839, a new art gallery in Los Angeles, is pleased to announce its inaugural exhibition, a group show comprising eleven artists. The gallery has been co-founded by Liz Hirsch, a writer, historian, and educator and Joshua Smith, an artist. It is situated in the Hollywood media district and is open on Saturdays and by appointment. The gallery program will initially focus on contemporary artists from Los Angeles and New York, working in a range of media. The gallery will represent artists Nichelle Dailey, Olivia Gibian, Andrés Janacua, Kyle Knodell, Natalie Lerner, Joshua Smith, and the estate of Joshua Caleb Weibley.
The gallery’s first summer group show, Summer 24, will feature Abdolreza Aminlari, Nichelle Dailey, Olivia Gibian, Nathan Hauenstein, Andrés Janacua, Kyle Knodell, Natalie Lerner, Lia Lowenthal, Joshua Smith, Keith J. Varadi, and the estate of Joshua Caleb Weibley.
Abdolreza Aminlari (b. 1979, Tehran, Iran) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Aminlari completed the AICAD/New York Studio Residency Program in 2001 and received his BFA from the College for Creative Studies, Detroit, in 2002. Aminlari has had solo exhibitions at Situations Gallery (New York), Andrew Rafacz Gallery (Chicago, Illinois), O Gallery (Tehran, Iran), Longhouse Projects (New York), and Taymour Grahne Gallery (New York). Recent group exhibitions include Van Doren Waxter, (New York), Hunterdon Art Museum (Clinton, New Jersey), Tyler Parks Presents (Los Angeles), Golestani Gallery (Düsseldorf, Germany), Kristen Lorello Gallery (New York), Foley Gallery (New York), and Abrons Art Center (New York). Aminlari's work has received reviews in The Wall Street Journal, ARTnews, BBC Persian, and Art Asia Pacific. He recently created an artist project with Dieu Donné and was invited as Artist in Residence at West Elm concentrating on ceramics. His work is included in numerous private and public collections.
Nichelle Dailey (b. 1983, Hayward, California) is a photographer based in Los Angeles. She grew up in Maryland and spent twenty years in New York. Her work has been featured in publications such as the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Cultured Magazine, and Office Magazine. With a Bachelor of Arts in Photography and a Minor in Creative Writing from Hunter College, New York, Dailey blends her visual and literary skills, crafting compelling stories that celebrate diversity, individuality, and the tapestry of urban life. Her portfolio showcases a diverse range of subjects, reflecting her ability to immerse herself in various subcultures and document their unique perspectives.
Olivia Gibian (b. 1988, Selma, Alabama) is an artist living in Los Angeles. She received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2011 in painting and printmaking. Olivia maintains an at-home studio, where she finds herself exploring the boundaries between artistic practice and her domestic life. In addition to her primary focus on painting, she enjoys making clothing, ceramics, and textile objects for the home. She also works as a floral designer.
Nathan Hauenstein (b. 1985, Columbus, Ohio) is an artist living between Columbus, Ohio and New York City working with painting, technology, and music. He is interested in the phenomena of spiritual experience, both personal and collective. He was a 2019 resident at Mount Lebanon Shaker Museum Residency and a 2024 resident of the MADE residency in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. He graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2009.
Andrés Janacua (b. 1982, possibly Los Angeles). P’Urhépecha. Received a BFA from the University of Southern California, M.F.A. from Claremont Graduate University. He was an artist in residence at MFAH CORE (Houston), Queens Museum (New York), SOMA (Mexico City), and more. He has exhibited at Elephant Art Space (Los Angeles), CSUN Art Galleries (Northridge, CA), Shelter in Place (Boston, MA), Vitrine (Albuquerque, NM), and Commonwealth and Council (Los Angeles). He currently resides in Los Angeles, and works at times in Chilchota, Michoacan.
Kyle Knodell (b. 1984, Indianapolis) is a fine art and commercial photographer living in New York and Berlin, Germany. Photographing both personal and public spaces, his work is a search for an alignment of light, form, and feeling within his surroundings. He seeks to capture the often-overlooked everyday objects that populate our built and natural environments, imbuing them with a sense of reverence and beauty. He has exhibited in various group shows in New York and has had a solo show at the Public Gallery in Stockholm, Sweden. He received a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 2008.
