New Landscapes: Kim Abeles

MOCA members at the Curators Circle level and above are invited to a conversation between artist Kim Abeles and MOCA Associate Curator Rebecca Lowery at the Stoneview Nature Center in Culver City.

The program will begin with a viewing of two works from Abeles’s outdoor public art project Citizen Seeds, a grouping of six mixed media sculptures that each portray a plant native to Southern California: sugar pine, California black oak, coast live oak, bladderpod, black walnut, and manzanita. Afterwards, Abeles will share a selection of her Smog Collectors, an ongoing series of artworks she creates by capturing the particulates in air pollution. Joined in conversation with Lowery, the pair will discuss Abeles’s practice, focusing primarily on projects that underscore her sustained commitment to environmental justice.

An invitation with event details will be emailed to members at the Curators Circle level ($1,500) and above. Memberships can be purchased or renewed online. If you would like to upgrade an existing membership, please contact the Membership Department at membership@moca.org.

About Kim Abeles
Kim Abeles explores society, science literacy, feminism, and the environment, creating projects with science and natural history museums, health departments, air pollution control agencies, and National Park Service. NEA-funded projects involved a residency at the Institute of Forest Genetics; and Valises for Camp Ground in collaboration with Camp 13, a group of female prison inmates who fight wildfires. Permanent outdoor works include sculptural Citizen Seeds along the Park to Playa Trail in Los Angeles, and Walk a Mile in My Shoes, based on the shoes of the Civil Rights marchers and local activists.

Abeles has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust Fund, and her process documents are archived at the Center for Art + Environment. Her work is in public collections including Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California African American Museum, Berkeley Art Museum, and National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. Kim Abeles: Smog Collectors, 1987-2020 is a survey exhibition of the environmental series, presented at CSU Fullerton (2022) and CSU Sacramento (2023). Recent publications about her projects include The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the book, Social Practice: Technologies for Change, Routledge Press (2022).

About New Landscapes
New Landscapes is a series of member events that underscores the work of artists, activists, and scholars committed to pressing ecological issues in Los Angeles and around the globe. Exploring varied responses to climate, conservation, and environmental justice, New Landscapes is guided by the mission of MOCA’s Environmental Council, the first sustainability council at a major arts museum in the United States. Recent programs in this series include off-site exhibition walkthroughs with artists Beatriz Cortez and Carl Cheng, tours of Metabolic Studio and The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, a conversation with artist Mercedes Dorame, and hands-on workshops with Mujeres de Maiz and Sustainable Little Tokyo.