27th Presence Almanac

PRESENCE ALMANAC

by Elliott Desai

27TH

FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF ARTS & CULTURE

The 27th Presence Almanac is my final days in a city I’ve called home for the past ten years.

I moved to Southern California at 18 to follow my intuition and explore the unknown. It’s been a decade of learning and maturing into the man I am today.

Yet as I reflect on myself in this space, I see the same person I’ve always been:

A midwestern boy who loves investigating curiosities, drawing, painting, photographing, laughing, being entertained, and doing his best to be himself.

But I’ve also grown to release the thoughts and emotions that attempt to divide and control my life.

It’s become a daily practice to perpetually let go of expectations and give in to this present moment.

Trusting the universe - this underlying creative spiritand continuously taking leaps of faith to flourish as me.

So in theme with that belief, I’m writing this introduction a few days after packing up my apartment, sending my belongings to a storage unit, and initiating an indefinite intermission on Los Angeles.

I’m immersing myself in the here and now, and furthering my pursuit of the advancement of arts & culture.

Who is creating and adding to the world? Who is expanding our collective humanity through artistry?

We are all expressive, creative human beings and these books are evidence in an ongoing library.

How many events in the past year soaked up your time but didn’t pour into your soul?

And in these memories, how often did a night become about topics that weren’t in attendance?

Even while reading this page, how many issues are lingering on your mind and pulling at your attention?

By embracing the art in front of us, we can transmute our focus to real-time examples of presence...

Real-time examples of people quieting the distractions all around us and investing in self expression.

The Presence Almanac is public programming to increase your access to art and spaces for being

These pages are love for our human experience, and a guide for shedding the structures that hold you back from living a life that’s authentically you.

It’s a tool for mindfulness and present attention, a grounding space to see evidence of other human beings becoming who they truly are.

More and more people are awakening to the realization that external structures will never be the means to finding happiness or feelings of success.

Happiness and success come from within.

So when will you invest in your truth?

When will you be empowered by everything and all things coming through your infinite presence?

There’s no wishing or waiting for someone else to figure out your path or create your “reliable” way of living.

You don’t have to be self-employed, but you do have to embody certain principles and align with a way of living that flows with the natural order of the universe.

Don’t think too much into the future, and don’t ponder too much of the past. We are here to be alive, right now.

SANTA MONICA

Karla Diaz’s Wait ‘til Your Mother Gets Home is on view at 18th Street Arts Center through June 22, 2024.

These new works focus on the American Mexican identity and emphasize “a cultural context of social upheaval” as Karla explores her own recollection and imagination.

I really enjoy peering at the details of her ink, watercolor pieces and their depictions of memories growing up in Los Angeles and México - they bring a smile to my face.

MACARTHUR PARK

Chez Max et Dorothea’s inaugural group show in Los Angeles, Whisper Their Sinful Names, aims to “nurture the connection between surrealism and contemporary art” as this nonprofit’s namesakes Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning intended.

This space is beautiful, and this organization aligns with my interest to develop MacArthur Park as a historic district for Angelenos to convene around art.

HOLLYWOOD

J Bradley Greer’s new work in Terrestrial Aperture at Rhett Baruch Gallery with Good Naked Los Angeles is on view until March 31. When I write about being here, right now, these pieces embody that request.

The works prompt viewers to slow down and get lost in the whimsical nature of his “botanical, anatomical, and decorative” oil paintings.

And while you’re in the area, I recommend walking around Melrose Ave / Cahuenga Blvd to enjoy some carne asada tacos at Tere’s Mexican Grill. This scene has been my weekly view of Hollywood for many years.

OCEAN PARK

In all my months of visiting the Pacific Ocean, I consistently find myself at Ocean Park for the ease of enjoying sunsets along the coast.

FASHION DISTRICT

Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson’s Songs About War at Vielmetter Los Angeles is on view till March 23.

These paintings are a journey into an imagined past of “war, strife and mayhem” and build a dramatic universe of characters at conflict with each other and their surroundings. I love the richness of each piece and continued thinking about this world days after.

