All was quiet as the Los Angeles skies threatened rain in Chinatown. Standing beneath a sea of red paper lanterns strewn across fishing wire, fastened on either end to Dim Sum restaurants and gift shops, the lanterns began to bob like buoys lost at sea. All was not quiet, however, inside Charlie James Gallery, where a symphony of concept, fabrication, critique, and investigation reverberated between the white walls. The low hum of the city that day was the perfect backdrop to experience the second solo exhibition of Brooklyn-based artist William Powhida: Bill by Bill. On view through June 8, Powhida’s exhibition is not one to be missed. For Issue 11, we have cranked the volume up, and are honored and humbled to include William Powhida as a contributor for our Collect and Think departments. Sometimes the best person to articulate a body of work is the artist himself, and no one speaks more eloquently than Powhida.
Emerge artist Anatol Knotek manipulates language as if it were a tangible material, bending and shaping words to change with each material application. Discover collage artist Sammy Slabbinck finds a new context for vintage advertisemens by examining sexulity, gender, identity and politics through a contemporary lens. Evolve digital artist Tchmo hunts through an endless database to create his own reliquary of images.
We hope that Issue 11 will prompt a consideration of the subject that sits in the backs of our minds already. What is “art,” and what is our place in the “art world” anyway?