ABMB2023
Charlie James Gallery is delighted to present Existir, a solo exhibition of new works by gallery artist Shizu Saldamando for the 2023 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach from December 6-10, 2023. The gallery will be exhibiting in the NOVA section, Booth N21.
Artist Statement on Existir:
“I do portraits celebrating people, friends and peers, many of whom are activists, brown, queer, trans, Indigenous, immigrants, femme and the like, who exist regardless of legislation and historical erasure. The detailed, yet minimal portraits are homage to people in my circles who I’ve come to admire for varying reasons. I use bare wood panels as a ready-made backdrop while also referencing the scrap wood sculptures my grandfather would make when he was incarcerated in the Japanese American prison camps during WWII. The wood panels allow the portraits to become sculptural and the transparency of the oil paint allows the wood grain to show through in order to acknowledge a more ephemeral, and fluid subject-hood. The floral works are born out of communal crafting done in the Japanese American Incarceration camps during WWII and are based off of paper rose patterns found in the archives of the Manzanar prison camp. To acknowledge and pay respects to those who have endured through incarceration, colonization, pandemics, genocides, I offer the floral works as a pause for reflection and space for communal mourning. The historical roots of which were inspired out of communal crafting that families would make while imprisoned. They are made from traditional Japanese washi papers, floral ribbon, found chain-link fence parts, and gardening trellises.”
Shizu Saldamando’s work depicts American social spaces through portraiture. Her work celebrates peers, friends, and loved ones through paintings and drawings that honor the brief moments of connection that occur throughout daily life. Shizu was born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. She received her B.A. from UCLA School of Arts and Architecture and her M.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts.
Solo exhibitions include LA Intersections, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA; Shizu Saldamando, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ; To Return, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; When You Sleep: A Survey of Shizu Saldamando, Vincent Price Art Museum, Monterey Park, CA; All Tomorrow’s Parties, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA. Selected group exhibitions include: Phantom Sightings at Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Trans-Pacific Borderlands, part of the Getty Pacific Standard Time initiative at the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, CA; We Must Risk Delight: Twenty Artists from Los Angeles, an official collateral exhibition of the Venice Biennale; Drawing the Line at Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA and The High Art of Riding Low at the Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, CA.
Saldamando’s work resides in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Crocker Art Museum, Princeton University Museum of Art, Oakland Museum of California, the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, National Museum of Mexican Art, Fidelity Collection, Cleveland Clinic Collection, Smithsonian American Art Museum and numerous other public and private collections. Saldamando lives and works in Los Angeles and is represented by Charlie James Gallery.
Artist Instagram: @shizutattoo
ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2023
Venue
Miami Beach Convention Center
1901 Convention Center Drive
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Opening Hours
Private Days (by invitation only)
Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 11am to 7pm, First Choice VIP guests
Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 4pm to 7pm, Preview VIP guests
Thursday, December 7, 2023, 11am to 7pm, First Choice and Preview VIP guests
Thursday, December 7, 2023, 4pm to 7pm, Vernissage VIP guests
Public Days
Friday, December 8, 2023, 11am to 6pm
Saturday, December 9, 2023, 11am to 6pm
Sunday, December 10, 2023, 11am to 6pm
Selected Works
installation
