Dates: Feb. 22 to March 22, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, Feb. 22, 6 to 8 pm
During Los Angeles Art Week, Also Find CalArts at Felix Art Fair and ANTI-FRIEZE LA
Valencia, CA (Feb. 18, 2025) — California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is pleased to present Work From Home: A CalArts Post-Grad Exhibition, opening Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, at The Reef building and creative hub in downtown Los Angeles.
On view through March 22, the exhibition brings together the work of two dozen 2024 graduates of the CalArts MFA programs in Art, Art and Technology, and Photography and Media. Featuring painting, sculpture, installation, video, and other media, Work From Home was curated by Los Angeles-based independent curator Andrew McNeely, who conducted studio visits with artists in the fall of 2024.
The title, Work From Home, plays on a phrase now so saturated into everyday life, that it might as well signal society’s entrance into an age of permanent volatility. While the transition into post-graduate life is challenging in its own right, this cohort has succeeded in sustaining practices not only amid historic political upheaval but also at a time when expressions like “shelter-in-place” and “evacuation orders” increasingly feel like part of life’s minutiae. Work from Home, then, does not just name something quite literal about the works on view; it likewise underscores the extraordinary circumstances under which the show as a whole came into being. Like temporal markers, the works record the creativity of Los Angeles at a historic flash point.
Jennifer Van, In Passing, 2024. Archival print, 14 x 21 in.
The annual CalArts postgrad show is intended to provide context and visibility for recent graduates, as well as an opportunity to connect and to share their work with the larger Los Angeles art community. Previous iterations of the exhibition have been organized by Malik Gaines, Meghan Gordon, Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer, Audrey Min, Catherine Taft, and Aurora Tang, among other notable curators.
This is the first CalArts postgrad show to take place in CalArts’ residency space at The Reef. CalArts’ presence within the building aims to give newly graduated alumni a wider context in which to share their work and build community.
Performances will be held in the space during the run of the exhibition, including Tender as in Beautiful by Sarah May Taylor (date to be announced). A curatorial walkthrough will be held with McNeely on Saturday, March 8. The exhibition will be open to the public Thursday through Saturday from 12 to 6 pm and by appointment.
An opening reception will be held from 6 to 8 pm on Saturday, Feb. 22 at the CalArts Reef Residency Space at 1933 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, Calif. 90007 (Floor 12, Ste. 1222). Tickets are free, guests are just asked to RSVP.
An after-party will be held at Cevera Yoon Gallery at 672 S Lafayette Park Place, Los Angeles, CA 90057.
Zoe Congyu Liu, Palace, 2023. Inkjet print, silk, scroll, 36 x 68 in.
Work From Home coincides with Los Angeles Art Week 2025, which takes place Feb. 19 to 23 and comprises the LA Art Show, Felix LA, Frieze Week Los Angeles, The Other Art Fair, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, and events all across the region.
As part of the week, CalArts will also host ANTI-FRIEZE LA in the CalArts Reef Residency Space on Feb. 21 and 22. The performance art festival showcases five original happenings of emerging, local artists working in performance, presented in collaboration with the CalArts Reef Residency. It will feature work by the current Reef residents and CalArts alumni Amy Chiao, Genevieve Fowler, Nicholas Ginsburg, Robert Kelley, and Taylor Donofrio.
Also from Feb. 19 to 23, CalArts will host a booth at the Felix Art Fair at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The space showcases work from 50+50: A Creative Century from Chouinard to CalArts, an unprecedented alumni- and artist-led scholarship endowment initiative launched to commemorate the 50th anniversary of CalArts and the 100th anniversary of one of its preceding institutions, the Chouinard Art Institute. Providing an unparalleled opportunity for art enthusiasts to connect with work borne out of CalArts’ vibrant community, featured artists at Felix include Larry Bell, Andrea Bowers, Anne Collier, Laddie John Dill, Joe Goode, Lauren Halsey, Barbara T. Smith, James Welling, and B. Wurtz.