“Men & Women: Gender in Art” was the theme of this year’s Beverly Hills artSHOW, which has been held annually in Beverly Hills for more than 40 years.
The event, that took place May 20 and 21, is a big deal for Beverly Hills. Since it’s been embedded in the city’s history for so long, it’s now one of only two events for which the city closes off major streets. They even planted new lilies in the pond in front of the famous Beverly Hills sign.
This year’s event had a humanizing edge, with many works and creatives selected due to their take on people.
“We’re showcasing artists who focus on men and women in contemporary society,” said artSHOW Coordinator Karen Fitch McLean about the theme. In a year where the fluidity of gender has been the backbone of countless stories in the media, this was a fitting occasion to explore contemporary notions of gender from an artistic standpoint, and where better to do it than outdoors in sunny Beverly Hills?
Many of the featured artists showcased varying interpretations of the human form as an approach to the idea of gender. Three artists – Julie Arnoff, Carol Steinberg and Shelley Cassidy, painted live portraits throughout the weekend.
Due to the scale of the show, with over 240 artists present, not everybody’s work touched on the theme. Jason Lawrence Olive, for example, had on display a number of macroscopic photos of the Devil’s Churn, which is an inlet in Oregon that produces waves over 60 feet tall. The idea was to move away from realism toward the abstract, but through the medium of photos taken in nature.
“Nothing is new. Everything is nature,” explained Olive about his artistic directive.
Beer and wine gardens, and a number of food trucks of varying cuisines, ensured that those in attendance were well fed and able to stick around for a while. With so much quality art –including paintings, jewelry, sculpture, metalwork and more – it could very well take both of the event’s days to truly experience everything being offered.
