DIVERSEartLA (Capsule Review)
[Original publication: No Proscenium, 2/22/23]
An anchor of Los Angeles’ Art Fair Week, the LA Art Show is the city’s largest and longest-running fair. The 2023 iteration included 120 participating galleries from around the world, showcasing an estimated 20,000 artworks and drawing a gaggle of 70,000 visitors.
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Embedded within the fair is DIVERSEartLA (curated by Marisa Caichiolo), a cultural hub and the only non-commercial section. While the fair mainly consists of standard booths displaying paintings, photography, and sculpture, DIVERSEartLA features an international array of experiential works. This year’s exhibition included installations unified by “an ambitious agenda [of] addressing the global climate crisis” (a thematic repeat from 2022 with a new focus on water).
Evident in DIVERSEartLA’s promotional materials, Alfredo De Stefano’s gorgeous photography juxtaposes stark compositions with saturated color. But in De Stefano’s installation The Pulse of Silence, the projected images became muted, flat, and diluted of their emotional impact. Billed as an “immersive experience” by the Art Museum of the Americas (its presenting institution), the installation consisted of video and a sand-covered floor; the sand’s tactile contribution felt like an afterthought, a thin attempt to justify the installation’s immersive description.
Installations by Petra Eiko, Davis Birks, and a collaboration by Alejandro Ordoñez and Raubtier & Unicus were similarly problematic. Spatial, environmental, and interactive elements seemed incomplete and much of the work felt conceptual. The most evocative aspect of Il Giardino Planetario (The Planetary Garden), a video installation by Pietro Ruffo and Noruwei, was its exterior: swaths of fabric printed with a plant motif reminiscent of toile de Jouy. Although “Project:” preceded the title for all pieces, there was no explicit statement by DIVERSEartLA confirming that these works were still in development. And especially with such a powerful theme — one that demands emotional investment in order to effect real change at any level — most of the artworks felt devoid of urgency.
The standout exception was the spectacular and brilliantly executed Eternal Light — 21c The Last Judgment by HanHo. Inspired by Michelangelo’s fresco, Eternal Light’s nine-paneled panorama portrays ominous figures and stunning decay imbued with Swarovski-like sparkle. An oscillation of gemstone-hued lighting contrasted with an eerie, chimed toll counting down to our destruction. But rather than Christ’s final judgment of all humanity, Eternal Light depicts no Second Coming; there is no victorious savior, only the radiance of our failures.