Jim Isermann
Untitled (0193), 1993
Handsewn acrylic fabric
76 x 76 inches
March 6 – May 18, 2025
The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (LAMAG) proudly presents Step & Repeat, a group exhibition curated by Nancy Meyer and John Weston.
Inspired by the historical Pattern and Decoration movement of the mid-1970s and its impact across our region, Step & Repeat highlights 46 Southern California artists who engage with themes of pattern and decoration. The exhibition seeks to create a dialogue around those concepts, encompassing both direct explorations of the subject and works that approach it peripherally.
The exhibition’s title, Step & Repeat is a term used for publicity backdrops at special events, particularly red carpet premieres. While this slightly tongue in cheek reference to Hollywood hints at LAMAG’s physical proximity, it also reflects the repetitive and systematic qualities inherent in patterns within the works on view.
Artist included in the exhibition :
Liv Aanrud, Merrick Adams, Nick Aguayo, Michelle Andrade, Amelia Baxter, Linda Besemer, Raghvi Bhatia, Carole Caroompas, Fritz Chesnut, Edi Dai, Tomory Dodge, Roy Dowell, June Edmonds, Sharon Ellis, Edie Fake, Amir H. Fallah, Asad Faulwell, Patricia Fernández, Terri Friedman, Ishi Glinsky, Valerie Green, Mark Steven Greenfield, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Sherin Guirguis, Channing Hansen, Zach Harris, Lorenzo Hurtado Segovia, Jim Isermann, Soo Kim, Ahree Lee, Emily Marchand, Allison Miller, Dianna Molzan, Jaime Muñoz, Milena Muzquiz, Elyse Pignolet, Antonio Adriano Puleo, Caris Reid, Ana Rodriguez, Aili Schmeltz, Mindy Shapero, Brooklin A. Soumahoro, Jen Stark, Astri Swendsrud, Mark Dean Veca, and Bari Ziperstein
March 6 – May 18, 2025
The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (LAMAG) proudly presents Memento Mori, an exhibition highlighting the work of Los Angeles-based artist, Suhn Lee (b. 1983, Los Angeles).
Memento Mori marks the first institutional exhibition by the Los Angeles based artist Suhn Lee whose practice synthesizes ceramics and textiles. Drawn to the meditative and process-driven nature of these materials, Lee’s sculptures externalize the psychological experiences of anxiety, perfectionism, and grief. Informed by her Korean American heritage, the artist presents a series of sculptures that she describes as “creatures”: small to medium-sized ceramics armored with beadwork, sequins, and fabric. Their abstracted, geometric forms are inspired by ten symbols of longevity and prosperity derived from various Asian cultures, like turtles, clouds, and mushrooms.
Lee’s repetition-driven practice of stitching and adhering or shaping and firing clay becomes a process akin to a physical mantra of transmuting pain whose effects cultivate reverence for the mundane. “Remember you must die,” the dialectical expression behind the latin phrase that titles this exhibition mirrors Lee’s artistic practice of indexing life’s challenges as relics or tokens akin to evidence of a life well lived.
As a part of the gallery’s ongoing 70th anniversary celebration, Memento Mori emerged from the latest iteration of LAMAG’s historic Open Call exhibition, known as Open Call: Apophenia which featured over 350 artists across LA County.
Suhn Lee: Memento Mori is curated by arts associate Samantha Alexis Manuel with LAMAG curator, Hugo Cervantes.
The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (LAMAG) presents Danila Cervantes: Laberintos de huesos floreciendo, an inaugural exhibition for Los Angeles based-artist Danila Cervantes, curated by Arts Associate Jennifer Payan.
Cervantes’s works explore the profound interconnectedness between humans, animals, and nature, drawing inspiration from life cycles and behavioral parallels across species. Themes of decay, transformation and renewal are central to the exhibition, offering a poetic meditation on existence and the ways life emerges from endings. The agave plant serves as a poignant metaphor; as it dies, it produces a towering stalk from its core—its corazón—flowering to ensure the continuation of life. Similarly, the xenophora shell, which adopts foreign objects for protection, reflects themes of adaptation, identity, and environment. Other works reference natural phenomena like whale falls, where the lifeless body of a giant becomes a thriving habitat for deep-sea communities, and volcanic landscapes, where destruction gives way to fertile new beginnings. Infused with personal narratives, they examine cycles through their border identity, queerness, and familial connections, grounding their vision in the interconnectedness of all living things. Through rich symbolism—their imagery conveys movement, transition, and a sense of belonging in flux. The works suggest surrendering to nature’s cycles, embracing decay as a portal to growth, and finding home not in a single place but in a perpetual state of transformation.
