Images from the Tribal Arts and Textiles Show Los Angeles

Manfred Muller

I visited the studio of Manfred Muller a few weeks ago.  His work interests me because of his relationship between architecture and sculpture.  Muller's compositions and evocative use of depth allow the viewer to really examine his work and get an understanding of where he is going. Take for instance this piece, upon first glance you wonder what material the form is made of. It appears to be a type of metal surface that has been distressed. Or some sort of felt like wool material but on closer inspection you see a softness of the material, and realize that the work is made completely of paper.  This work from the "Prelude," "UMS," and "LCI Dawn" series all use paper folded, scored and painted. While the latter two series tend to favor flatness, the pieces to maintain a strong connection with the sense of space in his previous works.  I particularly love this work in red.  What do you think?

Sugar and Edgar Arceneaux

Sugar and spice and everything, what?  History? What's this show about? According to the press release the exhibition continues an investigation into culture in which the city of Detroit functions as an important anchor. Evidently Detroit was the site of the largest race riots in American history and now it's the city of spectacular urban decline. There are a series of graphite images on huge hanging sheets in the gallery space. Images of past histories throughout time and the excavation and realization of just how these civilizations declined. According to the press release, Edgar created a series of sugar sculptures to complement the exhibition - boxes, books and other objects dipped in a highly concentrated sugar solution until shimmering sugar crystals calcify their surfaces. The arrangement of this "Human Sugar Factory" traces the main thoroughfares of the city of Detroit. Rich in cultural and aesthetic connotations, the sugar crystals fossilize time and history into concrete form. They continue Arceneaux's attempt to visually crystallize time and to conflate fluidity with physical mass – a quest he has been exploring over an extended period of time in his "Intersection" drawings.

I enjoyed the show more than I thought.  It felt as if I were on a excavation, searching about each space as they revealed a new story about a time and a place that was once great but now in decline. Each color and representation is full of references to so many things its mind boggling. 
Edgars' show is currently at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects until December 11.