Issue 38 November 2024

Issue 37 August 2024

Issue 36 May 2024

Issue 35 February 2024

Issue 34 November 2023

Issue 33 August 2023

Issue 32 June 2023

Issue 31 February 2023

Issue 30 November 2022

Issue 29 August 2022

Issue 28 May 2022

Issue 27 February 2022

Issue 26 November 2021

Issue 25 August 2021

Issue 24 May 2021

Issue 23 February 2021

Issue 22 November 2020

Issue 21 August 2020

Issue 20 May 2020

Issue 19 February 2020

Letter from the Editor –Lindsay Preston Zappas
Parasites in Love –Travis Diehl
To Crush Absolute On Patrick Staff and
Destroying the Institution
–Jonathan Griffin
Victoria Fu:
Camera Obscured
–Cat Kron
Resurgence of Resistance How Pattern & Decoration's Popularity
Can Help Reshape the Canon
–Catherine Wagley
Trace, Place, Politics Julie Mehretu's Coded Abstractions
–Jessica Simmons
Exquisite L.A.: Featuring: Friedrich Kunath,
Tristan Unrau, and Nevine Mahmoud
–Claressinka Anderson & Joe Pugliese
Reviews April Street
at Vielmetter Los Angeles
–Aaron Horst

Chiraag Bhakta
at Human Resources
–Julie Weitz

Don’t Think: Tom, Joe
and Rick Potts

at POTTS
–Matt Stromberg

Sarah McMenimen
at Garden
–Michael Wright

The Medea Insurrection
at the Wende Museum
–Jennifer Remenchik

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Mike Kelley
at Hauser & Wirth
–Angella d’Avignon
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Issue 18 November 2019

Letter from the Editor –Lindsay Preston Zappas
The Briar and the Tar Nayland Blake at the ICA LA
and Matthew Marks Gallery
–Travis Diehl
Putting Aesthetics
to Hope
Tracking Photography’s Role
in Feminist Communities
– Catherine Wagley
Instagram STARtists
and Bad Painting
– Anna Elise Johnson
Interview with Jamillah James – Lindsay Preston Zappas
Working Artists Featuring Catherine Fairbanks,
Paul Pescador, and Rachel Mason
Text: Lindsay Preston Zappas
Photos: Jeff McLane
Reviews Children of the Sun
at LADIES’ ROOM
– Jessica Simmons

Derek Paul Jack Boyle
at SMART OBJECTS
–Aaron Horst

Karl Holmqvist
at House of Gaga, Los Angeles
–Lee Purvey

Katja Seib
at Château Shatto
–Ashton Cooper

Jeanette Mundt
at Overduin & Co.
–Matt Stromberg
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Issue 17 August 2019

Letter From the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Green Chip David Hammons
at Hauser & Wirth
–Travis Diehl
Whatever Gets You
Through the Night
The Artists of Dilexi
and Wartime Trauma
–Jonathan Griffin
Generous Collectors How the Grinsteins
Supported Artists
–Catherine Wagley
Interview with
Donna Huanca
–Lindsy Preston Zappas
Working Artist Featuring Ragen Moss, Justen LeRoy,
and Bari Ziperstein
Text: Lindsay Preston Zappas
Photos: Jeff McLane
Reviews Sarah Lucas
at the Hammer Museum
–Yxta Maya Murray

George Herms and Terence Koh
at Morán Morán
–Matt Stromberg

Hannah Hur
at Bel Ami
–Michael Wright

Sebastian Hernandez
at NAVEL
–Julie Weitz

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Alex Israel
at Greene Naftali
–Rosa Tyhurst

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Issue 16 May 2019

Trulee Hall's Untamed Magic Catherine Wagley
Ingredients for a Braver Art Scene Ceci Moss
I Shit on Your Graves Travis Diehl
Interview with Ruby Neri Jonathan Griffin
Carolee Schneemann and the Art of Saying Yes! Chelsea Beck
Exquisite L.A. Claressinka Anderson
Joe Pugliese
Reviews Ry Rocklen
at Honor Fraser
–Cat Kron

Rob Thom
at M+B
–Lindsay Preston Zappas

Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age
of Black Power, 1963-1983
at The Broad
–Matt Stromberg

Anna Sew Hoy & Diedrick Brackens
at Various Small Fires
–Aaron Horst

Julia Haft-Candell & Suzan Frecon
at Parrasch Heijnen
–Jessica Simmons

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Shahryar Nashat
at Swiss Institute
–Christie Hayden
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Issue 15 February 2019