Natalie Lerner (b. 1992, Sarasota, Florida) lives and works in Brooklyn. Lerner received her BFA from Ringling College of Art & Design in 2014. She has attended the AICAD/NY Independent Study Program, and the Orein Arts Residency in late Summer of 2023. She has exhibited in the United States and abroad, including Feinkunst Krüger (Hamburg, Germany), Picture Theory Gallery (New York), Underdonk (Brooklyn), Stockton University (Galloway, New Jersey), Camayuhs (Atlanta, Georgia), Left Field Gallery (Los Osos, California), Underground Flower X PeePee Gallery (Fremantle, Australia), Geoffrey Young Gallery (Great Barrington, Massachusetts).
Lia Lowenthal (b. 1984, New York City) is an interdisciplinary artist and designer based in New York City. She received her MFA at the Milton Avery Graduate School for the Arts at Bard College in 2014, and her BA in Fine Art at UCLA in 2006. She has held solo exhibitions at Richard Telles Fine Art (Los Angeles) and 321 Gallery (Brooklyn), and has exhibited at Socrates Sculpture Park (New York), Night Gallery (Los Angeles), Swiss Institute (New York), and Art in General (New York). Lowenthal is also founder of LL, LLC, a conceptually-driven jewelry line, which is carried by retailers nationwide. Her work has been featured in Vogue, The New Yorker, The New York Times, i-D, The Face, AnOther Magazine, WWD, and many others.
Joshua Smith (b. 1983, Houston) is an artist based in Los Angeles. He attended the AICAD New York Studio Program in 2004 and received a BFA from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan in 2005. He has had solo exhibitions at Albert Baronian (Brussels), Essex Flowers, SOUTHFIRST, Shoot the Lobster, PACS Gallery, West Street Gallery, Art Production Fund, Artists Space, and John Connelly Presents (all New York). His work has been exhibited in group exhibitions at MoMA PS1 (New York) and White Flag Projects (St. Louis) and it has been written about in ARTnews, Artforum, Interview, New York Magazine, and The New York Times. He co-founded the itinerant exhibition series Apartment Show in 2009, and was a co-founder of the artist-run gallery Essex Flowers in New York’s Lower East Side.
Keith J. Varadi (b. 1985, Pittsburgh) is an artist, curator, poet, and researcher. He earned his BFA from Rutgers University and his MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. His work has been exhibited at Galerie Tobias Naehring (Leipzig, Germany), Et al. (San Francisco); Cooper Cole (Toronto); Night Gallery (Los Angeles), and Smart Objects (Los Angeles). Varadi has curated exhibitions and organized events at such venues as Local 1 (Mexico City), Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles), Art Los Angeles Contemporary (Santa Monica), and St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store (Minneapolis). He has additionally performed at Human Resources (Los Angeles), The Getty Center (Los Angeles); Adams and Ollman (Portland, Oregon); Poetic Research Bureau (Los Angeles), Simone Subal (New York), James Fuentes (New York), and the Gershwin Hotel Theater (New York). Varadi was a resident at the Edward F. Albee Foundation in 2011. He’s also been a researcher for the long-running television game show, “Jeopardy!” since 2017 and has worked for multiple intelligence and investigation firms, mostly focusing on due diligence reports. The artist also recently founded an art gallery, Gene’s Dispensary, in a medical office building near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles.
The estate of Joshua Caleb Weibley was established in 1986 in Peabody, Massachusetts. Citing insurmountable economic, political, and personal factors, active production of artworks by its founder and executor formally ceased in 2024. Having shifted its mission solely to stewardship, the estate has authorized 839 Gallery to exhibit select bodies of work. The executor holds a 2009 fine arts degree from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Work from the estate has been presented by numerous venues including: The University of Connecticut, Stamford; Veronica, Seattle; TRANSFER, Brooklyn; Resort Gallery, Baltimore; The Ace Hotel, Chicago; King’s Leap, Brooklyn; Klaus von Nichtssagend, New York; Miyako Yoshinaga, New York; Vox Populi, Philadelphia; and Artists Space, New York. The estate’s holdings have been covered in various publications including Makezine, The New York Times, Vice, The Stranger, and Gothamist.