Patrick Wilson’s Field Sketch (on view till March 23) and Celia Paul’s Life Painting are also on the first floor of Vielmetter Los Angeles.

Patrick is a perceptualist painter known for his meticulous and improvised compositions informed by “logic, pleasure, and whim.” The title references “deeply looking, investigating, and then carefully sketching a subject” for a heightened level of observation.

Celia’s oil paintings are about the act of “being seen and seeing, being looked at and looking.” Through a subtle color palette, each work conveys a “sense of quiet contemplation” — possibly embodying the fact that she paints in the same rooms where she sleeps.

A selection of new works by Lavaughan Jenkins, Raffi Kalenderian and Mario Joyce in the Vielmetter Greenhouse also caught my attention. I love the texture of all these pieces and their vibrant colors.

Additionally, Raffi and Alberto Cuadros are hosting “Raffi and Al’s Legendary Garden Party” in the patio as a hybrid art salon / rainforest cafe that references the energy of UCLA art school in the early 2000s.

Visit till April 20 to view 70+ unique pieces.

Melinda Braathen’s Atmosphere is presented by Christian Baert till March 30 at Baert Gallery.

Walking into this space, I’m immediately struck by the oil paintings and their “vibrant meditations on nature.” Referencing her own photographs, Melinda creates vast environments that invite viewers to enter a “psychic wilderness” and feel the radiance within each work.

Déjà Vu is a group show at Abigail Ogilvy Gallery till March 30 and my favorite works are made by Kelli Ryan, Rugiyatou Ylva Jallow and Lewinale Havette

Exploring the idea of “multiple realities and worlds,” these artists bring viewers into “mythical figures, imagined landscapes, and new paradigms” that reference an illusion of memory.

CENTRAL LOS ANGELES

As these are my final days in the city, I’ve decided to share the home environment that birthed this almanac.

Please enjoy views from my living room, driveway, kitchen window and nightly walk around Fairfax Ave.

Marjorie Norman Schwarz’s Stills is on view at 12.26 Gallery till April 6.

In these abstract oil on linen paintings, Marjorie aims to “transmit a specific feeling or sensation to the viewer” using figuration to offer an “individualized perspective on familiar scenes.”

GLASSELL PARK

CONTIGO is a group show at Guerrero Gallery (GGLA) till March 23, and a partnership with For Keeps Books was a sampling of the bookstore and reading room that exists in Atlanta, Georgia

My favorite works are made by Gregory Bojorquez, Justin Favela and Lizette Hernandez, and this space was the perfect setting for a Saturday afternoon.

Aaron Morse’s Sea and Land at Philip Martin Gallery invites the viewer to “consider myth, nature and culture” as he provides a window into the past and present.

I’m drawn to the clouds in these two works and see myself in the characters along his horizons.

Karma, Los Angeles is presenting egg tempera on wood works by Luigi Zuccheri from the 1950s till March 16.

Luigi’s depictions of rural Northern Italy are informed by “Surrealism, an interest in Renaissance ex-voto tablets, and the influence of Metaphysical artists.”

As a fugitive resisting Nazi occupation in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, his paintings of the natural world attest to “the forms of life that persist even as humans perpetrate violence against their own species.”

The Presence Almanac is the human experience in print, and a gift of time & space to be immersed in artistry.

Published MARCH 10, 2024 | NEW MOON

Sincerely,

Elliott Desai

Craft Contemporary is presenting ART IRAN: Falling into Language till May 5 - a group exhibition of nine “diaspora Iranian artists who engage diverse forms of the Persian alphabet, handwriting, text, and fragments” to remain connected to their culture.

My favorite works, made by Maryam Palizgir and Hadieh Shafie, comment on how places, perceptions, beliefs and experiences shape who we are.

