Laura Krifka at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles

Assistant Professor of Painting, Laura Krifka, currently has work on display at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles. Unreachable Spring, a group exhibition, is on view through the end of the year. Participating artists also include June Edmonds, André Hemer, Kambui Olujimi, Edra Soto, and Peter Williams.

Unreachable Spring takes its title from the eponymous painting by Laura Krifka. The painting was slated to be featured as the sole work in her first Viewing Room on the gallery website, accompanied by an essay by the writer and art critic Andrew Berardini. Laura began the painting in late March—within days of the start of the Covid lockdown in the U.S., and shortly after learning that she and her husband were expecting their first child. By summer it had become clear to Luis De Jesus that it was the lede for a deeper exploration of ideas and subject matter.

About Unreachable Spring

"I started the painting 'Unreachable Spring' at the very beginning of the pandemic, shortly after I found out that I was pregnant with our first child. I was thinking a lot about longing, feeling cut off from the world, and also the way everyone was watching each other from afar with a sort of insatiable desire to report wrongdoing. Specifically, I joined the "Next Door" community app for my neighborhood. I would read posts about people seeing neighbors selling toilet paper on their lawns at absurd prices, or people lamenting their neighbor’s decision to go on a trip as they watched them pack their car. People would often post photos of other’s out in public not wearing masks. The most memorable of these photos was a single shirtless young man using the outdoor shower at the beach with the ocean behind him, which in Pismo is allowed—the beaches were never shut down and he was clearly alone which adheres to county regulations. It was posted to shame the guy, but the image was so voyeuristic and vulnerable that eventually people started shaming the photographer. All of this started to make its way into the work and this painting in particular—the ways we were watching the outside world those first few weeks of lockdown, sometimes with longing, at other times rage and indignation, and then stretches of disorienting disbelief." — Laura Krifka

Visiting Luis De Jesus

For further information and images, please contact Meghan Gordon, Associate Director, at 310-838-6000, or email gallery@luisdejesus.com. Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is located at 2685 S. La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90034. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 6pm, and by appointment.