larry Johnson & Adam Stamp, Joel Kyack & Lisa Anne Auerbach, Kerry Tribe & Edgar Bryan, Lila de Magalhaes & Roni Shneior.
The works of Amanda Ross-Ho and Diedrick Brackens mine the emotional and conceptual depths of things: from trinkets and domestic objects to the tools and devices of their respective studio practices. Ross-Ho’s works explore the language of design, art, and consumer culture through the complication of scale and the thoughtful consideration of art’s mechanisms of display and dissemination. Brackens’ similarly explores the intimacy of objects through an oeuvre that delves into the history of weaving. Both artists share an interest in fabric and textiles, as well as the role of text’s relationship to sculpture and images.
Larry Johnson and Adam Stamp are often described as quintessential Los Angeles artists. Armed with incisive wits, Stamp and Johnson shrewdly observe and critique the aesthetic makeup and cultural history of their shared city. Johnson’s work often refers to popular culture, graphic and commercial design, advertising, and personal narratives, resulting in images that are as richly layered in process as they are in meaning. Stamp, who studied under Johnson, also addresses personal histories in his work, providing astute, humorous, and hauntingly strange ruminations on the role of the artist and the state of the aesthetic experience.
When Joel Kyack and Lisa Anne Auerbach moved into their home, Auerbach discovered a shed in the backyard that she quickly converted into an exhibition venue called The Meow. The first exhibition was The Dirty Poke: a tattoo shop, performance, and installation by Kyack and Matthew Johnson. Auerbach’s diverse practice lies at the intersection of visual art, self-publishing, political activism, and crafting. Her work processes the political through humorous insights into popular culture, personal history, and global events. Kyack works in a variety of mediums and found objects that result in complex, bold, humorous, and visually/figuratively colorful installations that explore the depths of the human psyche.
On paper, the practices of Kerry Tribe and Edgar Bryan couldn’t be more dissimilar. Tribe works mostly in film, video, and installation, while Bryan works mostly in painting, book design, and clay. What they share is a collection of overlapping interests and approaches to making. Both explore the boundaries and possibilities of gesture and representation within their chosen mediums. They also share a rich history of collaboration with other artists, friends, and strangers.
The works of Lila de Magalhaes and Roni Shneior share an appreciation for the handling, massaging, and molding of materials. The two have known each other since relocating to Los Angeles from different countries around 2011. Today they have neighboring studios. Magalhaes’ works are steeped in references to magical subjects, but they also approach quotidian and natural experiences with a sense of bizarre wonder. Shneior’s work similarly exudes a peculiar sensibility, casting eerie glows onto banal subjects like pickles or a planter near a gas station pump. Whether working in textile, paint, or clay, both artists always manage the difficult task of representing the process of becoming or appearing—the state of transition as a state of being.
Amanda Ross-Ho (b. 1975, Chicago) studied at California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland and the Art Institute of Chicago before completing an MA in Fine Art at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles in 2016. Solo exhibitions of her work have been presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (2014); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2013) and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2012). Her work has also been presented within significant group surveys including Ordinary Pictures, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, New Photography Museum of Modern Art, New York; Production Site: The Artist’s Studio Inside and Out, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (both 2010) and at the 2008 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum, New York. In 2015 she was commissioned by the Public Art Fund to produce a major new work for City Hall Park, New York. Ross-Ho lives and works in Los Angeles.
Diedrick Brackens (b. 1989, Mexia, Texas) earned a BFA at the University of North Texas, Denton in 2011 and an MFA at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco in 2014. His recent solo exhibitions include No More Trauma at Steve Turner (2016); This is Real Life at Johansson Projects, Oakland (2015); hearts, hands, and other members, Conduit Gallery, Dallas (2015); and spilled with nowhere to flow at Pacific Sky Gallery, Eugene. Brackens is currently Assistant Professor of Fiber in the School of Art at California State University, Long Beach.
