“On Boxing” at Blum & Poe

At Blum & Poe, co-owner Jeff Poe has curated a new group show called “On Boxing,” inspired by his childhood experiences of watching boxing matches with his father. The exhibition is anchored by two polished obsidian works by Anya Gallaccio that hang facing each other, flanked by two red tapestry works by Anna Betbeze on the far end of the gallery—perhaps a slightly obvious stand-in for two boxing gloves facing off, red robes for each fighter. 

“If you look long enough patterns emerge… Action can happen anywhere within that ground. You see how every boxer has a different way of dancing jabbing cutting striking,” Poe said in statement about the show. 

From there, the exhibition explodes into an array of colorful paintings and ceramics, each work its own abstract universe, each artist practiced in their own brand of mark-making. Patterns emerge. Lauren Quin’s layered and abstract paintings create a frenetic field of motion, while Andrea Marie Breiling opts for hazy auras made by sprayed color. Mohamedi’s work makes a great inclusion here as well, and Brian Rochefort’s dynamic ceramic sculptures delight in patterns and textures that are sensuously overlapping. Each artist certainly relishes in their own mode of jabbing and striking.

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Photo: Anna Betbeze, Andrea Marie Breiling, Anya Gallaccio, Maysha Mohamedi, Lauren Quin, Brian Rochefort, “On Boxing,” Installation view, 2021, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles. Courtesy of the artists, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles/New York/Tokyo. Photo by Heather Rasmussen.