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New Voices on West Coast Art

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Category: The Why

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The Why

Aaron Shurin’s Poetic Punctuation

by Douglas Weissman
Posted on May 10, 2022May 10, 2022

A writer discusses how an unlikely combination of punctuation changed his writing forever.

A square blank piece of paper attached to a wall with small, thin metal pins.

The Why

Tom Friedman’s 1000 Hours of Staring

by Amelia Rina
Posted on January 18, 2022January 18, 2022

How a blank piece of paper inspired Variable West’s founder to be an art critic and writer.

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New voices on West Coast art: exhibition reviews, artist interviews, and more

Surreal Society: Marika Thunder Interviewed
by Kathy Battista
May 19, 2022
Class, tradition, gender roles, race, and celebrity take center stage in Marika Thunder's exhibition at de boer gallery in Los Angeles
Asian Futures, With Asians: Astria Suparak and Everything Everywhere All at Once
by May Maylisa Cat
May 17, 2022
May Maylisa Cat considers how Asian people and cultures have been continuously erased from film and TV.
Immersive Frida Kahlo & Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino
by Renée Reizman
May 12, 2022
What do blockbuster immersive art exhibits and junk food have in common?
Aaron Shurin’s Poetic Punctuation
by Douglas Weissman
May 10, 2022
A writer discusses how an unlikely combination of punctuation changed his writing forever.
Sponsored Connection | Christine Miller: Syrup on Watermelon at Portland Art Museum Reviewed
by Ruby Joy White
May 5, 2022
Portland artist Christine Miller turns historical racist imagery into tools for Black liberation and love.
Sponsored Connection | Diedrick Brackens & D’Angelo Lovell Williams: The Quick at lumber room Reviewed
by Ella Ray
May 5, 2022
Two artists collaborate to explore kinship, multigenerational learning, and community.
Mixed Feelings for Strange Fruit: Genevieve Gaignard at Vielmetter Los Angeles
by Gabrielle Lawrence
May 3, 2022
A daring but imperfect exhibition challenges notions of racism and colorism.
Chromophilia
by Daniela Molnar
April 28, 2022
Stelo + Variable West Art Writing Resident Daniela Molnar examines the human relationship with color.
Raúl Guerrero & Mexican food in the United States
by Gerry Peña-Martinez
April 26, 2022
Raúl Guerrero's paintings of food celebrate the Mexican-American experience.
Theaters for Frankensteins: Yuyang Zhang Interviewed
by Laurel V. McLaughlin
April 21, 2022
Yuyang Zhang's paintings and digital collages offer cultural commentary through memes, Chinese-American culture, and dark humor.
Love Letter to Julie Green
by Erin Bodfish
April 19, 2022
An Oregon-based educator and artist inspires her students to find beauty in everything.
Nasim Hantezadeh and summer stone fruit
by Emma Robitaille
April 14, 2022
An LA-based artist's biomorphic works on paper evoke the vocabulary of food.
Introducing Amelia Ketzel, our spring quarter Editorial Apprentice
by Variable West
April 13, 2022
We are thrilled to announce that Amelia Ketzel is joining Variable West as the spring 2022 Editorial Apprentice.
Love Letter to Kenjiro Nomura
by Peter Tracy
April 12, 2022
A Seattle-based painter captures 1930s Seattle, Japanese Internment, grief, loss, and recovery—all with his brush.
Srijon Chowdhury’s “Groundhog Day” at SE Cooper Contemporary
by Hannah Krafcik
April 7, 2022
A Portland-based painter conjures the otherworldly to meditate on the shrouded interiority of his subjects.
Art of Glass: Emily Endo Interviewed
by May Maylisa Cat
April 6, 2022
Through scientific discovery and mysticism, Emily Endo explores the possibility of glass.
A Condemned Building Gets a Last Breath of Life Through Sacramento Artists: Faith J. McKinnie, Liv Moe, Molly Stroud, and Genesis “The Mayor” Torres Interviewed
by Allie Haeusslein
April 5, 2022
Four curators and thirty-five artists transform a soon-to-be demolished building in Sacramento's rapidly gentrifying Ice Blocks district.
How Technology Feels: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer Interviewed
by Sofía Córdova
March 31, 2022
In a bilingual conversation, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Sofía Córdova question the human relationship with technology.
Finding Meaning in Forgotten Objects: Pamela Ramos Interviewed
by Angella d'Avignon
March 30, 2022
Found objects give intimate clues to the lives of strangers, and are given new lives as artworks.
Love Letter to Essie Somma
by Sarah Russell
March 29, 2022
A painter challenges the traditional approach to classical painting through vice, intimacy, and the quotidian.