… I think art, if it's meaningful at all, is a conversation with other artists.

You say something, they say something, you move back and forth.

-John Baldessarri, October 9, 2013, Interview Magazine

 

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Being an artist isn’t easy. Between the challenges of making engaging work, and then connecting with paths to present it to the world, there are countless opportunities to stumble or lose heart. Additionally, there are also the ceaseless tides of the larger world: the weight of political developments, swings of the economy, climate change, personal relationships, just paying the bills. In short, life. Some kind of unshakable, optimistic tenacity seems necessary. Believing it is the thing to do, or possibly being obsessed that making art is the only thing to do.

 

Peers, other artists, are for so many essential for survival. Not only during the crucible of scholastic experiences, but throughout lifetimes. For criticism, support, commiseration, and shared celebrations of accomplishments. This project is about artist communities in Los Angeles. About the formation and continuation of relationships.

 

Long time Los Angeles artist Nancy Evans was in a somewhat exploratory mood in making a small series of modest sized slip cast ceramic sculptures around 2005. At some point, unsure of how to proceed, they found their way into a storage box. As it can often happen the objects took on lives of their own, they experienced the passage of time as physical entities in the world. In looking at them recently they felt like they wanted a new life, or rather further engagement with the world; a second life. Evans asked several trusted friends to complete the pieces however they saw fit.

 

Evans had recently participated in the Hammer Museum’s 2023 Made in LA biennial, Acts of Living. An experience through which she made many new artists connections who brought energy and influence into her life. These recent relationships also energized existing ones, reminding her of the important dynamics with peers known for decades, many of whom were also asked to complete sculptures. The installation of the works is intended to parallel the personal relationships and ongoing conversations.

 

Twelve artists in all here. A small sampling of the overall artist population of Southern California, but it becomes a case study for the paths of origin for these crucial relationships.

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One of the only things that the art world can really give you is your peers. When you

start becoming an artist you’re not promised you’re going to have a dealer, you’re not

promised you’re going to have sales, you’re not promised the world is going to pay any

attention to you. But the one thing you can do is, you can build a network of peers.

- Tom Knechtel (who was paraphrasing Pat Steir, in Klein Artists Works)

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Follow the work, follow the work, follow the work ... and help other artists, for success raises all boats.

- Julia Couzens (VoyageMIA 2018)