Hauser & Wirth opened three quality shows on Saturday, February 15th, 2020, while presenting a great selection of Avery Singer’s work at Frieze at the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood. As always, they presented an open and enthusiastic assessment of this young artist’s oeuvre, noting her consistent advancement during the last half decade.

Nicolas Party ‘Sottobosco’ at Hauser & Wirth; Photo courtesy of Hauser & Wirth

Meanwhile down on 3rd Street, one is greeted by an illusory faux finish installation environment encrusted with diamonds in the form of Nicolas Party’s “Sottobosco,” a gorgeous depiction of portraits rendered in vibrant and vivid soft pastel, which, as the artist explained in his talk on Thursday morning, is both pure pigment and fragile at the same time.

In the small gallery nearby, elements of August Sander’s body of work is presented in the “New Women, New Men, and New Identities” exhibition.

August Sander at Hauser & Wirth; Photo courtesy of Hauser & Wirth

As illuminated by Stephanie Barron, senior curator and head of modern art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and independent curator Nana Bahlmann, it documents the Weimar era of Germany before Hitler’s takeover. It was in some respects remarkably like our own in the conflict between a puritanical corrupt government and an enlightened art and music community.

A presentation by the team behind Lucio Fontana Walking the Space: Spatial Environments, 1948-1968, presented Fontana’s understanding of the impact light and space, television and untethered forms of media would be have on Post War art making.

Lucio Fontana at Hauser & Wirth. Photo courtesy of Hauser & Wirth

It’s a groundbreaking show, one that demonstrates the impact felt to this day in popular entertainment and the work of – among many others – James Turrell presented this weekend at Frieze. It was striking to see both the original at Hauser & Wirth and its progeny in the city of light in the same weekend. Visit the website for more info. https://www.hauserwirth.com/