The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery presents
Open Call: Apophenia
December 9, 2023 to March 16, 2024
Opening reception on Saturday, December 9, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Los Angeles, CA - The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (LAMAG), a facility of
the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) is pleased to present
Open Call: Apophenia. In celebration of the gallery’s 70th year anniversary,
LAMAG revisits its popular open call format, an exhibition featuring 350 artists
living and/or working in Southern California. Founded as the All City Outdoor
Festival in 1950 and dispersed throughout nine LA city parks, the recurring
program evolved into Open Call, a non-juried opportunity for youth, students,
professional, and non-professional artists to present their artwork side by side at
LAMAG. This year, in lieu of a cash prize and honorable mentions, LAMAG will invite
between two to four artists to develop an exhibition in the gallery’s project space.
The selection will be made by newly appointed LAMAG Curators Nancy Meyer and
Hugo Cervantes.
This year’s Open Call, subtitled Apophenia (the tendency to perceive a connection
or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things, such as objects or
ideas) is derived from an artwork included in the exhibition. The curatorial
approach speaks to the show’s ethos of creating connections among artists and
practices that celebrate the differences across Southern California. Organized by
theme, medium, and color, Open Call: Apophenia generates a conversation
mediated by artistic differences to create points of connection. Open Call:
Apophenia includes painting, photography, works on paper, and sculpture made by
artists living within Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino,
San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.
Open Call: Apophenia is curated by Nancy Meyer and Hugo Cervantes.