SANTA MONICA

© Karla Diaz | Nana Hila and all My Chiefs Il, 2022

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of 18th Street Arts Center

© Karla Diaz | Moving Day, 2022

© Karla Diaz | Lucha in my room, 2022

© Karla Diaz | Los Desaparecidos (the ones that disappeared), 2022

Wait ‘til Your Mother Gets Home

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of 18th Street Arts Center

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of 18th Street Arts Center

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of 18th Street Arts Center

© Karla Diaz | At the 99 Cents, 2022

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of 18th Street Arts Center

© Karla Diaz | Balloon Legs Il, 2021

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of 18th Street Arts Center

Photo by Elliott Desai

MACARTHUR PARK

Photo by Elliott Desai

© Sam Hemmenway | Untitled (Green), 2023

Whisper Their Sinful Names

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Chez Max et Dorothea

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Chez Max et Dorothea

© Edgar Bryan | Bucatini Blues, 2020

Whisper Their Sinful Names

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Chez Max et Dorothea

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Chez Max et Dorothea

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Chez Max et Dorothea

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Chez Max et Dorothea

HOLLYWOOD

Photo by Elliott Desai

Photo by Elliott Desai

© J. Bradley Greer | Karen and Richard Terrestrial Aperture

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Good Naked & Rhett Baruch

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Good Naked & Rhett Baruch

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Good Naked & Rhett Baruch

© J. Bradley Greer | Viktor and Giselle Terrestrial Aperture

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Good Naked & Rhett Baruch

OCEAN PARK

Photo by Elliott Desai

Photo by Elliott Desai

FASHION DISTRICT

© Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson | Journeymen On A Barge, 2023

Songs About War

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

© Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson | William, 2023

Songs About War

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

© Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson | The Tug Of War, 2023

© Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson | Our armored car, 2023

© Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson | The price of revenge!, 2023

Songs About War

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

© Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson

Our Masked Hero Riding “A Gut Feeling”

A Pitchfork, 2023 Songs About War

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

© Patrick Wilson | Garden Party, 2023

Field Sketch

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

© Patrick Wilson | Dangerous Curves, 2023

Field Sketch

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

© Celia Paul | Vase of Dried Flowers, 2022

Life Painting

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

© Celia Paul | My Father’s House, 2020

Life Painting

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

Lavaughan Jenkins

is blue, 2023

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

Past, 2024

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

Raffi and Al’s Legendary Garden Party

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

Raffi and Al’s Legendary Garden Party

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

Raffi and Al’s Legendary Garden Party

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Vielmetter Los Angeles

© Melinda Braathen | In Time, In Tempo, 2023

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Baert Gallery

© Melinda Braathen | Inwards, 2023 Atmosphere

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Baert Gallery

Melinda Braathen | Ambient, 2023 Atmosphere

Courtesy of Baert Gallery

© Melinda Braathen | Temperament, 2024 Atmosphere

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Baert Gallery

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Abigail Ogilvy Gallery

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Abigail Ogilvy Gallery

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Abigail Ogilvy Gallery

CENTRAL LOS ANGELES

Photo by Elliott Desai

Photo by Elliott Desai

Photo by Elliott Desai

Photo by Elliott Desai

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Karma, Los Angeles

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Karma, Los Angeles

Threads of Consciousness, 2014

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Craft Contemporary

© Maryam Palizgir | Threads of Consciousness, 2014 ART IRAN: Falling into Language

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Craft Contemporary

© Hadieh Shafie | Safar 1, 2021

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Craft Contemporary

© Hadieh Shafie | Safar 5, 2021

ART IRAN: Falling into Language

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Craft Contemporary

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of 12.26

© Marjorie Norman Schwarz | Central Park #2, 2024 Stills

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of 12.26

GLASSELL PARK

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Guerrero Gallery (GGLA)

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Guerrero Gallery (GGLA)

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Guerrero Gallery (GGLA)

© Justin Favela | Mar Atlántico, after José María Velasco, 2018

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Guerrero Gallery (GGLA)

© Lizette Hernandez | Ascendiendo, 2023

Photo by Elliott Desai Courtesy of Guerrero Gallery (GGLA)

