Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery Ft. Nancy Meyer

In this episode, Fenix visits Heavy Metal at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, a landmark public gallery located in Barnsdall Art Park and operated by the City of Los Angeles through the Department of Cultural Affairs. Unlike commercial galleries that primarily focus on selling artwork, the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery serves the public by presenting thought-provoking exhibitions, supporting artists, and making contemporary art accessible to communities across the city. 

Curated by Nancy Meyer, brings together artists whose work challenges traditional ideas of sculpture, monumentality, memory, and our relationship to the natural world, inviting visitors to experience art as a space for reflection, dialogue, and discovery. If you've ever wondered what happens behind the scenes of an exhibition or how public art spaces help shape the cultural life of our city, this conversation is for you.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hello and welcome to the Members Pass Podcast. I am your host, Phoenix LEX. On this episode, we're visiting heavy metal at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, a landmark public gallery located at Barnesdale Art Park and operated by the City of Los Angeles to the Department of Culture Affairs. Unlike commercial galleries that primarily focus on selling artworks, the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery serves the public by supporting artists and making contemporary art accessible to the communities across Los Angeles. This exhibition, curated by Nancy Mayer, brings together artists whose work challenges traditional ideas of sculpture, monumentality, memory, and our relationship to the natural world. Inviting visitors to experience art as a space of reflection, dialogue, and discovery. My conversation with Nancy today goes beyond the artwork. My goal here is to better understand her work as a curator. What it takes to build an exhibition, develop a curatorial vision, and create meaningful dialogue. So if you're like me and ever wonder what goes on, this episode's for you. Let's go ahead and jump right into it. Go ahead and introduce yourself and talk to us a little bit about your work.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

Sure. My name is Nancy Meyer, and I'm one of the curators here at the LA Municipal Art Gallery.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Nancy, this is a pretty special place. Talk to us a little bit about, you know, what makes this gallery different from the rest of the galleries we may be we may see in different neighborhoods.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Yeah, this is a very special place. I was really excited when I, you know, was offered the opportunity to start working here and to curate exhibitions for, like you mentioned, a community around us uh up here on the hill. Um, you know, we're located in East Hollywood at Barnesdall Art Park, and uh we're you know neighbors with Hollyhawk House and the Junior Art Center, the Barnsdall Art Center, and so there's a lot of history up on this hill. Um, it was given over to the city in the early mid-1920s solely for the purpose of exhibiting art uh up here in the hill. And I, fun fact, I was born at Kaiser next door, so it brings me back too to my childhood.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Awesome. Awesome, perfect segue then. So then talk to me a little bit about you know curating a space like this that you know is civically engaged and uh has you know certain deliberables that it has to meet with, you know, not only the Department of Culture Affairs, but also, you know, the the city's outview of what art should look like in Los Angeles.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

Well, one of the reasons why I was really compelled to working in a space like this is I do think that there is a responsibility to show work uh for various types of communities. Like I come from a theater-based background, I come from doing dance, I come from visual arts, curating, I've been in museums, commercial gallery settings, and I think a space like this speaks to kind of a larger audience. There are a number of people that come here and don't even know that there's a gallery. So for them to be visiting the park and then to be able to enter a space like this and to see, you know, pieces that are, you know, from artists that are established to also emerging artists, young artists that have not yet really started having any kind of representation. Like it's really a great opportunity to be able to work with artists from all stages. Um I think of I of course, you know, I'm constantly doing studio visits, and there are a number of artists that I'm interested in working with. But for me, the um I think the most inspiration I get is thinking about the audience and the diversity uh of the neighborhood.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

I love that. I love that. Talk to me a little bit about how how did you know or how did you find out that you know you would view your life through the arts. Like when was that apparent to you?

