Emblazoned World

Emblazoned World is a group exhibition featuring work by Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Guillaume Dénervaud, Elizabeth Englander, Nik Gelormino, Joseph Grigely, Luchita Hurtado, E’wao Kagoshima, Kentaro Kawabata, Kinke Kooi, Nancy Lupo, and Lee Mullican.

The title comes from a 1969 “marble drawing” by Lee Mullican included in this show. This is not the first time I’ve reappropriated a title of Mullican’s. A decade ago in New York I lived behind his son’s studio. My boyfriend at the time was Matt Mullican’s studio manager. I had to take showers in the work space and on the way to the bathroom I would pass a photo by Man Ray of Luchita Hurtado, Matt’s mother. After we moved to Los Angeles, my boyfriend started working for the Estate of Lee Mullican and I finally met Luchita. She was infectious, with the most fascinating stories from her time in the art scenes of New York, Taos and Los Angeles. I will never forget her detailed account of Duchamp massaging her foot at a party, or Diego Rivera shooting a piñata with a revolver. Eventually, after Lee’s studio was moved out of the Barker Hangar, I was offered some of his old stretcher bars. I joked that they still had his mojo, but I was mostly serious. One of them had a title from one of his paintings, Stellar Head, written on the back; and this title suited my own painting perfectly.

It was around this time that drawers of Luchita’s works were discovered–drawings and paintings which had not been seen in decades. Untitled (1975) is one of her many “moth lights” through which Luchita aimed to attract moths by rendering light in vivid color. As a mother, Luchita worked at night, waiting until after everyone went to sleep to paint. In contrast, she told me Lee was constantly working, even while watching TV. He would build up planes of paint with the edge of a palette knife with a rhythmic fervor reminiscent of Eugene Von Bruenchenhein’s scratches. Bruenchenhein similarly employed unconventional tools, notably the edge of corrugated cardboard and brushes made out of his wife Marie’s hair. It’s exciting to see how the immediacy of one’s surroundings factors into one’s process.

This quality of material immanence is echoed in Kentaro Kawabata’s Seeds (2021); crushed glass is inserted within the porcelain before firing to produce halos of color. Magazine clippings and stray objects like q-tips and pencils adorn the negative space in the works by Kinke Kooi and E’wao Kagoshima, while discarded papers like receipts, toilet paper, bank statements and chocolate wrappers are layered to a point of unrecognition in Nancy Lupo’s Currency Exchange (2020). Elizabeth Englander’s Bikini Crucifixion no. 18 (2021) enshrines the past scraps from other “bikini crucifixions,” all made of old bathing suits stretched around strips of hardware cloth. Nik Gelormino reclaims cedar and ash from the surrounding Los Angeles area and hand carves stools that reiterate shapes from nature. Joseph Grigely, being deaf, accumulates scraps of paper from his conversations with hearing people, artifacts of fragments of conversations, which he then arranges into wall pieces and installations, constructing new verbal narratives. Many of these materials could be considered garbage; Grigely even once had his work in an exhibition mistakenly thrown out, but the commonness of these objects is also what captures us, what creates meaning.

Guillaume Dénervaud’s crystal spheres, referred to as STRATA (2020), hover in space like floating alien basketballs. While on residency at the Cristallerie Saint-Louis, Guillaume had glass artisans blow these spheres, which he then shaped through the technique of sandblasting. Their generic red color projects a machine-made peculiarity, but upon closer inspection, the drawings on the surfaces emerge, as if they had been swept up on the beach after being eroded at sea. Kentaro Kawabata’s Seeds similarly favor a sci-fi ornamentation with their hidden inner protrusions, evocative of chicken wattle and, uh, labia. They remind me of magical spell bottles with their archaic functionality.

Together these works display an affinity for feeling over logic. There’s an inherent intimacy associated with these materials; they are the precious detritus of daily life. There is something very familiar, yet otherworldly about their presence. The obsessive process behind these works allows time for thoughts to render, meandering into the realm of the subconscious. There’s no conceit behind this show exactly; these artists simply resonate with me. And with that, it is with great pleasure that I invite you to enter Emblazoned World.

– LB

Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (b. 1910, Marinette, WI, d. 1983 Milwaukee, WI) lived and worked in Milwaukee. A self taught artist, Von Bruenchenhein has held solo shows at Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York (2020, 2016); Delmes & Zander, Berlin (2016); Maccarone, New York (2014); Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Chicago (2011); the American Folk Art Museum, New York (2010); and Feigen Contemporary, New York (2007, 2004). Selected group exhibitions include Super-Rough, guest curated by Takashi Mrakami, Outsider Art Fair special exhibition, New York (2021); New Images of Man, curated by Alison M. Gingeras, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles (2020); Outliers and American Vanguard Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (2018); The Encyclopedic Palace, 55th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale, Venice (2013); and After Nature, New Museum, New York (2008).

