Durden and Ray

Durden and Ray An artist/curator collective creating exhibition opportunities at their downtown Los Angeles gallery and in concert with galleries across the globe.

‘The Shadow Side of Everything Pt 3’The third event in a series of multi-city painting exchangesOpening reception:7-10 p...
08/22/2026

‘The Shadow Side of Everything Pt 3’
The third event in a series of multi-city painting exchanges

Opening reception:
7-10 p.m. Saturday,
August 22, 2026

Run of show:
August 22 - September 12, 2026

Hours: Saturdays, noon-5 p.m.

Closes: September 12, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Durden and Ray is pleased to present the exhibition, The Shadow Side of Everything an expanding series of painting exhibitions fostering exchange between distinct yet
interconnected painting communities, foregrounding practices that navigate the space between material process, perception, and cultural context.

Building on relationships formed through the earlier iterations of this exhibition, Pt 3 deepens the conversation between artists working across Memphis, New York, London, Yorkshire, and now Los Angeles and beyond. Rather than presenting a singular stylistic thesis, this exhibition emphasizes the productive tensions between approaches. The works on view range from gestural abstraction to structurally driven compositions, reflecting a shared interest in painting as an active, evolving language.

Across these varied practices, the exhibition highlights how contemporary painters negotiate influence, geography, and the conditions of making in a globally connected yet locally grounded art world. The exhibition proposes painting as a site of encounter, where differences in sensibility, training, and context do not resolve into uniformity but instead generate new forms of visual and intellectual exchange. At the core of The Shadow Side of Everything, is its role as an evolving, multi-site platform rather than a single, fixed event. The underpinnings of this project are movement, dialogue, and exchange across borders.

Our crack curatorial team of Curtis Stage, Gul Cagin, Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, and Dani Dodge hung Durden and Ray’s “...
08/06/2026

Our crack curatorial team of Curtis Stage, Gul Cagin, Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, and Dani Dodge hung Durden and Ray’s “Red” at Tryst yesterday.
The show features 13 Durden and Ray artists all working in the color that symbolizes intense life forces, raw emotions, and primal warnings.
Artists: Carlos Beltran Arechiga, Curtis Stage, Dani Dodge art, Dylan Richards, Gul Cagin, Hagop Najarian, Ismael de Anda III, Jenny Hager, Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, Stephanie Sherwood, David Leapman, Valerie Wilcox, and Max Presneill.
Cost: free!
When: Aug. 7-9 (Friday 2-6pm; Saturday, 12-6pm; Sunday, 12-6pm)
Where: Del Amo Crossing 21535 Hawthorne Blvd Torrance, Ca, 90503
What: Tryst is an independent, non-commercial, art fair for artist-run spaces and artist collectives.
What else: in the same building is NOMAD, which showcases the art of more than 140 SoCal artists.
The event is sponsored by the TAM Torrance Art Museum.

Come and join us TONIGHT for the opening exhibition ‘What Builds’, a 2026 Durden and Ray Fellows ExhibitionOpening recep...
06/06/2026

Come and join us TONIGHT for the opening exhibition ‘What Builds’, a 2026 Durden and Ray Fellows Exhibition

Opening reception:

TONIGHT June 6, from 7-10 p.m.

Run of show:
June 6 - July 11, 2026

Hours: Saturdays, noon-5 p.m.

Closes: July 11, 2026

Artists: Luis G. Hernandez, Ben Jackel, Brian Thomas Jones, Alanna Marcelletti, Carolyn Mason, Christopher Mercier, Nano Rubio, Jesse Standlea

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Durden and Ray are pleased to present the 2026 Fellows exhibition, What Builds, which centers work from eight emeritus members of the collective, who continue to support this dynamic community. Working across the fluid boundaries of sculpture, painting, and drawing these artists mine both the political and geological strata of Southern California as they layer material and imagery to better unearth how structures around us both foster and frustrate growth.

Throughout the gallery, a tension persists between rigid supporting systems and the unruly, oozing energy of the materials and ideas they attempt to contain. For some, the constructions on which matter hangs seem up for the challenge, relying on a symbiotic relationship of shared goals and bottom-up support while in others, it’s a matter of time before gravity’s endless pull reduces the tower to a pile. There is strength in numbers, not because of simple arithmetic but because accumulation creates weight and energy, compacting many into one, forming strong foundations on which we can build a more liberated, manifold future.

Durden and Ray Fellows are respected former members of our collective who continue to be affiliated with us, and work to keep our collective strong.

Come and join us this Saturday for the opening exhibition ‘What Builds’, a 2026 Durden and Ray Fellows ExhibitionOpening...
06/01/2026

Come and join us this Saturday for the opening exhibition ‘What Builds’, a 2026 Durden and Ray Fellows Exhibition

Opening reception:
7-10 p.m. Saturday,
June 6, 2026

Run of show:
June 6 - July 11, 2026

Hours: Saturdays, noon-5 p.m.

