Artist Talk: James Richards in conversation with Shana Nys Dambrot

Through James Richards’ use of materials—rope, yarn, paper, paint, wood—the abstract paintings take on qualities akin to instructive dioramas, enabling the viewer to understand and imagine concepts that oscillate from the tremendous to the quantum. An influential artist in the Los Angeles contemporary landscape, Richards has consistently exhibited his work in Southern California, New York, and Texas since graduating from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA, with an MFA in 1991. His exhibitions have received praise and notoriety from critics such as David Pagel, Christopher Knight, and Ken Johnson in publications including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Flash Art, and Art in America. Pagel has described James Richards’ works as “among the most exciting abstractions being made today.”

Shana Nys Dambrot is an art critic, curator, and author based in Downtown LA. Formerly the Arts Editor at the L.A. Weekly, she is the co-founder of 13ThingsLA, and a contributor to the Village Voice, Flaunt, Artillery, WhiteHot, Alta Journal, and other culture publications. She studied Art History at Vassar College, curates and juries exhibitions, writes prolifically for catalogs and monographic publications, and speaks at galleries, schools, and cultural institutions nationally. She is the recipient of the Rabkin Prize for Art Criticism, the Mozaik Art Writers Prize, and the LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Critic of the Year award. Her oneiric novella Zen Psychosis (Griffith Moon) was published in 2020.