Guillaume Dénervaud (b. 1987, Fribourg, Switzerland) lives and works in Paris. He studied illustration at the École des arts appliqués, Geneva and at HEAD, Geneva. Dénervaud’s solo shows include Surv’eye at Centre D’édition Contemporary (CEC), Geneva (2021); Zone Furtive at Balice Hertling, Paris (2019); Inversens Clinic, Alienze, Lausanne (2019); and Spectrolia Corporation, Hard Hat, Geneva (2018). Group exhibitions include Le sain ennui, BQ gallery, Berlin (2021); Your Friends and Neighbors, High Art, Paris (2020); and L’Oranger, LiveInYourHead, Geneva (2017). Dénervaud participated in the Swiss Institute residency program, New York (2021). His work is in the collections of the MAMCO, Geneva; and the collection of the Paris Museum of Modern Art.

Elizabeth Englander (b. 1988, Boston, MA) lives and works in New York. She received an MFA at Hunter College (2019) and a BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design (2011). Englander has also studied at Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris and Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art. She has held solo exhibitions with Theta, New York (upcoming, spring 2022); Smart Objects (2020); From the Desk of Lucy Bull, Los Angeles (2019); Entrance Projects, New York (2017); Kimberly-Klark, Queens (2017); and Juicys Gallery, New York (2014). Group exhibitions include Quickening, Smart Objects, Los Angeles (2021); Deathbound and Sexed, Theta, New York (2021); Delusionarium 5 (Adaptation), Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2021); An eye that tried so hard to see one particular thing that it ended up forgetting everything else, Safe Gallery, New York, (2019); Bone Meal, Motel, Brooklyn (2019); Fool’s Prophecy, Muzeum Ikon, Warsaw (2018); and Flamboyance and Fragility, From the Desk of Lucy Bull, Los Angeles (2018).

Nik Gelormino (b. 1986, San Francisco, CA) lives and works in Los Angeles. He received his BFA from The Cooper Union in NYC (2008). Gelormino has been in group shows including Salad Days, Artists Space, New York (2008); Nostalgia Isn’t What It Used To Be, La Mama Galleria, New York (2009);  69, Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2016); FBI, Arturo Bandini, Los Angeles (2016); and Pipe at the Gates of Dawn, Jan Kaps Gallery, Cologne (2015). Solo shows include Reasonably Clean, OLD ROOM, New York (2014) and a forthcoming show at Stanley’s Gallery, Los Angeles (2022).

Joseph Grigely (b. 1956, Longmeadow, MA) lives and works in Chicago. He received a BA in English Literature from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire (1978) and a D.Phil in Literature from University of Oxford (1984). He is Professor of Visual and Critical Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Grigely is the recipient of awards including the Warhol Foundation/Creative Capital Grant (2009) and the Guggenheim Fellowship (2005). His work is in the collections of museums including the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Tate Modern, London; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. He has held solo shows at Air de Paris, Paris (2017); Serpentine, London (2017); Marian Goodman Gallery, London (2015); and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2001). He has exhibited in group exhibitions at Marian Goodman Gallery, London (2019); Villa Medici, Rome (2018); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2000, 2014); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2013); and Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013).

Luchita Hurtado (b. 1920, Maiquetía, Venezuela; d. 2020, Santa Monica, CA) lived and worked in Santa Monica, California and Arroyo Seco, New Mexico. She has held solo exhibitions at Hauser & Wirth (2020, 2019); the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2020); the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London (2019); and Park View / Paul Soto, Los Angeles (2016). Her recent group exhibitions include New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century, UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley (2021); Women Take the Floor, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston (2019); Made in L.A. 2018, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2018); Painting. Now and Forever, Part III, Matthew Marks Gallery, New York (2018).

E’wao Kagoshima (b. 1945, Niigata, Japan) lives and works in Brooklyn. He received his MFA at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts (1969). He has held solo and two-person exhibitions at Brennan & Griffin, New York (2019); The Box, Los Angeles (2018); Greenspon Gallery, New York (2018, 2014, 2011); Office Baroque, Brussels (2018); Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zurich (2016); Vilma Gold, London (2013); and Mitchel Algus Gallery, New York (2008, 1997). His group exhibitions include Landscape, Bodega, New York (2021); Out of Control, Venus Over Manhattan, New York (2018); 25 Years: Representation, Mitchell Algus Gallery, New York (2018); Billions and Billions Served, Brennan & Griffin, New York (2019); The History Show, Foxy Production, New York (2017); Namedropping, Jan Kaps, Cologne (2017); Animality, Marian Goodman Gallery, London (2016); Unorthodox, Jewish Museum, New York (2015); Better Homes, Sculpture Center, Long Island City, New York (2013); and Greater New York, MoMA PS1, Long Island City, New York (2010).