Letter From the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Letter to the Editor
Men on Women
Geena Brown
Eyes Without a Voice
Julian Rosefeldt's Manifesto
Christina Catherine Martinez
Seven Minute Dream Machine
Jordan Wolfson's (Female figure)
Travis Diehl
Laughing in Private
Vanessa Place's Rape Jokes
Catherine Wagley
Interview with
Rosha Yaghmai
Laura Brown
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring: Patrick Martinez,
Ramiro Gomez, and John Valadez
Claressinka Anderson
Joe Pugliese
Reviews Outliers and American
Vanguard Art at LACMA
–Jonathan Griffin

Sperm Cult
at LAXART
–Matt Stromberg

Kahlil Joseph
at MOCA PDC
–Jessica Simmons

Ingrid Luche
at Ghebaly Gallery
–Lindsay Preston Zappas

Matt Paweski
at Park View / Paul Soto
–John Zane Zappas

Trenton Doyle Hancock
at Shulamit Nazarian
–Colony Little

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Catherine Opie
at Lehmann Maupin
–Angella d'Avignon
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Issue 14 November 2018

Letter From the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Celeste Dupuy-Spencer and Figurative Religion Catherine Wagley
Lynch in Traffic Travis Diehl
The Remixed Symbology of Nina Chanel Abney Lindsay Preston Zappas
Interview with Kulapat Yantrasast Christie Hayden
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring: Sandra de la Loza, Gloria Galvez, and Steve Wong
Claressinka Anderson
Photos: Joe Pugliese
Reviews Raúl de Nieves
at Freedman Fitzpatrick
-Aaron Horst

Gertrud Parker
at Parker Gallery
-Ashton Cooper

Robert Yarber
at Nicodim Gallery
-Jonathan Griffin

Nikita Gale
at Commonwealth & Council
-Simone Krug

Lari Pittman
at Regen Projects
-Matt Stromberg

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Eckhaus Latta
at the Whitney Museum
of American Art
-Angella d'Avignon
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Issue 13 August 2018

Letter From the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Letter to the Editor Julie Weitz with Angella d'Avignon
Don't Make
Everything Boring
Catherine Wagley
The Collaborative Art
World of Norm Laich
Matt Stromberg
Oddly Satisfying Art Travis Diehl
Made in L.A. 2018 Reviews Claire de Dobay Rifelj
Jennifer Remenchik
Aaron Horst
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring: Anna Sew Hoy, Guadalupe Rosales, and Shizu Saldamando
Claressinka Anderson
Photos: Joe Pugliese
Reviews It's Snowing in LA
at AA|LA
–Matthew Lax

Fiona Conner
at the MAK Center
–Thomas Duncan

Show 2
at The Gallery @ Michael's
–Simone Krug

Deborah Roberts
at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles
–Ikechukwu Casmir Onyewuenyi

Mimi Lauter
at Blum & Poe
–Jessica Simmons

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Math Bass
at Mary Boone
–Ashton Cooper

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Condo New York
–Laura Brown
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Issue 12 May 2018

Poetic Energies and
Radical Celebrations:
Senga Nengudi and Maren Hassinger
Simone Krug
Interior States of the Art Travis Diehl
Perennial Bloom:
Florals in Feminism
and Across L.A.
Angella d'Avignon
The Mess We're In Catherine Wagley
Interview with Christina Quarles Ashton Cooper
Object Project
Featuring Suné Woods, Michelle Dizon,
and Yong Soon Min
Lindsay Preston Zappas
Photos: Jeff McLane
Reviews Meleko Mokgosi
at The Fowler Museum at UCLA
-Jessica Simmons

Chris Kraus
at Chateau Shatto
- Aaron Horst

Ben Sanders
at Ochi Projects
- Matt Stromberg

iris yirei hsu
at the Women's Center
for Creative Work
- Hana Cohn

Harald Szeemann
at the Getty Research Institute
- Olivian Cha

Ali Prosch
at Bed and Breakfast
- Jennifer Remenchik

Reena Spaulings
at Matthew Marks
- Thomas Duncan
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Issue 11 February 2018

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Museum as Selfie Station Matt Stromberg
Accessible as Humanly as Possible Catherine Wagley
On Laura Owens on Laura Owens Travis Diehl
Interview with Puppies Puppies Jonathan Griffin
Object Project Lindsay Preston Zappas, Jeff McLane
Reviews Dulce Dientes
at Rainbow in Spanish
- Aaron Horst

Adrián Villas Rojas
at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
- Lindsay Preston Zappas

