Past

South Willard

Nov. 5–Dec. 17, 2023

Gordon Robichaux is pleased to present South Willard, an exhibition dedicated to the community surrounding the celebrated Los Angeles gallery. The presentation includes over two hundred objects by seventy-four historical and contemporary artists and designers installed across both of Gordon Robichaux’s spaces. The exhibition is curated with artists Matt Connors and Matt Paweski, both of whom have a long-standing relationship with Gordon Robichaux and South Willard.

The presentation at Gordon Robichaux includes many of the artists and designers whose work has been exhibited at South Willard over the past nineteen years. The installation is inspired by South Willard’s generative, associative, and visionary philosophy of presenting artwork and functional design in a non-hierarchical manner. Adjacency inspires new relationships between objects, histories, artists, and designers. Throughout both of Gordon Robichaux’s spaces, furniture by Roy McMakin and Alvar Aalto anchor an array of objects, among them: a welded metal assemblage with a strip of red lace by pioneering California funk artist Robert H. Hudson; Karin Gulbran’s handmade mirror, adorned with a ceramic frame itself decorated with flora, a snail, and porcelain inlays; Dewey Nelson’s hammered silver jewelry embellished with Hopi motifs; Peter Shire’s Nerikomi ceramic mugs from 1973; a group of ceramics by Magdalena Suarez Frimkess inspired by Archie and Condorito comics; Torbjörn Vejvi’s colorful wood vases and hanging light fixtures; Nina de Creeft Ward’s teapot in the form of a squirrel; and Simphiwe Mbunyuza’s textured stoneware sculptures featuring African iconography and built with a coiling technique used by the Xhosa people.

South Willard was founded in 2004 by Ryan Conder and Danielle Kays in a storefront space at 8038 West 3rd Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The shop opened with a curated selection of clothing, mostly by European and Japanese designers, whose garments weren’t widely known or available in Los Angeles. From its inception, art and design were central to South Willard’s ethos and holistic vision, and the shop quickly established itself as a place of discovery, inspiration, and community for artists, designers, curators, and collectors. What began as informal displays of art and design in the shop—furniture by Roy McMakin, Alvar Aalto, and Gio Ponti; glass objects by Carlo Scarpa; ceramics by historical and contemporary artists; and artworks by artists like Richard Aldrich, Matt Connors, Lecia Dole-Recio, and Shannon Ebner who traded their work for clothing—evolved into an ongoing series of exhibitions. In 2017, South Willard moved into its current space at 970 N. Broadway in Chinatown, Los Angeles where the gallery presents an ongoing exhibition program.

Over the course of its nineteen-year history, South Willard has brought attention to under-recognized artists such as Magdalena Suarez Frimkess and Nina de Creeft Ward; foundational historical California artists like Peter Voulkos, Robert H. Hudson, and Peter Shire; and presented early exhibitions for artists like Matt Paweski, Daisy Sheff, Simphiwe Mbunyuza, and Narumi Nekpenekpen. Numerous artists, including Matt Conners and Ryan Preciado, worked in the gallery and curated exhibitions championing other artists. South Willard’s collective spirit is evidenced in the networks of artists who continue to participate in its nurturing community and who are dedicated to sharing knowledge, beauty, and inspiration. Reflecting on his relationship with the gallery, artist Matt Paweski writes,

I was introduced to South Willard in 2011 through Jason Meadows, with whom I shared my first studio after grad school. I was making some deeply barnyard objects from salvaged wood and welded steel and had accumulated a group of “shelf” type constructions that I included in a holiday sale at the shop.

Ryan gave me my first show in Los Angeles and connected me to the network of friends and family that brought me here to participate today. He is a magical pied piper of sorts, and though the shop has evolved since its location on 3rd Street, it continues to promote new generations, resolutely focused on accessibility, community, and faith in the artists’ vision—qualities that have made this whole project so unique. South Willard functions as world adjacent. It is a place to trade, to experiment, to dig into some obsession. The shop has introduced so many people to the things they have grown to love. Sometimes I think the vision and priorities of South Willard are values from a previous time, when life seemed quieter, slower, and much more thoughtful. But this is exactly what the future needs, so pass it on.

Artists and designers included in the exhibition:

Alvar Aalto, Diana “Dee” Yesenia Alvarado, Richard Aldrich, Altadena Works, Sylvie Auvray, Steven Baker, Steven Baldi, Ray Barsante, Andy Beach, Stan Bitters, Onochie Chukwurah, Josh Cloud, Kelly Marie Conder, Thurston Conder, Wolfy Conder, Matt Connors, Alan Constable, Nina de Creeft Ward, Sydney de Jong, Lecia Dole-Recio, Shannon Ebner, Stan Edmondson, Bella Foster, Michael Frimkess, Gillian Garcia, Christopher Garrett, Melvino Garretti, Karin Gulbran, James Harrison, Roger Herman, Tristan Hirsch, Gwen Hollingsworth, Evan Holloway, Violet Hopkins, Robert H. Hudson, Aki Ilomäki, James Iveson, Ravi Jackson, Ava Woo Kaufman, Danielle Kays and Aya Mckenzie, Elisabeth Kley, David Korty, Maddy Inez Leeser, Higinio Martinez, Simphiwe Mbunyuza, Ian McDonald, Roy McMakin, Jason Meadows, JP Munro, Leone Benenati Muzquiz, Narumi Nekpenekpen, Dewey Nelson, Eugene Ong, Arthur Ou, Sanou Oumar, Matt Paweski, Mary Ping, Ryan Preciado, Robert Rapson, Carlo Scarpa, Daisy Sheff, Bruce M. Sherman, Peter Shire, Ettore Sottsass, Ricky Swallow, Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, Christian Vargas, Lesley Vance, Pedro Alejandro Verdin, Sigrid Vejvi, Torbjörn Vejvi, Erika Vogt, Peter Voulkos