Los Angeles Times Lists Martha Alf exhibition in Top 10 Weekly Countdown

Photo: Karl Puchlik / Estate of Martha Alf and Michael Kohn Gallery

From L.A. Times Weekly Countdown June 28, 2023:

On Friday, I visited Michael Kohn Gallery in Hollywood to see Martha Alf: Opposites and Contradictions. The retrospective exhibition is the gallery’s inaugural show with the Estate of Martha Alf. The California native died in 2019, leaving behind a variety of still lifes and minimalist paintings. She is known for her series of “Cylinder Paintings” depicting rolls of toilet paper, which was featured in the Whitney Museum of American Art’s 1975 Biennial. The Kohn Gallery exhibition is sparse but provides a taste of the progression of Alf’s work. What especially stood out to me during my visit was the wall of pear paintings. The works were beautifully comical. The still lifes anthropomorphized the fruit, putting them in picture-perfect situations, like two pears watching the sunset.

The free exhibition is open until Aug. 5 and the gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.