Nevine Mahmoud
at M+B
- Angella D'Avignon

Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960- 1985
at the Hammer Museum
- Thomas Duncan

Hannah Greely and William T. Wiley
at Parker Gallery
- Keith J. Varadi

David Hockney
at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (L.A. in N.Y.)
- Ashton Cooper

Edgar Arceneaux
at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (L.A. in S.F.)
- Hana Cohn
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Issue 10 November 2017

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Barely Living with Art:
The Labor of Domestic
Spaces in Los Angeles
Eli Diner
She Wanted Adventure:
Dwan, Butler, Mizuno, Copley
Catherine Wagley
The Languages of
All-Women Exhibitions
Lindsay Preston Zappas
L.A. Povera Travis Diehl
On Eclipses:
When Language
and Photography Fail
Jessica Simmons
Interview with
Hamza Walker
Julie Wietz
Object Project
Featuring: Rosha Yaghmai,
Dianna Molzan, and Patrick Jackson
Lindsay Preston Zappas
Photos by Jeff McLane
Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA
Reviews
Regen Projects
Ibid Gallery
One National Gay & Lesbian Archives and MOCA PDC
The Mistake Room
Luis De Jesus Gallery
the University Art Gallery at CSULB
the Autry Museum
Reviews Cheyenne Julien
at Smart Objects

Paul Mpagi Sepuya
at team bungalow

Ravi Jackson
at Richard Telles

Tactility of Line
at Elevator Mondays

Trigger: Gender as a Tool as a Weapon
at the New Museum
(L.A. in N.Y.)
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Issue 9 August 2017

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Women on the Plinth Catherine Wagley
Us & Them, Now & Then:
Reconstituting Group Material
Travis Diehl
The Offerings of EJ Hill
Ikechukwu Casmir Onyewuenyi
Interview with Jenni Sorkin Carmen Winant
Object Project
Featuring: Rebecca Morris,
Linda Stark, Alex Olson
Lindsay Preston Zappas
Photos by Jeff McClane
Reviews Mark Bradford
at the Venice Biennale

Broken Language
at Shulamit Nazarian

Artists of Color
at the Underground Museum

Anthony Lepore & Michael Henry Hayden
at Del Vaz Projects

Home
at LACMA

Analia Saban at
Sprueth Magers
Letter to the Editor Lady Parts, Lady Arts
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Issue 8 May 2017

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Kanye Westworld Travis Diehl
@richardhawkins01 Thomas Duncan
Support Structures:
Alice Könitz and LAMOA
Catherine Wagley
Interview with
Penny Slinger
Eliza Swann
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring:
taisha paggett
Ashley Hunt
Young Chung
Intro by Claressinka Anderson
Portraits by Joe Pugliese
Reviews Alessandro Pessoli
at Marc Foxx

Jennie Jieun Lee
at The Pit

Trisha Baga
at 356 Mission

Jimmie Durham
at The Hammer

Parallel City
at Ms. Barbers

Jason Rhodes
at Hauser & Wirth
Letter to the Editor
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Issue 7 February 2017

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Generous
Structures
Catherine Wagley
Put on a Happy Face:
On Dynasty Handbag
Travis Diehl
The Limits of Animality:
Simone Forti at ISCP
(L.A. in N.Y.)
Ikechukwu Casmir Onyewuenyi
More Wound Than Ruin:
Evaluating the
"Human Condition"
Jessica Simmons
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring:
Brenna Youngblood
Todd Gray
Rafa Esparza
Intro by Claressinka Anderson
Portraits by Joe Pugliese
Reviews Creature
at The Broad

Sam Pulitzer & Peter Wachtler
at House of Gaga // Reena Spaulings Fine Art

Karl Haendel
at Susanne Vielmetter

Wolfgang Tillmans
at Regen Projects

Ma
at Chateau Shatto

The Rat Bastard Protective Association
at the Landing
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Issue 6 November 2016

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Kenneth Tam
's Basement
Travis Diehl
The Female
Cool School
Catherine Wagley
The Rise
of the L.A.
Art Witch
Amanda Yates Garcia
Interview with
Mernet Larsen
Julie Weitz
Agnes Martin
at LACMA
Jessica Simmons
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring:
Analia Saban
Ry Rocklen
Sarah Cain
Intro by Claressinka Anderson
Portraits by Joe Pugliese
Reviews
Made in L.A. 2016
at The Hammer Museum