© Aaron Morse | Cloud World (Shepherd with Wildflowers, #2), 2023 Sea and Land

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Philip Martin Gallery

© Aaron Morse | Cloud World (Big Fish), 2023

Sea and Land

Photo by Elliott Desai

Courtesy of Philip Martin Gallery

Photo by Elliott Desai

Karla Diaz

Wait ‘til Your Mother Gets Home

February 17 - June 22, 2024

18thstreet.org/exhibitions/waittilyourmothergetshome

18th Street Arts Center 3026 Airport Avenue Santa Monica, CA 90405 18thstreet.org

MACARTHUR PARK

Whisper Their Sinful Names

January 18 – March 8, 2024

Sam Hemmenway

Alex Olson instagram.com/alexolson___

Edgar Bryan instagram.com/edgr_b

Love Nguyen instagram.com/translucent_bubble

Shana Lutker shanalutker.com

Nicky Lesser

instagram.com/nickylesser

Chez Max et Dorothea 2228 W 7th St, Los Angeles, CA 90057 chezmaxdorothea.com

SANTA MONICA HOLLYWOOD

Terrestrial Aperture

February 24 - March 31, 2024

J. Bradley Greer bradleygreer.com

Rhett Baruch Gallery 6057 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90038 rhettbaruch.com

goodnakedgallery.com

OCEAN PARK FASHION DISTRICT

Crescent Bay Park

2000 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90405

Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson

Songs About War

February 10 - March 23, 2024

vielmetter.com/artists/joseph-olisaemeka-wilson

Patrick Wilson

Field Sketch

February 10 - March 23, 2024

vielmetter.com/artists/patrick-wilson

Celia Paul

Life Painting

January 13 - March 9, 2024

vielmetter.com/exhibitions/celia-paul-life-painting

January 13 - March 9, 2024

Lavaughan Jenkins

vielmetter.com/artists/lavaughan-jenkins

Raffi Kalenderian

vielmetter.com/artists/raffi-kalenderian

Mario Joyce

vielmetter.com/artists/mario-joyce

Raffi and Al’s Legendary Garden Party

February 27 - April 20, 2024

instagram.com/raffi_and_als

Vielmetter Los Angeles

1700 S Santa Fe Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90021 vielmetter.com

FASHION DISTRICT CENTRAL LOS ANGELES

Melinda Braathen Atmosphere

February 24 - March 30, 2024

baertgallery.com/artists/39-melinda-braathen

Baert Gallery

1923 S Santa Fe Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90021 baertgallery.com

Déjà Vu February 21 - March 30, 2024

Kelli Ryan

Rugiyatou Ylva Jallow instagram.com/rugiyatou

Lewinale Havette instagram.com/lewinale

Abigail Ogilvy Gallery

1923 S Santa Fe Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90021 abigailogilvy.com

CENTRAL LOS ANGELES

Luigi Zuccheri

January 19 - March 16, 2024 karmakarma.org/artists/luigi-zuccheri

Karma, Los Angeles

7351 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90046 karmakarma.org

ART IRAN: Falling into Language January 28 - May 5, 2024

Maryam Palizgir Hadieh Shafie

Craft Contemporary 5814 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036 craftcontemporary.org

Marjorie Norman Schwarz Stills

February 24 - April 6, 2024 gallery1226.com/Marjorie-Norman-Schwarz

12.26 Los Angeles

3305 W Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90018 gallery1226.com

GLASSELL PARK

For Keeps Books LA February 10 - February 24, 2024

CONTIGO

February 10 - March 23, 2024 guerrerogallery.com

Gregory Bojorquez

Justin Favela instagram.com/rugiyatou

Lizette Hernandez instagram.com/lewinale

Guerrero Gallery (GGLA) 3407 Verdugo Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90065 guerrerogallery.com

Aaron Morse

Sea and Land

February 10 - March 9, 2024 philipmartingallery.com/artists/119-aaron-morse

Philip Martin Gallery 3342 Verdugo Rd Ste A, Los Angeles, CA 90065 philipmartingallery.com

March

Los Angeles, CA

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