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Uh probably as a young kid. I mean, I started off, I grew up here, born and raised in LA. Um, I went to school in West Hollywood and uh I, you know, grew up in Koreatown. Um I was just always really drawn to the arts. I was always dancing, performing, I was involved in theater, um, you know, the close proximity to Hollywood too. I had a number of friends whose parents worked in the entertainment business, so I think that was always a backdrop, you know, growing up here that seemed, you know, pretty interesting and maybe an aspiration at one point. Um but then it was really in college. I I went to UC Berkeley where I was really mostly focused on dance and really was um interested in how specifically site-specific performance intersected with the visual arts. So I was really inspired by you know the sculptors, the set uh artists that were essentially became set designers for uh dance uh choreographers such as Merce Cunningham, for example. And so that became to me uh the point where I was like informed about possibly you know having a career uh in the visual arts.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Wow, that's awesome. I love that. I I love it when I can meet other people that are really involved in it, right? Not just like this is my hobby. Um I do want to ask you, uh for me, there there's certain works of art that always stick out to me. And um generally, you know, when people talk about the arts, they'll talk about their favorite artist. Um I want to ask you, is there an exhibition that you remember that will net will that has always stuck to you in your heart? I'll give you an example. So for me, I think I remember the first time seeing a uh exhibition catalog, it must have been like from Gogosian or somebody, some gallery. But it was this study on um antennas that were that were made to look like palm trees in the city of Los Angeles. So every time now I'm like driving around, I'm always conscious of like, oh wow, like you know, this McDonald's has their flags up, but on the side of it, it looks like a palm tree, but it's like uh like a satellite or like you know, stuff like that. And this artist had like images throughout the country of all of these different, you know, satellites that you're you know, were connecting us via internet and you know, cell phone. Is there an exhibition for you that you can recall that has always stuck to you to stuck to you?

SPEAKER_02 6:27

Wow, that's a great question. I think, you know, in just what you were describing, I was kind of scrolling back at all the exhibitions um at different points in my life that really inspired me. Um, you know, art there are certain artists that inspired me or caught my interest for, you know, at different points in my life for, you know, various reasons. And uh I mean I mean I can go as far back as I think it was like the fifth grade. Um I remember we were opening up a book in our like social hum so social science class or humanities class. Or maybe it was like maybe it was middle school. Um but it was an image of the Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Botch.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

And I remember, I mean, I thought this was insane. I was like, when this was painted when? You know, I was shocked by how old, you know, this depiction was, and like the content of the painting was like super, you know, racy and cra like it just really opened up my eyes to you know what was possible. So that was like one of my first impressions was looking at that painting, and then I remember an early visit um to LACMA, uh maybe like late 80s, early 90s, there was a Picasso exhibition, and I saw um a portrait of Dora Mar crying, and I remember being so emotionally moved by it, but it also was you know quite abstract, and so to kind of see that marriage between abstraction and representation and like of a very well-known famous artist, and to be very affected emotionally, like was pretty intense for me at that point in my life. So I was like maybe around high school.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Yeah, no, I I gotta tell you, the the art has always been something that I knew that I, you know, arts, cultures, community, uh community, you know, development has always been something that's been like really dear to my heart, and I feel like the more I can assist in spotlighting these stories, I can go ahead and leave you know trails and or an archive to the next generation, which is why this podcast exists. Um, I do want to go ahead and just step right into it and talk about um, you know, for yourself as a curator, um, talk to us a little bit about what goes into that, right? Like how how do you go ahead and prepare yourself to walk into people's studios? Because I feel like a lot of the times you're walking into other people's energies. You know, like how do you go ahead? I don't want to say cleanse yourself, but how do you go ahead and like you know, you go to you go to Sephora, you got the little beans before you start smelling the perfumes and stuff like that. But how do you go ahead and get yourself ready?

SPEAKER_02 9:03

Well, it's interesting because I think there was a point where I felt like I needed to be as educated and as informed of who I was going to visit. So I mean, I think there is quite a bit of research that goes into the artist that I'm going to visit. There's a reason why I'm doing that studio visit. Usually it's because I'm reaching out to them because I'm already interested. Um, that said, uh lately, my approach has been kind of coming in with a clean palette. I do think it's important not to have too many preconceived notions about what is going on because, like you said, you're coming into someone's energy, you're coming into their space, you're coming into their place of work. There's also, you know, sometimes it's their home. Um so I I really look forward to the conversation that unfolds without really having a particular agenda. I may have an exhibition in mind or something, a project in mind, but I also let them lead me to where they are most excited to talk about, you know, at their point in their practice, because um ultimately at the end of the day, it's their work that we're you know putting on view.