Kentaro Kawabata (b. 1976, Saitama, Japan) lives and works in Gifu, Japan. He attended the Tokyo Designer Institute for Ceramics (1998) and received a BFA from Tajimi City Pottery Design and Technical Center (2001). He has received awards including the Kamoda Shoji Award at the Mashiko Pottery Exhibition (2004) and the Paramita Museum Ceramic Award (2007). His solo exhibitions have been held at Sokyo Galery, Kyoto (2021); Nihonbashi Takashimaya, Tokyo (2019); Gallery Utsuwakan, Kyoto (2019); Nonaka-Hill, Los Angeles (2018); and SAVOIR VIVRE, Tokyo (2016). His group exhibitions include See Change, Ratio 3, San Francisco (2021); Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale (GICB), Icheon, Korea (2017); and CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE CRAFTS The Kikuchi Kanjitsu Prize II, Musee-Tomo, Tokyo (2016).

Kinke Kooi (b. 1961, Leeuwarden, Netherlands) lives and works in Arnhem. She attended the Academy for the Visual Arts, Arnhem (1985). She has had solo shows at Adams and Ollman, Portland (2021); Sandra Gering Gallery, New York (2016); Feature Inc., New York (2013, 2009, 2006, 2002, 1998); De Praktijk, Amsterdam (2006, 2004, 2002); and the Museum of Modern Art, Arnhem (1993). Her group exhibitions include Snapshot of a larger order, De ketelfactory, Schiedam (2016); Speigel Oog, Museum Arnhem (2014); Surreal Worlds, Central Museum, Utrecht (2014); Uncontrollable Urge, Portland Museum of Modern art (2013); Extravagant, Shameless, Unlimited – New Drawings in the Collection, Museum Boljmans van Beuingen, Rotterdam (2013); and Think Pink, Gavlak Gallery, Palm Beach (2010).

Nancy Lupo (b.1983, Flagstaff, AZ) lives and works in Los Angeles. She received her BFA from The Cooper Union in 2007 and her MFA from Yale University in 2011. Lupo has had solo exhibitions at Jan Kaps, Cologne (2021, 2019); Kristina Kite Gallery, Los Angeles (2020, 2017); MCA San Diego (2019); Antenna Space, Shanghai (2018); The Swiss Institute, New York (2016); and LAXART, Los Angeles (2014). Group exhibitions include Antwerp, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles (2021); Open Mouth: Pershing Square, Los Angeles Public Art Triennial, Los Angeles (2019); Made in L.A. 2018, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2018); Camille Henrot: Days are Dogs, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
 (2017); and The Poet, The Critic, and the Missing, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2016).

Lee Mullican (b. 1919, Chickasha, OK; d. 1998, Santa Monica, CA) lived and worked in Santa Monica. Mullican attended the Kansas City Art Institute, Missouri (1942); University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahama; and Abilene Christian College, Texas (1937). His work is in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco;  the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York;  the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. He has had solo exhibitions at Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Beverly Hills (2019, 2014, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2004); UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley (2018); Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco (2007); and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (1999). His group exhibitions include James Cohan: Twenty Years, James Cohan, New York (2019); Way Bay, UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley (2017); Everything we do is music, The Drawing Room, London (2017); Art of Northern California: Three Stories, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (2016); Down to Earth: Modern Artists and the Land, Before Land Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (2013); and Selections from the Grunwald Center and the Hammer Contemporary Collection, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2013).

Lucy Bull (b. 1990, New York) lives and works in Los Angeles. She has been the subject of solo exhibitions at David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles (2021); High Art (Arles, 2020; Paris, 2019); Human Resources, Los Angeles (2019); Smart Objects, Los Angeles (2019); and RMS Queen Mary, Mother Culture, Long Beach, California (2017). Recent group exhibitions include Present Generations: Creating the Scantland Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio (2021); Life Still, CLEARING, New York (2020); I Want to Eat the Sunset. We’re Talking About the Cosmos, Even. And Love, I Guess, Almine Rech, New York (2020); and El oro de los tigres, Air de Paris, Romainville, France (2020). Her work is in the permanent collections of MAMCO Geneva; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; Dallas Museum of Art; and Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami. Since 2018, Bull has curated exhibitions and performances through her curatorial project, From the Desk of Lucy Bull.