Adams and Ollman
The Pit, Los Angeles
September 8–October 19, 2019

Adams and Ollman is pleased to present a group exhibition as part of “The Pit Presents” series. The exhibition will include paintings by Katherine Bradford, Ryan McLaughlin, and Todd Norsten as well as works on paper by James Castle and ceramic sculptures by Dino Matt and Jeffry Mitchell. The exhibition will open with a reception on September 8 and remain on view at The Pit in Los Angeles through October 19.

The figures in Katherine Bradford’s paintings emerge from and are informed by their surroundings—a body of water, the night sky, or a field of color populated with abstract shapes and forms. Against this undefined vastness that Bradford so skillfully creates, the artist’s subjects assert themselves as places of imagination or introspection, as well as sites to consider politics, sexuality, and sometimes very simply, the nature of paint. Deftly employing color and form, Bradford offers the viewer bits of information—pieces of narrative, subjects, and feelings—to reorder and rework in order to create new meanings.

Jeffry Mitchell’s ceramic works reflect upon tensions between surface and depth, figuration and abstraction, legibility and opacity. Enveloped by milky or golden glazes, his masterful stoneware sculptures are heavily blanketed and concealed with flowers, figures, and various flourishes that overwhelm and overtake the structure. Familiar patterns and images camouflage and obscure codified details such as fingers, holes, and bits of language as they build meaning that is personal, contradictory, and subversive.

Ryan McLaughlin paints and stencils fragments of letters, words, and symbols onto his canvases, often referencing found text from advertisements or signs. Toggling between subjective gestures and common signifiers with more fixed meanings, McLaughlin’s disparate and decontextualized marks combine in a space that allows for multiple readings and understandings.

A self-taught artist, James Castle created an extraordinary body of work that includes drawings of landscapes and interiors and three-dimensional constructions, along with drawn systems of invented language, signs, and symbols, three examples of which will be on view in the exhibition.

Continuing an exploration of language, Todd Norsten transforms vernacular images—from billboards, hand-lettered signs, and bathroom graffiti—into meditations on the universal impulse to make art. Removed from their original contexts, snippets of words, shapes, and colors are transformed into surprising, poetic, and sometimes absurd configurations.

Dino Matt creates hand-built ceramic sculptures, each a congregation of hundreds of gestures or fragments of stoneware. While the sculptures have an archaeological aesthetic, as if pieced together from excavated pottery shards, the works are also reminiscent of brushwork in an abstract painting or assemblage, where tangled parts resolve into an expressionist composition.

The Pit Presents hosts galleries from other cities in a series of residencies and gallery exchanges that coincide with The Pit's exhibition schedule. These exhibitions give galleries from other cities exposure in Los Angeles and build community with artists and galleries beyond the region.

installation view: Adams and Ollman at The Pit, Los Angeles


installation view: Adams and Ollman at The Pit, Los Angeles


iinstallation view: Adams and Ollman at The Pit, Los Angeles


installation view: Adams and Ollman at The Pit, Los Angeles


installation view: Adams and Ollman at The Pit, Los Angeles


Ryan McLaughlin
Untitled, 2017
oil on linen on MDF
43 x 28 inches
RM17008


Jeffry Mitchell
The Good Luck Moon Jar, 2019
glazed ceramic
16 1/2 x 18 3/4 x 18 3/4 inches
JeM1908-407


Jeffry Mitchell
The Good Luck Moon Jar, 2019
glazed ceramic
16 1/2 x 18 3/4 x 18 3/4 inches
JeM1908-407


Jeffry Mitchell
Iván Iván Iván, 2019
glazed ceramic
17 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 22 inches
JeM1908-406


Jeffry Mitchell
Iván Iván Iván, 2019
glazed ceramic
17 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 22 inches
JeM1908-406


Jeffry Mitchell
Elefant Candle Stick, 2019
glazed ceramic
12 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 14 inches
JeM1908-405


Jeffry Mitchell
Elefant Candle Stick, 2019
glazed ceramic
12 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 14 inches
JeM1908-405


Katherine Bradford
Swimmer Racer, 2018
acrylic on canvas
60 x 48 inches
KBrad 124


Katherine Bradford
Double Bed Blue, 2019
acrylic on canvas
20 x 16 inches
KBrad 126


Dino Matt
Untitled, 2019
glazed stoneware
11 x 4 inches
DMatt 201906


Dino Matt
Untitled, 2019
glazed stoneware
11 1/4 x 6 inches
DMatt 201907


Todd Norsten
The End Will Be Just Like The Beginning, 2019
oil on canvas
20 x 16 inches
TN201901


Todd Norsten
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY, 2019
oil on canvas
20 x 16 inches
TN201902


Todd Norsten
Arrows, 2018
oil on canvas
20 x 16 inches
TN201904


James Castle
Untitled (Cyrillic inspired letterforms and dollar signs), n.d.
soot and spit on found paper
4 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches
JCas 624


James Castle
Untitled (Text and Symbols), n.d.
soot and saliva on found paper
7 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches
JCas 688