SPEAKER_00 10:19

100%. And then just a just a little exclusive, a little caveat for those that are, you know, getting ready to go ahead and meet with you, or those that are uh have an idea of like, hey, I want to go show at you know municipal gallery. Um what are what are some tips and tricks that you can kind of share with us? Like maybe like one or two don'ts and one or two one or two do's.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

I mean, for me, I'm intrigued with experimentation. You know, I really like the opportunity to tap into authenticity and um to have an honest conversation, be yourself. You know, I think there's a lot of pressure to have to professionalize early on in someone's career, and you know, I think that could be a detriment to an artist, you know, to be almost too eager. At the end of the day, I think it's about the work and it's about commitment and dedication to your practice. And I, you know, I I have the hope that that eventually comes, you know, whatever I can do in order to facilitate that for an artist so that I can help in any way, you know, I'm happy to do. But but ultimately uh I think just be open to opportunities and you don't always have to push too hard for those uh professional circumstances. Like it's about the work, being true to the work.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

I love that. I love that. Um for the most part, I I actually have the luxury to be in here by myself before you know setting this up and I got to kind of take most of these pieces in. Um talk to us a little bit about you know how how long did this uh take to come into fruition and you know where where was this in in your mind? Like why why does heavy metal matter in 2026?

SPEAKER_02 12:11

Well, yeah, so this has been in the works for quite some time. Um I started here at the gallery in 2023, and I'd already been kind of working around this kind of this exhibition centered on women sculptors since maybe a year or two before that. So where are we? 2026, so that's maybe like four or five years in the making. So I started this conversation with Faye Ray, um, and we were talking about you know being women, and we were talking about artists, women artists, we were talking about uh sculpture in particular, um, we were talking, and then I don't know, heavy metal just like came out of this conversation. Um and then I'd already been aware of Carolyn Solas, uh, who's also in the show, and then Alika Cooper, um, who I went to grad school with. And really um I can date some of this work back or some of my relationships with these artists as far back as like 20 years. So um some of the artists are newer to me. They're just people that I've um recently visited and met in the last couple years, or while I was doing research for the show, but there are artists too that I had known about um since I started working in in the art world.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

Okay, okay, awesome, awesome. So it's kind of like a coming home for most of the the works that you've kind of been fond of and you know very, very much enjoying.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

I did want to ask, um, I did read the uh press release and I I did see this weight versus intimacy quote there. Um, you know, what what what is that, you know, can we talk a little bit deeper about that and you know where did where did that like idea come from?

SPEAKER_02 13:59

Sure. Well, I was thinking, I mean, I like to play with scale. Um, I think just even the term heavy metal is really funny to me because I think it just conjures up this image of like, you know, teen angsty boys and like loud music and just you know, kind of I remember like glam rock and all of that. Um, but I was thinking of you know the word heavy as having multiple meetings. Like it could be something like physically heavy, it could be something emotionally heavy, um the heaviness of like uh you know an interaction. Uh so I think it just works in all these different ways. And of course, metal I think was like originally the inspiration for some of the works that I was interested in showing, but then it grew beyond just the material metal. So uh yeah, and the intimacy, I think there's intimate moments throughout the show. I think there's intimate moments anytime you interact with an artwork, or it could there could be one. So I think the uh intimacy within the heaviness of what we're all living, which is you know the human experience and our circumstances, our you know, environment, our political situation, like there's a heaviness that we're all experiencing at one time or another.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Yeah, yeah, I can definitely see that. Talk to us a little bit about the humor that we see in here, you know. I I see a lot of joyfulness, a lot of playfulness mixed into all of that, and I feel like it's a great balance. Um, I don't want to, you know, um skirt too far away from that, but also in a sense, how how did the two uh adjacent exhibitions fall in line with you know the the heavy metal concept and the joy of all of it?

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Yeah, sure. Um well I think humor is necessary. I think levity is um a part of you know having this levity in between some of you know what's going on is super important in order for us to survive. I think that's what brings uh people together is kind of finding some of these common grounds. But I you know it's uh the the I do think that the exhibition is joyful overall. I do think that there's like humorous moments, um, you know, just like the images or the associations that we have with certain things, like um, yeah, I I don't know. It's also very subjective. So for me to answer this question, it's like, well, I don't know what I find funny might not be funny to someone else. So I like to kind of leave that open for the viewer. And then uh you had asked about the two adjacent shows, Ivan Bridges uh and Rachel Bridges. Um they're both painters. So I thought, like, you know, in this very uh sculpture-based show, it would be nice to have like something that's juxtaposed with this uh painting and drawing shows next door to it.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Yeah, 100%. Talk to us a little bit about how easy it was to bring them on board and um, you know, just kind of juxtapose that type of work with the rest of the work that we see throughout the gallery.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Well, I met Ivan and Rachel um first. They're actually a married couple, and we just got to talking, and you know, they're they did their schooling in the Bay Area just like I did. So um, you know, out of that just came an organic uh interest in going to visit their studio. And I had not intended to necessarily have their shows be adjacent to heavy metal, it just was happened to be logistical, the time slot, um, when we had the space. Um, but it turned out to be, I think, quite nice because uh, you know, they're also dealing with very human types of uh issues in their work, and um, they're very uh intentional with their use of material. Um so I don't know, I think it just added to the conversation. It's a it's kind of a nice break and it's a nice surprise from the main exhibition.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Yeah, 100%. Talk to talk to me a little bit about the first time you encountered their work. Like what made you say, like, oh yeah, this is needed right now?