Doug Aitken
at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

Mertzbau
at Tif Sigfrids

Jean-Pascal Flavian and Mika Tajima
at Kayne Griffin Corcoran

Mark A. Rodruigez
at Park View

The Weeping Line
Organized by Alter Space
at Four Six One Nine
(S.F. in L.A.)
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Issue 5 August 2016

Letter form the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Non-Fiction
at The Underground Museum
Catherine Wagley
The Art of Birth Carmen Winant
Escape from Bunker Hill
John Knight
at REDCAT
Travis Diehl
Ed Boreal Speaks Benjamin Lord
Art Advice (from Men) Sarah Weber
Routine Pleasures
at the MAK Center
Jonathan Griffin
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring:
Fay Ray
John Baldessari
Claire Kennedy
Intro by Claressinka Anderson
Portraits by Joe Pugliese
Reviews Revolution in the Making
at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel

Carl Cheng
at Cherry and Martin

Joan Snyder
at Parrasch Heijnen Gallery

Elanor Antin
at Diane Rosenstein

Performing the Grid
at Ben Maltz Gallery
at Otis College of Art & Design

Laura Owens
at The Wattis Institute
(L.A. in S.F.)
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Issue 4 May 2016

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Moon, laub, and Love Catherine Wagley
Walk Artisanal Jonathan Griffin
Reconsidering
Marva Marrow's
Inside the L.A. Artist
Anthony Pearson
Mystery Science Thater:
Diana Thater
at LACMA
Aaron Horst
Informal Feminisms Federica Bueti and Jan Verwoert
Marva Marrow Photographs
Lita Albuquerque
Interiors and Interiority:
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Char Jansen
Reviews L.A. Art Fairs

Material Art Fair, Mexico City

Rain Room
at LACMA

Evan Holloway
at David Kordansky Gallery

Histories of a Vanishing Present: A Prologue
at The Mistake Room

Carter Mull
at fused space
(L.A. in S.F.)

Awol Erizku
at FLAG Art Foundation
(L.A. in N.Y.)
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Issue 3 February 2016

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Le Louvre, Las Vegas Evan Moffitt
iPhones, Flesh,
and the Word:
F.B.I.
at Arturo Bandini
Lindsay Preston Zappas
Women Talking About Barney Catherine Wagley
Lingua Ignota:
Faith Wilding
at The Armory Center
for the Arts
and LOUDHAILER
Benjamin Lord
A Conversation
with Amalia Ulman
Char Jansen
How We Practice Carmen Winant
Share Your Piece
of the Puzzle
Federica Bueti
Amanda Ross-Ho Photographs
Erik Frydenborg
Reviews Honeydew
at Michael Thibault

Fred Tomaselli
at California State University, Fullerton

Trisha Donnelly
at Matthew Marks Gallery

Bradford Kessler
at ASHES/ASHES
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Issue 2 November 2015

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Hot Tears Carmen Winant
Slow View:
Molly Larkey
Anna Breininger and Kate Whitlock
Americanicity's Paintings:
Orion Martin
at Favorite Goods
Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal
Layers of Leimert Park Catherine Wagley
Junkspace Junk Food:
Parker Ito
at Kaldi, Smart Objects,
White Cube, and
Château Shatto
Evan Moffitt
Melrose Hustle Keith Vaughn
Max Maslansky Photographs
Monica Majoli
at the Tom of Finland Foundation
White Lee, Black Lee:
William Pope.L’s "Reenactor"
Travis Diehl
Dora Budor Interview Char Jensen
Reviews Mary Ried Kelley
at The Hammer Museum

Tongues Untied
at MOCA Pacific Design Center

No Joke
at Tanya Leighton
(L.A. in Berlin)
Snap Reviews Martin Basher at Anat Ebgi
Body Parts I-V at ASHES ASHES
Eve Fowler at Mier Gallery
Matt Siegle at Park View
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Issue 1 August 2015

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
MEAT PHYSICS/
Metaphysical L.A.
Travis Diehl
Art for Art’s Sake:
L.A. in the 1990s
Anthony Pearson
A Dialogue in Two
Synchronous Atmospheres
Erik Morse
with Alexandra Grant
SOGTFO
at François Ghebaly
Jonathan Griffin
#studio #visit
with #devin #kenny
@barnettcohen
Mateo Tannatt
Photographs
Jibade-Khalil Huffman
Slow View:
Discussion on One Work
Anna Breininger
with Julian Rogers
Reviews Pierre Huyghe
at LACMA

