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Best Art Shows to See in Los Angeles This Spring
This spring, LA institutions present retrospectives on iconic local artists and group shows that explore the link between material, spirituality, and community. The Museum of Contemporary Art mounts an exhibition of influential conceptual artist Michael Asher, whose ephemeral works illustrate unseen networks of influence, and a Steve Roden exhibition in Orange County focuses on the maps, scores, and symbols in works on paper that play with our perception. Meanwhile, group shows at the Armory and the Hammer Museum feature contemporary artists who foreground connections between ecology, ritual, and tradition. At the Getty, the Black Arts Movement is considered through the lens of photography, while a sprawling show at the Riverside Art Museum and the Cheech assembles over 50 photographers who have been instrumental in reflecting, shaping, and creating Chicanx identity since the 1960s.
Michael Asher | Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
250 South Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles | February 24–August 2
Although many of Michael Asher’s site-specific works were ephemeral and faded without a trace, his lasting influence on conceptual art is irrefutable. The late Angeleno artist, who passed away in 2012, is known for his incisive interventions that make visible the often unseen connections between artworks, institutions, and larger systems. This survey, organized by Artists Space, features 20 works presented through their extant physical elements, archival documentation, and an exhibition guide, providing ample context for his expansive oeuvre.
Steve Roden: wandering | UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art
3333 Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa, California | Through May 24
The late LA-based artist Steve Roden melded rigorous formalism with wide-eyed curiosity about the sights and sounds of the world around us. His work often incorporates maps, musical scores, or other symbolic notation, providing tools and systems to guide our perception. Wandering features a selection of Roden’s drawings and collages, highlighting his open-ended and generous approach that enlists the viewers as fellow explorers.
Material Prophecies: Craft as Divination | Armory Center for the Arts
145 North Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, California | February 20–August 1
This group show highlights how earth, clay, fiber, and film can forge intergenerational connections, conveying traditional practices and spiritual wisdom. The exhibition features eight artists with links to the San Gabriel Valley, a region that is constantly being reshaped by cycles of destruction and rebirth. Participating artists include Jackie Amézquita, April Bey, Joel Gaitan, Sky Hopinka, and others.
Several Eternities in a Day: Form in the Age of Living Materials | Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Westwood, Los Angeles | April 5–August 23
Several Eternities in a Day features 22 artists from across the Americas who use natural materials such as stone, flora, fruit, insects, and clay to highlight the relationship between the living world, Indigenous practices, and contemporary art. The resulting works span installation, painting, sculpture, and video, and involve not just vision but smell, sound, and touch. Participating artists include Carmen Argote, Esteban Cabeza de Baca, Raven Chacon, Raven Halfmoon, Rose B. Simpson, and many others.
Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985 | Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles | February 24–June 14
The Black Arts Movement emerged alongside the Civil Rights Movement, bringing together expressions of Black identity and culture across visual arts, music, poetry, film, and performance. This exhibition focuses on the role of photography in the movement, from documentary images and popular media to design and fine art. Participating artists include Lorna Simpson, Charles Gaines, Senga Nengudi, Gordon Parks, Kwame Brathwaite, Carrie Mae Weems, and others.
Chicano Camera Culture: A Photographic History, 1966 to 2026
The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture | 3581 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, California | February 7–September 6
Riverside Art Museum | 3425 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, California | February 7–July 5
Chicano Camera Culture features work by almost 50 photographers spanning the past 60 years for a groundbreaking showcase of the breadth of Chicanx identity over an incredibly formative period. Pivotal moments in the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s and ’70s are portrayed in works by Luis C. Garza, George Rodriguez, and María Varela. Subjectivity and representation are foregrounded in images by Harry Gamboa Jr., Laura Aguilar, and Ken Gonzales-Day. Subsequent generations of photographers, including Star Montana, Arlene Mejorado, and Thalía Gochez, build on the legacies of their predecessors, depicting family, community, and culture through a contemporary lens.
Text by Matt Stromberg | Photo credits on hyperallergic.com | Read More Here
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