Eighteen years have passed since Bruce Conner’s death, in 2008, aged seventy-four; ten since MoMA held its massive Conner retrospective. The countercultural polymath, known equally for his ragged combines (described by Philip Leider in Artforum as “hideous in the extreme”) and his seductive film collages, has been canonized, if the label befits a true iconoclast, for a long time. A new show at the Marciano Foundation in Los Angeles—located in a former Masonic temple, and showcasing the private collection of the co-founders of Guess jeans—is the latest test of Conner’s caustic sensibility.
The Beat Generation is currently having a moment in Los Angeles. Although the timing is partly coincidental, Marc Selwyn Fine Arts is exhibiting works on paper by Jay DeFeo, Parker Gallery and The Box are presenting a major Wally Hedrick retrospective, and Michael Kohn Gallery is showing Verifax collages by Wallace Berman and drawings by Bruce Conner. Conner was something of a renaissance man in that he was proficient in several mediums.
“It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” marks the centennial of Wallace Berman’s birth. The exhibition focuses on the Los Angeles artist’s iconic Verifax works: collages he produced using an early photocopy machine gifted to him in 1963.
Nir Hod’s latest series, Dorian’s Gardens, on view in Los Angeles at Michael Kohn Gallery merges memory, nature, and art history into immersive, dreamlike landscapes. Across paintings and sculpture, Hod navigates the tension between beauty and decay, exploring themes of transformation, desire, and the passage of time. In this interview, he shares the inspirations, processes, and emotional frameworks behind his work, from reflective chrome surfaces to layered narratives and the quiet landscapes that have shaped his vision.
New York-based Nir Hod – who delves into the duality of human nature as subject matter for his paintings that are achieved through color palettes and relaxed brushwork, and has had solo exhibitions in the United States, as well as having been in numerous group exhibitions here and abroad – plumbs his own psychological depths only to discover what makes him love work and life.
