Kim Abeles: Smog Collectors

Kim Abeles

Smog Collectors, 1987-2020

Kim Abeles makes art about pollution from pollution. Presenting the first in-depth survey of Abeles' Smog Collectors series, the exhibition features over thirty years of her artistic investigations related to the environmental impact caused by airborne particulates.

Divided into five sections, the exhibition explores Abeles’ first iterations documenting the Los Angeles sky beginning in the 1980s in the section of Footprints in the Sky. Mapping and Marking demonstrates how smog operates as a transcriber of moments, including environmental effects from the 1992 LA Riots and recent wildfires. The Human Body works directly link the impact of air pollution on our well-being. In Domestic Spaces, regular household objects are transformed into artifacts marked by the accumulation of particulates while Politics addresses how government and national leaders determine our air quality through policies and politics. This section highlights Abeles’ Presidential Commemorative Smog Plates (1992) and World Leaders in Smog (2019) featuring portraits created by air particulates.

Installation photos by Bruce Clarke.

Artist Talk Tuesday, April 11, 2023, Noon - 1:30PM