Mernet Larsen
at Various Small Fires

John Currin
at Gagosian, Beverly Hills

Pat O'Niell
at Cherry and Martin

A New Rhythm
at Park View

Unwatchable Scenes and
Other Unreliable Images...
at Public Fiction

Charles Gaines
at The Hammer Museum

Henry Taylor
at Blum & Poe/ Untitled
(L.A. in N.Y.)
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Distribution
Central
1301 PE
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Anat Ebgi (Wilshire)
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Artbook @ Hauser & Wirth
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Bel Ami
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BLUM
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Commonwealth & Council
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Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore, MD)
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Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN)
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Yale University Library (New Haven, CT)

A Conversation With Amalia Ulman

Amalia Ulman, The Importance Of The Nest (detail) (2014), curtain, laser cut vinyl, thread, 80 x 72 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Smart Objects.

Amalia Ulman, The Importance Of The Nest (detail) (2014). Curtain, laser cut vinyl, thread, 80 x 72 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Smart Objects.

Los Angeles is a mecca of middlebrow consumerism. Airbnb, Starbucks, fitness fads, Groupon spa deals, macaroons. Holiday discounts on breast enhancements air on the radio, and Botox coupons can be cut out of the back of the LA Weekly.

Amalia Ulman studied in London but now works out of her office in Downtown L.A. Her materials are the language, codes, and conduits (visual, textual, invisible) inscribed in the propaganda of current consumer culture. Our reactions to her works are the same contradictory feelings we get from consuming. We pick things off the store shelf that are pretty, clean, and neatly packaged—artisan soap, organic coffee beans—but we’re repulsed when confronted with the violence of the system that produces them. In some works Ulman presents this hypocrisy in literal forms: twee, heart-shaped products stained with blood. In others, the message is played out more subtly: an installation of a corporate office space spliced with words taken from Zen philosophy.

Ulman is very good at emulating the cozy comfort of little indulgences. In Excellences & Perfections, a project that still populates her Instagram account @amaliaulman, she plays the role of a socialite who gets Botox and then a boob job. (The boob job was faked, but Ulman did get botox, an action that recalls Orlan’s work with body modification). Ulman’s was a fiction so authentic that it gamed the Internet, until the ruse was revealed—it was a piece that captivated a much wider audience than the usual art crowd, and remains perhaps her best known work.

In Ulman’s work, something unsettling eventually emanates from perfect taste. Excellences & Perfections turned into the chronicle of a young girl’s meltdown. Ulman’s creations are always ambivalent: part sympathetic, part victims of a collective social order that evaluates and judges with a scrolling thumb.

Amalia Ulman, International House of Cozy (installation view) (2014). Image courtesy of the artist and Showroom MAMA, Rotterdam.

International House of Cozy (installation view) (2014). Image courtesy of the artist and Showroom MAMA, Rotterdam.

Amalia Ulman: Delicious Works (installation view) (2014), Martha Stewart golden paint, blanket, tulle, lights, glitter, fairy dust, gold powder, 32 x 22 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Smart Objects.

Delicious Works (installation view) (2014). Martha Stewart golden paint, blanket, tulle, lights, glitter, fairy dust, gold powder, 32 x 22 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Smart Objects.

Char Jansen: Your work deals so much with consumerism, and the physical and emotional pain it can inflict. L.A. is often portrayed as the pinnacle of western consumerist ideals. Is that reputation something that youve found to be true, or apocryphal since you moved here?

Amalia Ulman: Primarily, I moved to Los Angeles for very basic physical reasons. I suffer from depression and sunny weather helps. Also, after many surgeries, dry weather’s a preference. In places like London or Asturias, my chronic pain gets to its worst levels. On the other hand, Los Angeles is a very interesting place in relation to my work. I’m interested in how people present themselves to others. I’m fascinated by people who edit their own life stories, and that’s a very Hollywood thing to do.

I don’t think L.A. has necessarily shaped my work, it is just there in the background because here’s where I live. As any immigrant I bring my own world with me. But I’ve had very intense revealing and beautiful experiences in Los Angeles, like driving all the way down Santa Monica Boulevard from east to west, seeing the changes in class as you drive towards Beverly Hills. Or seeing the most depressing characters shopping for luxury goods at Neiman Marcus.

CJ: When you say depressing, it makes me curious as to how you really feel about consumerism. At your recent International House of Cozy exhibition in Rotterdam, for example, you highlighted the emotional contradictions of consuming, the compulsion and subsequent revulsion.