SPEAKER_02 18:05

Oh, I'm so glad that you mentioned this or ask about it because um they participated in the open call uh exhibition here, which is like a huge part of our legacy at the gallery since the 1950s. It was an opportunity to open the gallery doors to show art um from artists or non-artists, non-professional artists, so that the community was involved with showing the work that was coming out of these neighborhoods. And so um we did in 2023 Apophenia, which was a show of 365 Southern California regional artists, and um Ivan Bridges, Rachel Bridges, actually Paige Emery from Heavy Metal participated in that, uh, as did Andrea Hidalgo, whose work is also in heavy metal. So that was my first encounter with the work. Um, and I think those open calls are super important because it also like exposes people to artists uh that we would not know of otherwise. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Right, right. Um, perfect segue again. You just you were this is so smooth, perfect. I I love this conversation. Um, the gallery has a history of exposing audiences or the city of Los Angeles and its tourists to up-and-coming or the the next generation of artists that will be in, you know, some of these popular galleries and essentially make their way into the museums. Um, how conscious are you when thinking about selecting an artist? Are you like, hey, this artist has potential to go here? Or like, is that does that, you know, kind of play in your mind when selecting artists to come and exhibit here?

SPEAKER_02 19:46

It does cross my mind, um, particularly because the mission is focused on showing artists that are otherwise underrepresented. And you know, that can mean many things. Um artists that don't have gallery representation is a big one. Um, so I do consider that. I consider artists that are established too, who don't get the opportunity to work on a body of work that is as experimental as they would like it to be, because I think something is expected of them, you know, in a commercial setting. So we're in a really unique position to be able to kind of work with, you know, the varying parts of their practice that may not necessarily support them in the art economy that we're in.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Right, right. That makes a lot of sense. Perfect. Um, I would be remiss if I didn't speak about the piece that you're sitting right in front of. Talk to us a little bit about this. Um, you know, tell us uh how did this come to be and why was this so important that we had to um put it into this exhibition.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

Yeah, this is a work by Kelly Lamb. Uh we call it the bone, but it does have a title. It's uh upon these bones. And um yeah, the work is uh it was derived from uh a bison bone, and then it was uh rendered into it being this oversized version of it, and so she sourced the wood, it's all made of walnut from various places, so it's more than one tree, it's several. And then it was all you know uh cut up into pieces, pinned together, smoothed out. There's some wonderful footage of her doing this in the studio, so it was quite a feat.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

Awesome. Perfect, perfect. Talk to us a little bit about the lay of the land. Um, how how did you organize all of these pieces? Is there a structure to view it? Is there like a pathway, or or do you envision them just kind of exploring on their own? Talk to us a little bit about that, because for the most part, this uh podcast is uh audio only. So for those that can view it, can you kind of paint that picture for us?

SPEAKER_02 21:54

Sure. I mean, I really encourage the viewer to work through the space however they can. Something that's super important to me is for um viewers to find their own experience. I don't really like to make suggestions, you know. I mean some of the themes obviously are suggestive, but at the end of the day, you know, the experience is meant for it to be personalized. Um I take into account, you know, scale is one thing. It's not really set up thematically, although I have noticed that this side of the gallery where I'm sitting is where some of the like more uh fabricated and polished works are, whereas on the other side of the gallery there are it's more of like kind of an organic structure, like or at least uh alluding to some kind of organic landscape. I don't know. It it's a mix. When I say that now, I'm like, no, I don't think that's true either. So no, let's scratch that. I think is there every day it's different. Every day I find something new about how it's organized. So, you know, some of it is logistical, some of it is, you know, because it can't go anywhere else. And then, you know, there but but there are pieces where I think that they're they're friendly neighbors, you know, like for example, I think um Kelly, for example, and uh Katie Grennan being next door to each other, like there's an interesting dialogue right there. Like we're talking about a you know oversized bison bone and then a literal cast of Katie's body being melded, you know, two two casts being melded into one, you know. I think it's kind of an interesting dialogue.

