“Toi Moi Nous”
Simard Bilodeau Contemporary,
Los Angeles Through Aug. 24
A sense of loneliness pervades everyday life in the digital age, which has diverted daily connections to our smartphones. At Simard Bilodeau Contemporary in Los Angeles, six artists, including American painter J. Carino and Vietnamese Canadian artist Tuan Vu, come together to celebrate the intimate, in-person encounters we share with family, romantic partners, and friends. In “Toi Moi Nous,” fleeting moments such as an embrace, a kiss, or eye contact are worth memorializing.
Such moments are captured in splashy color by French artist Anne-Sophie Tschiegg, whose portraits of entwined couples bear the influence of Fauvism, and Emily Wise, whose subjects are pulled together in a pink and purple vortex. In Immersion in the World (2024), Diana Ruban renders an embracing femme couple in vivid cerulean. Elsewhere, contributions from Gabriela Reyna’s “Series El Baño” use the unconventional materials of makeup and makeup wipes to capture the intimacy of shared daily grooming rituals.