AU: Consumerism is like drinking. If you don’t do it often you just get drunk and have a good time. If you do it all the time you just start feeling shitty. I don’t think that anyone who has experienced love—physical love, religious love, fraternal love—can say that consuming objects is the best and healthiest thing in the world. We all know it’s not really that necessary, but we all still do it. It is not only about buying a pair of shoes, but about driving nowhere, or walking around at night on a lit-up street, or taking a bath. Those are pleasurable things that are unnecessary and consume resources. I’m interested in that contradictory behavior that defines humanity.

International House Of Cozy (installation view) (2015). Image courtesy of Showroom MAMA (Rotterdam).

International House Of Cozy (installation view) (2015). Image courtesy of the artist and Showroom MAMA, Rotterdam.

International House Of Cozy (installation view) (2015). Image courtesy of Showroom MAMA (Rotterdam).

International House Of Cozy (installation view) (2015). Image courtesy of the artist and Showroom MAMA, Rotterdam.

CJ: You seem to pick up on self-indulgence a lot, the sensual comfort of objects. It comes through particularly strongly and humorously in your video piece, International House of Cozy.

AU: Yes, exactly. International House Of Cozy was a pornographic video based on an infomercial that a famous blogger did for Zara. It is a short film where two porn actors role-play hipster aesthetics, using the language of porn as a legitimizing tool for explaining the transition from indie to mainstream and from mainstream to corporate—to ultimately become an invisible template.

CJ: Ha! I really like how you bring out gesture in your work in that way, to show the proximity of congruous and incongruous language and behavior that is shaped by different contexts and environments. Based on what I’ve ascertained from our exchanges up to now, youre very concerned with these latent inequalities in the neoliberal system. Whether thats in the effect of the beauty industry on individual women or political propaganda on whole societies.

AU: Any system that runs solely on meritocracy leaves people behind. That’s why I personally believe that it is important for the state to take care of basic things like housing, medical care, and a minimum wage. It is not fair to leave people behind because of a disability, or because a sudden illness, or even because of not being a workaholic overachiever. The system is shaped in a linear manner and human beings don’t function in that way.

CJ: You grew up in a tattoo shop, and you’ve experienced poverty personally. I was curious as to whether your success now has changed you. I read a tweet you wrote about having your own Soho House card, as a small triumph over the art bros. How do you feel in an art world that is full of privileged, upper-class people?

AU: Yes, my upbringing, for many different reasons, provided me with the perspective of being an outsider almost 100 percent of the time. I don’t think there was one moment in my life when I felt like a part of something, I’ve always seen things from the outside.

I don’t think having a Soho House card is a sign of success, and I feel fine with the upper class because I don’t really value money that much and I’m not a fan girl. I like people’s humor, that’s what I fall in love with. I actually feel embarrassed that I participate in a system where I materialize my thoughts into objects to be exhibited. Most of my favorite people, the most brilliant minds I’ve met, don’t have a CV.

CJ: Youve said that you dont feel successful, but more like your life is a string of funny tragedies. Success in the capitalist sense often seems ominous, threatening, in your work

AU: I feel blessed on a daily basis, and sometimes I’m overwhelmed by the fact that I’m able to rent a beautiful apartment, and an office, and a car. Or that I can order a book and get it delivered to my house in 24 hours. It feels like a fairy tale. Is it sustainable? It doesn’t feel like it. Mainly because I’m not part of a stable system: firstly because I’m an artist and I rely on one of the weirdest economies there is, and secondly because I currently reside in the US, the capitalist potency par excellence. Easy come, easy go.

This interview was originally published in Carla issue 3.

Amalia Ulman: Delicious Works (installation view) (2014), Martha Stewart golden paint, blanket, tulle, lights, glitter, fairy dust, gold powder, 32 x 22 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Smart Objects.

Delicious Works (installation view) (2014). Martha Stewart golden paint, blanket, tulle, lights, glitter, fairy dust, gold powder, 32 x 22 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Smart Objects.

Delicious Works (installation view) (2014). Martha Stewart golden paint, blanket, tulle, lights, glitter, fairy dust, gold powder, 32 x 22 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Smart Objects.

Delicious Works (installation view) (2014). Martha Stewart golden paint, blanket, tulle, lights, glitter, fairy dust, gold powder, 32 x 22 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Smart Objects.

Delicious Works (installation view) (2014). Martha Stewart golden paint, blanket, tulle, lights, glitter, fairy dust, gold powder, 32 x 22 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Smart Objects.

Delicious Works (installation view) (2014). Martha Stewart golden paint, blanket, tulle, lights, glitter, fairy dust, gold powder, 32 x 22 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Smart Objects.