Caught amidst the endless highways and palm trees, keto bars and glamour, Los Angeles may still be one of the most misunderstood cities in America. Sure, Hollywood is a thing. So is the pretentiousness and fast life that has captivated audiences from around the world. But ask any Angeleno and there’s a grittiness, an authenticity of culture that is the true bedrock of the City of Angels.
Alfonso Gonzalez Jr. is a proud son of LA and his art seeks to spotlight the seemingly mundane visual legacy that makes up the iconography of the city. In a new solo exhibition at Matthew Brown Gallery, Gonzalez recreates some of these scenes — from barbershop walls and liquor stores to parking lots corners and bus stops. Within each, Gonzalez utilizes the sign painting expertise he learned from his father in various meticulously layered compositions that showcase the hopes and fears of the many immigrants who call the city home.
“There Was There” is essentially like observing a random LA street and magnifying it against the pristine white walls of the gallery. By doing so, Gonzalez’s aims to reassess the “clichés and misinformation about Los Angeles” — spotlighting “an entire world that is immigrant, that is low-income, working class, that is Black, Brown, Asian, set within the rich cultural enclaves that sprawl throughout the city— a world that already has always been the true fabric of Los Angeles culture,” he said in a statement. The exhibition is in its final weeks and will conclude on March 19, 2022.
Also on view, Hauser & Wirth dives into the artistic crossover between Max Bill and Georges Vantongerloo.
Matthew Brown Gallery
712 N. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA
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