Juan Fontanive, Ornithology I, 2015. 5.25 x 4.25 x 4 in. Four-color screen print on Bristol, hand-made stainless steel and aluminum mechanism, mixed media, motor and electronics. Edition of 12 with 3 AP.


Juan Fontanive first attended college to study animation, but soon began deconstructing watches and slide projectors in order to create three-dimensional animated artworks. Ornithology I is presented alongside two other similar pieces, each of which create an automated flip book-like effect, moving at approximately 12 frames per second, and emit a meditative hum, close to what a subdued and prolonged film projector might sound like. Appropriately, Fontanive refers to these works as "films without light." 

Yung Jake, 1 RETWEET, 2016. UV print, spray paint, ink and tape on powder coated steel. 90 x 55 in. Courtesy of the artist and Steve Turner, Los Angeles.


Along with the hanging piece 1 RETWEET, Yung Jake presents a series of videos and two freestanding tables-cum-sculptures. The California-based artist, who only does interviews via text messages, attended CalArts, where a professor told him that as a young black male, he needed to create "socially conscious" artwork, rather than paintings. The resulting works are at once hilarious and deeply imbued with social commentary surrounding modern stereotypes. In one video, he raps while wearing Beats headphones and drinking Fiji water spliced with images of Ciroc sitting on a slab of deteriorating sidewalk. 

Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Tunisian Americans, 2012. Wood, cork, and soil in four panels. 137 x 157 cm. Courtesy Lawrie Shabibi and the artist.


Russian-Tunisian artist Nadia Kaabi-Linke grounds her work in space and time, referencing specific places and histories. With Tunisian American, 400 minuscule flacons (originally used to sell kohl) are filled with soil that she gathered at a WWII-era military graveyard in Tunisia. The piece was also as one of the nine works selected to be acquired by the Dallas Museum of Art. 

Emil Lukas, Constellation Hema #1487, 2016. Plaster, paint, and wood. 36 x 47 x 5 in.


Emil Lukas works in a barn in Stockertown, Pennsylvania. He is known for melding the natural world with the mechanic, and in one series uses fly larva to create deliberate, albeit abstract, paintings. Here, he casts bubble wrap in plaster, adding natural watercolor pigments. Though it can't be seen through the image, a portion of the sculptural wall piece also emerges into a convex half-bubble.  

Katherine Bernhardt, Sharks, Watermelon and Rubik's Cube, 2016. Acrylic and spray paint on canvas. 152.4 x 121.9 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Carl Freedman Gallery.


Following her well-known series of thickly painted portraits of models, Katherine Bernhardt turned to the banal. The Brooklyn-based artist has depicted everything from Doritos to toilet paper and cigarettes, and here she takes us back to childhood with Rubik's Cubes and melons that remind us of Sour Patch Watermelon candy.

Rigo 23, Texan Cowboy Visionary Contemplates a Safe Future, 2016. Mixed media. 36 x 26 x 36 in. Courtesy of the artist and Andrew Edlin Gallery.


At the end of the day, who doesn't like humor? Need we say more? 

TR Ericsson, September 3, 1991, 2015. Graphite, resin, and funerary ash on dyed muslin. 84 x 60 in. Courtesy of the artist and Harlan Levey Projects, Brussels.


What initially appears simply as a blown up letter from mother to son gains deeper significance upon learning that the ink is infused with the artist's mother's ashes. Ohio-born, New York-based artist TR Ericsson archived every letter he received from his mother until her death, 15 years ago. Since then, he had carried her urn, as well as his grandmother's, eventually deciding to manufacture a special ink and immortalize their presence through his art. Though it seems like a rather crude thing to do with your mother and grandmother's ashes, Ericsson says, "if they knew about this, they would cackle in delight."   

Neil Beloufa, Chutes d’Atelier, 2015. Epoxy resin, colorant, and steel. 70.87 x 52.76 x 11.81 in. Courtesy the artist and Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Jeff McLane


Although he's most recognized for combining sculpture with film to create immersive installations, here French-Algerian artist Neil Beloufa presents a translucent abstract wall piece. Protruding into the viewer's space, the work activates the audience, urging visitors to walk from side to side.

Sean Shim-Boyle, Jack, 2016. Sheet rock, cattle brands, wire, artist frame, and hardware. 96 x 48 x 12 in.


Drawing inspiration from the famous fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk, Sean Shim-Boyle engenders discourse that starts with childhood and extends into social politics. Through this work and others currently on view at his solo show in Los Angeles at Various Small Fires, Shim-Boyle examines 5,000 years of class disparity through 5,000-year-old fables. 

Richard T. Walker, a paradox in distance (inverted) #3, 2014. Lightbox, tripod, Casiotone MT-68 keyboard. Dimensions variable (Lightbox: 61 x 61 x 12.7 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Carroll / Fletcher, London.


Through his videos, photographs, text-based works, and performances, Richard T. Walker explores both an obsession and frustration with the natural world. He often performs his own musical scores, always alone, in expansive landscapes. Here, he presents a keyboard and photograph, alongside a video work that incorporates the photo and depicts himself, wearing the image on his back, playing the guitar in a mountainous range. The works address spatial transformation, pointing directly toward the physicality of distance and perception, both emotionally and literally.