Closes: July 11, 2026

@
Artists: Luis G. Hernandez, Ben Jackel, Brian Thomas Jones, Alanna Marcelletti, Carolyn Mason, Christopher Mercier, Nano Rubio, Jesse Standlea

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Durden and Ray are pleased to present the 2026 Fellows exhibition, What Builds, which centers work from eight emeritus members of the collective, who continue to support this dynamic community. Working across the fluid boundaries of sculpture, painting, and drawing these artists mine both the political and geological strata of Southern California as they layer material and imagery to better unearth how structures around us both foster and frustrate growth.

Throughout the gallery, a tension persists between rigid supporting systems and the unruly, oozing energy of the materials and ideas they attempt to contain. For some, the constructions on which matter hangs seem up for the challenge, relying on a symbiotic relationship of shared goals and bottom-up support while in others, it’s a matter of time before gravity’s endless pull reduces the tower to a pile. There is strength in numbers, not because of simple arithmetic but because accumulation creates weight and energy, compacting many into one, forming strong foundations on which we can build a more liberated, manifold future.

Durden and Ray Fellows are respected former members of our collective who continue to be affiliated with us, and work to keep our collective strong.

Come to tonight’s event for the closing of ‘Unstable Tongues’ exhibition.‘Unstable Tongues’The Instability of LanguageCl...
05/23/2026

Come to tonight’s event for the closing of ‘Unstable Tongues’ exhibition.

‘Unstable Tongues’
The Instability of Language

Closing reception is tonight from
5-8 p.m.
Saturday, May 23, 2026

Flower Arrangement, an art band—is playing at 6!!!

‘Unstable Tongues’ curated by Dena Novak, Jenny Hager and Valerie Wilcox
Artists: Nick Aguayo, Flower Arrangement, Xixi Edelsbrunner, Jenny Hager, Michael Harnish, Benjamin Heiken, Agnes Hong, David Lloyd, Sarah Mehrinfar, Dena Novak, Max Presneil, and Levon Riggins

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —
Durden and Ray are pleased to present Unstable Tongues: The Instability of Language. This exhibition examines abstraction as a living linguistic system, one that fractures, reformulates, and resists clarity. The exhibition brings together artists who use gesture, surface, and structure as communicative tools, exploring how meaning emerges from instability rather than coherence.
Grounded in Jacques Derrida’s concept of différance, the exhibition approaches language as a perpetual act of deferral. Never fixed, always in motion. Roland Barthes’ The Pleasure of the Text and Jorge Luis Borges’ The Library of Babel further frame this instability as fertile terrain for visual and emotional meaning. The works in Unstable Tongues do not illustrate theory; they perform it. Through layering, erasure, and transformation, they articulate the limits of language and reveal the material body as a site of communication.

The exhibition proposes that abstraction is not silence but a language of its own: physical, fragmented, and sensorial. Meaning here is built through gesture, through repetition, and through the pleasure of disintegration.

Opening pictures from the wonderful ‘Unstable Tongues’ exhibition.‘Unstable Tongues’The Instability of LanguageOpening r...
05/04/2026

Opening pictures from the wonderful ‘Unstable Tongues’ exhibition.

‘Unstable Tongues’
The Instability of Language

Opening reception:
7-10 p.m. Saturday,
May 2, 2026

Run of show:
May 2 – 23, 2026

Hours: Saturdays, noon-5 p.m.

Closes: May 23, 2026

Curated by Dena Novak, Jenny Hager and Valerie Wilcox
Artists: Nick Aguayo, Flower Arrangement, Xixi Edelsbrunner, Jenny Hager, Michael Harnish, Benjamin Heiken, Agnes Hong, David Lloyd, Sarah Mehrinfar, Dena Novak, Max Presneil, and Levon Riggins

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —
Durden and Ray are pleased to present Unstable Tongues: The Instability of Language. This exhibition examines abstraction as a living linguistic system, one that fractures, reformulates, and resists clarity. The exhibition brings together artists who use gesture, surface, and structure as communicative tools, exploring how meaning emerges from instability rather than coherence.
Grounded in Jacques Derrida’s concept of différance, the exhibition approaches language as a perpetual act of deferral. Never fixed, always in motion. Roland Barthes’ The Pleasure of the Text and Jorge Luis Borges’ The Library of Babel further frame this instability as fertile terrain for visual and emotional meaning. The works in Unstable Tongues do not illustrate theory; they perform it. Through layering, erasure, and transformation, they articulate the limits of language and reveal the material body as a site of communication.

The exhibition proposes that abstraction is not silence but a language of its own: physical, fragmented, and sensorial. Meaning here is built through gesture, through repetition, and through the pleasure of disintegration.

‘Unstable Tongues’The Instability of LanguageOpening reception:7-10 p.m. Saturday,May 2, 2026Run of show: May 2 – 23, 20...
04/30/2026

‘Unstable Tongues’
The Instability of Language

Opening reception:
7-10 p.m. Saturday,
May 2, 2026

Run of show:
May 2 – 23, 2026

Hours: Saturdays, noon-5 p.m.

