The Art We Needed 2021 — Couch in the Desert

By Lyn Hinojosa

Happy new year! At the end of last year we invited artists to share the art that had inspired them in 2021. We asked, what art exhibitions, projects, artworks, or artists were especially meaningful to you this past year? and shared the collection of chosen artworks to our instagram page . Thank you to the artists who participated!

We received so many great submissions! Here is a selection of “The Art We Needed 2021.” Please head over to @settlersandnomads to take a look at the full series.

*Sal Salandra* paintings exhibited in East Hampton Tow

Shared by Nishan Ganimian— “Hadley Vogel and Abby Lloyd are the artists behind East Hampton Shed & Tow, an art gallery that began in the backyard of Vogel's childhood home in 2012. In 2020, the art gallery hit the road, infiltrating East Hampton society starting with a solo exhibition of Sal Salandra's erotic needlepoint paintings.”

Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, *Portone* at Golwell Open Air Museum, 2021

Shared by Hikmet Loe— “Framing the expansive landscape of western Nevada through a light footprint. I love every aspect of this work, from its basis in neuroscience to the way it invites viewers to be in the landscape. I can't wait to go back and spend more time with this work.”

*The Obama Portraits and The Black American Portraits* Exhibition at LACMA

Shared by Bertha Gutierrez— “I took a solo trip to Los Angeles to see The Obama Portraits and Black American Portraits at the LACMA. Double masked and in need of a break, I spent three hours in these two exhibit rooms alone at the LACMA. Several larger than life portraits by Kehinde Wiley in addition to the portrait of President Obama were included in the exhibit. Amy Sherald also had an additional portrait apart from First Lady Michelle Obama's portrait…”

Rosie Lee Tompkins, Retrospective at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Shared by Krystal Ramirez— “Witnessing Rosie Lee Tompkins’s retrospective at BAMPFA can only be described as receiving a loving, warm embrace. Seeing her work being celebrated as contemporary work and not only as a textile craft brought me great joy.”

*Shattered Glass* Exhibition at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, Los Angeles

Shared by Manny Munoz— “Curated by Melahn Frierson and AJ Girard, this exhibition shook me to my core. In the presence of 40 artists of color, you felt seen, heard. You found yourself both at a defining moment in art and at your uncle's cookout and it was amazing. Pictured from left to right, work by: Delfin Finley , Diana Yesenia Alvarado, and Alfonso Gonzalez Jr. ”

Jose Villalobos, *Bien Parado*, Pencil, Wranglers, leather on panel, 2021, Image sourced from artist’s instagram

Shared by Geovany Uranda— “In his show, The Measure of a Cock, Villalobos deconstructs the imagery of cockfighting and machismo and reassembles them into symbols that are unapologetically gay. They also act as reminders of the violence that gay men face in the toxic masculinity of Norteño culture.”

*Estamos Bien- La Trienal* at El Museo del Barrio in New York

Shared by Henry Morales— “Surveying Latinx contemporary art, this exhibition features the works of more than 40 artists from across the United States and Puerto Rico. The artists in the show represent a diversity of generations, genders and ethnic and racial backgrounds”

Shared by Erin K Drew— “Quarles' distended figures bifurcated by sheets of radiating plaid made me horny for shape, color, and pattern. At multiple junctures her inventive acrylic compositions tempted me to grab a guard's arm and insist THESE ARE SO GOOD AREN'T THEY, but I mostly kept it together. The visual vocabulary made Painting (with a capital P) feel wild, surprising and vital.”

All images from the participating artists unless otherwise noted.

Thank you to Lyn Hinojosa for this series! Visit the series here.

Published by Wendy Kveck, January 2022