SPEAKER_00 23:40

100%. Talk to us about the hidden gem. What's one piece that people should not miss while they're in here? I mean, there's a lot. What's one of them that that they need to make sure they spend some time on?

SPEAKER_02 23:51

Uh all of them. They're all hidden gems. I mean, they're not so hidden. Well, the one that I would say is hidden because it's in like its own little room, is Abigail Lucien's work. It's this real it's this red steel barn. Um which is a callback to the her family's farm that she had grown up visiting um and the barn. There was like some story about the barn possibly going up in flames. But it's a nice quiet room, it's a quiet space. I think uh that's worth a visit.

SPEAKER_00 24:27

Awesome. Let's talk about um programming. Has there been any programming adjacent to the exhibition or is there anything on the horizon? And can you kind of give us a little details on that?

SPEAKER_02 24:35

Yeah, we just had um Paige Emery uh lead us through a tea ceremony this last Saturday, which was quite beautiful, and she also was playing some of her originally composed music on the keyboard. It was very meditative, very relaxing. Um this Friday we have uh an artist talk with Katie Grennan, uh Faye Ray, and Andrea Hidalgo from 12 to 1, and that's just a casual conversation and I'll be uh leading that. And then on Saturday we have a talk with Ivan and Rachel Bridges and a picnic right after. Um so that's also from 12 to 1. And then on closing day, Barbara Burke will be doing her performance sometime throughout the opening of or the sorry, the opening hours of the exhibition, which is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

Fantastic. When people leave this exhibition, heavy metal, um, what do you want them to leave with? What what's like that lingering idea or thought or feeling that you hope that people walk away with?

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Wow, I hadn't thought of that. Um I hope that they encountered something that was meaningful. Uh a surprise, maybe if it carries if it yeah, evokes any kind of emotion, that would be cool. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Fantastic. Well said. Um my favorite question is on the horizon now. Um how do you celebrate yourself?

SPEAKER_02 26:06

Wow, how do I celebrate myself? That's a tough one. Um I don't know. I feel like I'm always like on the go or doing something or uh yeah, I try to give myself compassion and space. I try to spend time in nature, actually. Nature is really important to me. So going on walks, hikes, camping. Um I I like connecting with others, you know, I think that's really important.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

How do you celebrate yourself?

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Me, man. I got kids. I got kids. Honestly, uh, you know, getting the work done and you know, getting getting with them, right? Doing homework with them. Actually, I just came from a performance. My little one, my six-year-old, just did her little performance, and it's it's one of those things where, you know, I tell my partner all the time, like as a man, you know, having a daughter is one of the most difficult things that you can go through only because, you know, being a teen and being a young boy, not really, you know, considering at times, you know, women's or young young girls' emotions, right? Like now being on the other side of that quarter, being able to, you know, just kind of explain to her, like, hey, this is you know what the world is about, and I'm gonna be here for you regardless, right? Throughout any mistakes, yeah, I'm gonna be here for you, but you know, just come to me. And as long as we can address them together, yeah, right, like we we can battle the world. So um, and then I got a 15-year-old as well at home. So, and um, you know, just watching him grow and and seeing him, you know, develop into a handsome young man. I gotta tell you, it's like I love this, I love doing this, meeting people like yourself, and it inspires me, right? Like it it shows me that you know there's a huge world out there. And um, as long as I can continue to tap in and have these amazing conversations, I can have things to talk to my kids about.

SPEAKER_02 27:59

That's awesome. Well, bring them, bring them to the show.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

I will, thank you. Go ahead and uh give me your shout-outs. Who needs to hear it from you? Your favorite coffee shop, your partner, your colleagues, the city, you name it. This is where you you let us know.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

I have caught off guard. Shout-outs, shout-outs to I don't know, everyone and anyone. I don't, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

Well, listen, Nancy, I think we've talked about it all. I hope that this conversation sparks an interest for people to come and check it out. I know there's a few days left to this exhibition, but there's always exhibitions here, right? And you're always working on the next one. And you've opened your doors and you opened the gallery to us with open arms. And you know, I really appreciate the conversation. I hope that you had fun. Yeah, just like I did. And um, again, thank you so much for your time.

SPEAKER_02 28:45

Thank you so much. Yeah, thanks for visiting. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

Well, I hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing. For more information on heavy metal, you can visit them at lamag.org. And again, thank you for your time. I am Phoenix L EX, and this is Members Past Podcast.