Closes: May 23, 2026

Curated by Dena Novak, Jenny Hager and Valerie Wilcox
Artists: Nick Aguayo, Flower Arrangement, Xixi Edelsbrunner, Jenny Hager, Michael Harnish, Benjamin Heiken, Agnes Hong, David Lloyd, Sarah Mehrinfar, Dena Novak, Max Presneil, and Levon Riggins

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —
Durden and Ray are pleased to present Unstable Tongues: The Instability of Language. This exhibition examines abstraction as a living linguistic system, one that fractures, reformulates, and resists clarity. The exhibition brings together artists who use gesture, surface, and structure as communicative tools, exploring how meaning emerges from instability rather than coherence.
Grounded in Jacques Derrida’s concept of différance, the exhibition approaches language as a perpetual act of deferral. Never fixed, always in motion. Roland Barthes’ The Pleasure of the Text and Jorge Luis Borges’ The Library of Babel further frame this instability as fertile terrain for visual and emotional meaning. The works in Unstable Tongues do not illustrate theory; they perform it. Through layering, erasure, and transformation, they articulate the limits of language and reveal the material body as a site of communication.

The exhibition proposes that abstraction is not silence but a language of its own: physical, fragmented, and sensorial. Meaning here is built through gesture, through repetition, and through the pleasure of disintegration.

Installation views from the forthcoming exhibition.‘Unstable Tongues’The Instability of LanguageOpening reception:7-10 p...
04/28/2026

Installation views from the forthcoming exhibition.

‘Unstable Tongues’
The Instability of Language

Opening reception:
7-10 p.m. Saturday,
May 2, 2026

Run of show:
May 2 – 23, 2026

Hours: Saturdays, noon-5 p.m.

Closes: May 23, 2026

Curated by Dena Novak, Jenny Hager and Valerie Wilcox
Artists: Nick Aguayo, Flower Arrangement, Xixi Edelsbrunner, Jenny Hager, Michael Harnish, Benjamin Heiken, Agnes Hong, David Lloyd, Sarah Mehrinfar, Dena Novak, Max Presneil, and Levon Riggins

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —
Durden and Ray are pleased to present Unstable Tongues: The Instability of Language. This exhibition examines abstraction as a living linguistic system, one that fractures, reformulates, and resists clarity. The exhibition brings together artists who use gesture, surface, and structure as communicative tools, exploring how meaning emerges from instability rather than coherence.
Grounded in Jacques Derrida’s concept of différance, the exhibition approaches language as a perpetual act of deferral. Never fixed, always in motion. Roland Barthes’ The Pleasure of the Text and Jorge Luis Borges’ The Library of Babel further frame this instability as fertile terrain for visual and emotional meaning. The works in Unstable Tongues do not illustrate theory; they perform it. Through layering, erasure, and transformation, they articulate the limits of language and reveal the material body as a site of communication.

The exhibition proposes that abstraction is not silence but a language of its own: physical, fragmented, and sensorial. Meaning here is built through gesture, through repetition, and through the pleasure of disintegration.

PLEASE JOIN US THIS EVENING, 7–10 PM,FOR THE CLOSING OFUNSEATED: THE CHAIR AS METAPHORCOME BY, CONNECT, AND SHARE A FINA...
04/18/2026

PLEASE JOIN US THIS EVENING, 7–10 PM,
FOR THE CLOSING OF
UNSEATED: THE CHAIR AS METAPHOR
COME BY, CONNECT, AND SHARE A FINAL MOMENT WITH THE WORK.

Closes: April 18, 2026

Run of show:
March 21 - April 18, 2026

Curated by Atilio Pernisco
Artists: Marinés Adrianza, Fiona Baler & Pablo Baler, ​Mariano Cinat, Gioj De Marco, Meghan DeRoma, Stanley Edmondson, Regina Herod, Pablo Holocwan, Carmine Iannaccone, Ben Jackel, Raghubir Kintisch, Keith Lord, Eva Malhotra, Krishna Rajendra Malhotra, Barry Markowitz, Carolie Parker, Arnie Saiki, Diane Silver, Ruth Trotter, HK Zamani

Durden and Ray presents UNSEATED: The Chair as a Metaphor which explores the web of symbols generated by one of our most familiar objects: the chair. This exhibit invites the visitor to engage with the chair not merely as a piece of furniture, but as a metaphor at the center of human experience. Inspired by works such as Joseph Kosuth's One and Three Chairs, this exhibition examines how language, representation, and embodied interactions converge to imbue this ubiquitous object with unexpected meanings.

UNSEATED features 20 contemporary artists working in various media: sculpture, installation, photography, and painting, selected for their innovative approaches to the theme while ensuring a cohesive yet diverse exploration. Included are unique reinterpretations of a physical and emotional relationship with space, isolation and connection, instability, balance, fragility, and transformation.

By positioning the chair as a lens through which these skeins of narratives are explored, UNSEATED invites you to consider broader socio-political, cultural, and historical contexts that bring to the fore personal and collective questions of identity, power, and belonging.

Address

1206 Maple Avenue #832
Los Angeles, CA
90015

Opening Hours

12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+13108044647

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