Larry Johnson (b. 1959, Los Angeles) has shown and has work held in prominent institutions and collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and MAMCO, Geneva among others. Some of his most recent exhibitions include a solo exhibition at MAMCO, Geneva (2016); Larry Johnson: On Location, curated by Bruce Hainley and Antony Hudek, Raven Row, London (2015); and the Hammer Museum (2019).
Adam Stamp (b. 1985, Pittsburgh) earned a BA at the University of Oregon and is an MFA candidate at the Art Center College of Design. His work was recently included in the group show Home Depot curated by Won Ju Lim & Jan Tumlir at DXIX Projects, Venice, California (2016); Thus Spake the Fungus curated by Santi Vernetti at Arturo Bandini, Los Angeles (2016); Global Times Painting Painting To curated by Alex Becerra at Half Gallery, New York (2016); Reference / Material curated by Alex Ebstein, Towson University Gallery of the Arts, Towson (2016); and Game Changer at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (2014).
Joel Kyack (b. 1972, Abington, Pennsylvania) received his MFA from the University of Southern California and attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2004. Recent solo shows include Black as night and thicker still I surrender to this hill my will, Campbell Hall, Los Angeles (2017); On the Floor in the Cave of Skulls Francois Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles (2014); The Very First Day, Workplace Gallery, Gateshead, United Kingdom (2015); Old Sailors Never Die, Francois Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles (2014); Point at the Thing That’s Furthest Away, Praz-Delavallade, Paris (2013); Terms / Proposals / Demands, SSZ Sued, Köln, Germany (2013).
Lisa Anne Auerbach (b. 1967, Ann Arbor) received a BFA, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York and an MFA, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, C 1994. Her work is included in collections around the world including Saatchi Collection, London; The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; LACMA, Los Angeles; University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor. Some of her most recent solo exhibitions include Spells, Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles (2014); American Megazine #1, The Ski Club, Milwaukee,(2014); and Chicken Strikken, Prick Your Finger, London (2013).
Kerry Tribe (b. 1973, Boston) received her BA at Brown University, Providence in 1997, participated in the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program in 1998 and received an MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2002. Recent solo exhibitions, performances and screenings include Kerry Tribe, Parque Galeria, Mexico City (2017); New Work: Kerry Tribe, San Francisco Museum of Art, (2017); The Loste Note, 356 Mission, Los Angeles (2015); Will Be ________, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (2014); and Critical Mass, performance at Modern Mondays, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013).
Edgar Bryan (b. 1970, Birmingham, Alabama) received a BFA from The Art Institute of Chicago in 1998 and an MFA from the University of California Los Angeles, in 2001. His work is included in the collections of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo; and Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria. Solo exhibitions of his work include Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria (2009); Zach Feuer Gallery, New York (2008); c/o Atle Gerhardsen, Berlin (2007).
Lila de Magalhaes (b. 1986, Rio de Janeiro) received her BA at the Glasgow School of Art in 2008 and received an MFA from the University of Southern California in 2013. Her work was featured in the group shows Beloved In the Landscape, New Bretagne Belle Air, Germany (2016); My Skin is my Krustle (Pink Marble); Guggenheim Gallery at Chapman University, was included in the Clay Night installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2015); and Another Cat’s Show, 356 Mission Rd. (2014). Lila was also one of the founders of the artist run space Diana in Los Angeles.
Roni Shneior (b. 1980, Cabri, Israel) received a BFA and an MFA from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem in 2006 and 2010 respectively. Recent solo shows include Abyss, at Finley Gallery, Los Angeles (2016); I Can See You But I Don’t Know Where You Are, Diana, Los Angeles (2014). Her work has been included in the group exhibitions The Garden of Forking Paths, Magenta Plains, New York (2017); Grammatics Jarr, Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2016); Dengue Fever, Ballroom Marfa (2016); Tickles, 356 Mission Rd. Los Angeles (2016); Sylvia Bataille, Joan Gallery, Los Angeles (2015); and Very Bad Painting, Rami and Uri Nechushtan Museum, Ashdot Yaakov, Israel (2012).
