Last month, the Los Angeles art world was deeply affected by the wildfires that destroyed homes and businesses in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena. The art community pulled together and acted fast, establishing support networks and fundraisers to help those affected. Galleries quickly organized benefit shows, with proceeds going to relief organizations, or showcased works by artists who lost their homes or studios, some of which we’ve highlighted below. Other exhibitions addressing climate change, environmental activism, or Indigenous practices, such as Fire Kinship and Joseph Beuys: In Defense of Nature, had already been planned for months or years, but took on renewed relevance with the recent fires. Taken as a group, the shows below highlight the perseverance and generosity that the Angeleno arts community has shown in the face of tragedy.
Artist Relief Fundraiser Exhibition
Last Projects, 206 South Avenue 20, Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles
Through February 28
Hosted at Last Projects, this fundraiser exhibition features work by 60 artists including Anthony Ausgang, Mario Ayala, Jackie Perez, Trulee Hall, and Ever Velasquez, with between 60% and 80% of the proceeds going to the Dena Fire Relief Fund and displaced artists. Molly Tierney, Tara Zorthian, and several other participating artists who lost their homes or studios will receive 100% of the profits from the sale of their work. Organized by artist Rachid Bouhamidi and gallery co-founder Ilona Berger, the show also encompasses performances, workshops, and film screenings, including a documentary on the late artist and craftsman Jirayr Zorthian, whose namesake ranch, art, and archives in Altadena were lost in the fires.
1TB Verbatim: Los Angeles Timing 2013-2025
Leroy’s, 422 Ord Street, Chinatown, Los Angeles
Through March 1
Curated by Keith Varadi of Gene’s Dispensary, 1TB Verbatim is a messy, exuberant celebration of artistic community and experimentation. The exhibition spills out of the dining hall of Leroy’s Happy Place, a former Vietnamese restaurant-turned-gallery, continuing into the kitchen, bathrooms, parking lot, and even the walk-in freezer to create playful juxtapositions of art objects and artifacts. Participating artists include Tanya Brodsky, David Horvitz, Aimee Goguen, Hanna Hur, Steve Kado, and Olivia Mole. Open on Saturday nights and by appointment only, the space serves as a social hub, with proceeds from the bar going to fire relief. A series of weekly musical, poetry, and comedy performances heighten the sense of interpersonal connection and solidarity, precisely when LA needs it most.
FU@K OFF
Walter Maciel Gallery, 2642 South La Cienega Boulevard, Culver City, Los Angeles
Through March 1
FU@K OFF is a group show gathering a cacophony of responses to the injustices and oppression that the new presidential administration has already unleashed, from attacks on civil and reproductive rights to targeting of immigrant and trans communities and the dismantling of environmental regulations. Highlights include Enrique Chagoya’s (1992–ongoing) The Ghosts of Borderlandia print series underscoring physical and structural borders that divide people; Daniele Puppi’s cinematic re-imagining of the 1969 film Easy Rider, questioning its notions of freedom; and Francesca Gabbiani’s painting of a burning palm tree, an image that now takes on tragic significance.
Out of the Ashes: Artists Impacted by the Los Angeles Wildfires
Craig Krull Gallery, Bergamot Station Art Center, Building F2, 2525 Michigan Avenue, Santa Monica, California
February 19–March 1
Artists who were directly affected by the wildfires take center stage in the aptly titled Out of the Ashes, with the proceeds of sales going directly to them. Artists include John Knuth, Salomón Huerta, Elizabeth Tremante, Dani Tull, Camilla Taylor, and Kevin Cooley, whose photographs of wildfires were recently on view at These Days and who lost his home in the Eaton Fire. The show was curated by Craig Krull and Douglas Marshall, and sponsored by the Bergamot Tenants Association, City of Santa Monica, Rising Realty Partners, and Robert Berman Projects.
Atmospheric River
Gattopardo, 918 Ruberta Avenue, Glendale, California
February 16–March 15
Atmospheric River is a group show of primarily video and ephemeral artworks, with at least 50% of the proceeds going to fire relief. The exhibition at the gallery will be augmented by an online component, featuring a larger list of artists, with 100% of the proceeds being donated. Participating artists include Gordon Matta-Clark, Diana Thater, T. Kelly Mason, and Jennifer West, among others.
