Contemporary Art

Vamba Bility is a multidisciplinary artist whose work echoes the experience of the African diaspora. Having journeyed from Côte d’Ivoire to Guinea to the United States, Bility perceives this contested way of living as a blur, albeit one that is deeply intimate. In his hands, this blurred sensibility becomes a fluid movement that draws on various material histories. He expresses the reverberating motions of his existence by leaning on and weaving together mediums and materials such as painting, textiles, found objects, and sound. A cracked calabash gets sewn together. A torn canvas gets stitched as a salve. A painting is propped up by a brick or two. All of this is a form of mark-making that structures the landscape of diaspora as a material residue of atmosphere, of feeling, of process. Bility threads this through a shared poiesis—a bringing forth, a revelation—that sketches out an architecture of what it means to be.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays – 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.,

Thursdays – 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.,
Saturdays & Sundays 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Bahia Reverb: Artists and Place presents the work of ten former fellows at the Sacatar Institute in Bahia, Brazil, all from North America and of African descent, to reflect on how Bahia, an epicenter of the African diaspora, has fueled their work and changed their understanding of themselves.

Artists include Gerald Cyrus, Juan Erman Gonzalez, Mark Steven Greenfield, Karen Hampton, Rik Freeman, Francis Tre Lawrence, Germaine Ingram, Sandra Brewster, Precious Lovell, and Tim Whiten.

Bahia Reverb: Artists and Place is organized by the California African American Museum (CAAM) and Art + Practice (A+P). The exhibition is curated by Bia Gayotto, independent curator, artist, and writer. CAAM at A+P is a five-year collaboration.

MATERIAL RECOVERY: Printmaking with Recycled Materials is a group exhibition by LYNK Collective.

Works by: Yeansoo Aum • Elisabeth Beck • Andra Broekelschen Alexandra Chiara • Christina Yasmin Fesmire • Karen Fiorito • Carole Gelker • Bill Jaros • Nguyen Ly Diane McLeod • Jared Millar • William Myers • Marina Polic • Vera Polic-Lakhal • Francisco Rogido • Olga Ryabtsova Laura Shapiro • Tracy Loreque Skinner • Mary Lawrence Test • Paula Voss • Zana Zupur Guest Artists: Karen Feuer-Schwager • Kim Kei Wendy Murray • Jackie Nach • MJ Rado  • Victor Rosas • Fred Rose • Marianne Sadowski  • Jillian Thompson • Katie Thompson-Peer

Curated by Christina Yasmin Fesmire and Jared Miller.

The works in Material Recovery reclaim common materials such as cardboard, plastic, and wood – the very products that flow through the nearby Port of Los Angeles destined for landfills. As printmakers, the members of LYNK Collective have a vested interest in the ongoing recovery and reduction of waste. The paper on which they print— “rag” paper—was traditionally made from scraps of recycled cotton rags. Material Recovery: Printmaking with Recycled Materials is an expression LYNK Collective’s values, as ecologically conscious artists inhabiting a shared earth, producing artwork made from recycled rather than raw materials.

Exhibition Programming

Print Workshop with LYNK Collective (RSVP required) February 10th and 17th: http://tinyurl.com/mr4afwjz | Closing and Artist Talk March 23rd, 2-4pm: http://tinyurl.com/57m4rzv7

AGCC Gallery Hours: Thursday — Saturday, 10am to 4pm
(Please note that the AGCC Gallery will close early at 1pm on January 27th).

Learn more and plan your visit: angelsgateart.org

Established in 2017, LYNK Collective is a group of two dozen artists from the Orange County and Los Angeles area who collaborate on projects and exhibitions through the medium of printmaking. LYNK Collective has been featured in The Hand, Pressing Matters, and the Los Angeles Printmaking Society blog, Press On.

This exhibition is supported by Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, California Natural Resources Agency for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment, and Perenchio Foundation.

The exhibition is on view from Saturday, November 18, 2023 through Sunday, April 7, 2024 at the Riverside Art Museum in the Art Alliance Gallery.

Sanford Biggers: Oracle is organized by Connie Butler, chief curator, with Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi, curatorial assistant.