Paradise Notwithstanding 2011, oil on panel, 48 x 60 inches
Critic's Picks: Los Angeles
by shana nys dambrot
Nov 2011
Although shadowed by the onset of Pacific Standard Time this fall, contemporary artists in Los Angeles have
not sat meekly on the sidelines to observe the historical parade. Contributing Editor Shana Nys Dambrot picks
out six SoCal artists whose shows are worth detours this fall.
Lisa Adams is kind of the painter's-painter laureate of Los Angeles, though not in a bad way. Adams' work has undergone its share of stylistic nips and tucks, dissolutions and breakthroughs over the years, but through it all, she's never stopped attacking the paper or canvas, and has grown increasingly courageous in her persistent explorations of personal, private narrative and lyrical symbolism. From earlier, superlatively finished, often text-inclusive pictures, to a more recent, decisive loosening of technique and composition, Adams has been a moving target along the abstraction/figuration continuum. She favors tones over tints; even her bright colors are sweetly overcast. She's got a crush on trees and birds, which provide a rich source of narrative analogy for an artist with a love of fairy tales, psychoanalysis, and poems about freedom and gravity. Her scenic protagonists are allegorical armatures, while her gift for draftsmanship and her dreamy way with pigment washes and delicate surfaces are their own, naturalistic reward. Her just-released artist's book "Vicissitudes of Circumstance" (Zero+ Publishing) lavishes attention on passages of detail from her paintings, revealing the edgy expressivity and painterly gymnastics at the foundation of even her most serene pictures.
Her recent show "Lisa Adams: Born This Way" ran from September 11 -- October 9 at Offramp Gallery in Pasadena. "Paradise Notwithstanding" opens at CB1 Gallery downtown December 11, and continues through January 15, 2012.
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