"As I made my gallery rounds last week, the subject of the miraculous transformation of humble materials into inspiring works of art kept coming up. Los Angeles artist Mineo Mizuno, in the exhibition of his new works at Samuel Freeman Gallery in Bergamot Station, returns to familiar territory with his large ceramic spherical sculptures, but adds a new twist. By planting moss onto their surfaces, the artist treats them as living sculptures, whose ‘skin' keeps growing and changing color from light green to rich brown.
If you are lucky, you can catch a special ‘performance' of sorts: high above the sculptures hovers a thin pipe twisted into an elegant metal pretzel. Every hour, for only twenty seconds, this pipe is activated, sending down a cloud of mist to feed the moss. When I brought a group of collectors to see the show, the conversation came to a halt the very moment this poetic performance took place.
The nearby Track 16 Gallery is hosting a traveling exhibition that after London, Chicago, and New York stints has come to LA. Thousands of women around the world are engaged in the continuous growth of this handmade Crochet Coral Reef, irrational and irresistible in the exuberance of its forms and colors. The simple act of crocheting is transformed here into an artistic and political message of surprising power, bringing forth the issue of the ecological disaster looming over the famous Great Barrier Reef along the coast of Australia. Because of global warming and pollutants, this gigantic wonder of nature is rapidly disintegrating, while its artistic cousin, crocheted out of wool and shown in museums and galleries, continues to grow, raising awareness of this crisis. Usually I am rather skeptical of campaigns raised by artists in service of worthy causes, but in this case, the important message is delivered in a visually innovative and highly appealing form. Try to see it for yourself before the exhibition closes this coming Saturday."
Mineo Mizuno: Coexistence On view at Samuel Freeman
(formerly Patricia Faure Gallery) through March 21
Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef by the Institute for Figuring and Companions
On view at Track 16 Gallery through February 28