The Wave: A Benefit for LA Wildfires and Jessica Taylor Bellamy: Temperature Check
Anat Ebgi, 6150 Wilshire Boulevard, Miracle Mile, Los Angeles
February 8–March 22
Painter Alec Egan lost almost all of the work for his planned solo show at Anat Ebgi when his house and studio burned down in the Palisades Fire. Named after the sole surviving painting that was already at the gallery, The Wave is a group show to benefit Egan and other artists affected by the wildfires, with 10% of the gallery’s proceeds going to the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund. Other artists include Jaime Muñoz, Robert Russell, and Sarah Ann Weber. Alongside The Wave, the gallery will exhibit Jessica Taylor Bellamy: Temperature Check, a solo show of paintings by the LA-born artist that focuses on the delicate balancing act between nature and culture that defines the city, and which climate change threatens with further precarity.
Joseph Beuys: In Defense of Nature and Social Forest: Oaks of Tovaangar
The Broad, 221 South Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles
Through March 23
In Defense of Nature focuses on the late German artist Joseph Beuys‘s involvement with environmental issues, manifested through his art and activism. In conjunction with the exhibition, the Broad has organized Social Forest: Oaks of Tovaangar, a reforestation initiative inspired by Beuys’s 7000 Eichen (7000 Oaks) (1982), which involved the planting of 7,000 trees alongside stone markers in Kassel, Germany. The project will kick off on February 8 from 11am to 2pm, with the first day of tree planting in Elysian Park, alongside workshops and activities led by Tongva (Gabrielino) artists and educators. A shuttle will be available to take visitors from the Broad to the site and back for the opening celebration.
Kelly Akashi
Lisson Gallery, 1037 North Sycamore Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles
February 20–March 29
Kelly Akashi employs an impressive array of materials and processes — blown glass, cast bronze, carved stone, photography — to create poetic works that emphasize the impermanence, fragility, and mercurial nature of existence. There is, however, an immediacy and captivating tactility in her work that foregrounds the here and now, underlined by the repeated inclusion of burning candles. Akashi lost her home and studio in the Eaton Fire, along with much of the work for her upcoming show at Lisson Gallery, which was originally scheduled to open on January 31. Despite the tremendous loss, Akashi has been busy recreating destroyed works and fabricating new ones, giving the show an added sense of poignancy.
Alice Coltrane, Monument Eternal
Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Westwood, Los Angeles
February 9–May 4
An influential jazz harpist and spiritual leader, Alice Coltrane’s musical output ranged from jazz compositions recorded in the 1960s with her late husband, saxophonist John Coltrane, to Hindu devotional music (she built an ashram in the Santa Monica Mountains in 1983, which was destroyed in the 2018 Woolsey Fire). Taking its name from her 1977 book, Monument Eternal features work by contemporary artists alongside material from her archives, including sheet music, audio recordings, and video footage, tracing threads of sonic and religious experimentation. Participating artists include Nikita Gale, Rashid Johnson, Cauleen Smith, Gozié Ojini, and others.
Fire Kinship: Southern California Native Ecology and Art
Fowler Museum, 308 Charles E. Young Drive North, Westwood, Los Angeles
Through July 13
abalone disk, turbine shells, and granite stones, in center (photo by Elon Schoenholz, courtesy the Fowler Museum at UCLA)
Fire Kinship explores the various fire-management practices that Indigenous communities in Southern California used to maintain healthy ecosystems and prevent wildfire disasters before European colonization. The exhibition features art by contemporary Indigenous artists alongside archival photography and objects such as baskets, ceramics, and canoes that were created through thoughtful engagement with fire. These include “Sand Acknowledgement” (2024) by Lazaro Arvizu Jr. (Tongva), a spiral sand painting above which hangs an abalone shell representing Indigenous concepts of the world, and Leah Mata Fragua’s (Yak Tityu Tityu Yak Tiłhini Northern Chumash) “The Sun is On the Ground” (2024), a field of paper poppies hanging from the ceiling that will be consumed by fire after the exhibition.
Nature on Notice: Contemporary Art and Ecology
LACMA at Charles White Elementary School Gallery, 611 South Carondelet Street, MacArthur Park, Los Angeles
Through August 2
Nature on Notice features a global selection of 20 contemporary artists who examine the impact of humans on the world around us through photography, video, and installation. Some of these artists look to Indigenous practices of ecological stewardship, while others highlight the ways we have altered and exploited the landscape with catastrophic results. These include Tongva artist Mercedes Dorame’s intimate photographs of tide pools, brimming with life; Kim Stringfellow’s documentation of the despoliation of the Salton Sea lake; and Uta Kögelsberger’s multi-channel video work, Fire Complex (2021), that chronicles the aftermath of the 2020 California wildfires. Other artists include Cara Romero, Cannupa Hanska Luger, and Metabolic Studio.
