China Art Objects Galleries is a

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

gallery co-founded by a group of artists in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

in 1999. Founder Steve Hanson moved the gallery to Mérida,

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

in 2021.

History

Named after a box sign attached to the unit, China Art Objects was founded in 1999 by a group of friends that included Peter Kim,

Amy Yao Amy Yao (born June 1977, Los Angeles, California) is a musician, curator, and contemporary visual artist making work in many different mediums informed by ideas of waste, consumption, and identity. She is represented by 47 Canal in New York City. Y ...

, Mark Heffernan, Steve Hanson, and

Giovanni Intra Giovanni Intra (May 1968 – 17 December 2002) was an artist, writer, and art dealer who moved from his native New Zealand to the United States in 1996. Life Intra was born in Auckland in 1968 and grew up in Turangi, a small town in the centre ...

. The gallery evolved out of the critical theory program at the

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fr ...

in Pasadena, California where they had been students. The gallery was first located in Los Angeles' Chinatown neighborhood on Chung King Road, and the gallery was instrumental in bringing about a renaissance in Los Angeles art and in particular the Chinatown district. Designed by artist

Pae White Pae White (born 1963) is an American multimedia visual artist who is known for her unique portrayal of nature and rather mundane objects through her creations of suspended mobiles. She currently lives and works between Sonoma CountySonoma Count ...

, the gallery officially opened its doors in January 1999. Shortly after its opening, the gallery became mainly a project of artist/writer/critic Intra and artist/musician/librarian Hanson (with Heffernan staying on as a silent partner). China Art Objects exhibited a new generation of Los Angeles artists, as well as presenting international projects. Early exhibitions included solo and two person presentations by

Laura Owens Laura Owens (born 1970) is an American painter, gallery owner and educator. She emerged in the late 1990s from the Los Angeles art scene. She is known for large-scale paintings that combine a variety of art historical references and painterly te ...

& Scott Reeder,

Jorge Pardo Jorge Pardo may refer to: *Jorge Pardo (artist) *Jorge Pardo (musician) (born 1955), Spanish musician *J. D. Pardo Jorge Daniel Pardo (born September 7, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Jack Toretto in '' F9'' (2021), as ...

& Bob Weber,

Sharon Lockhart Sharon Lockhart (born 1964) is an American artist whose work considers social subjects primarily through motion film and still photography, often engaging with communities to create work as part of long-term projects. She received her BFA from th ...

& George Porcari,

Frances Stark Frances Stark (born 1967) is an interdisciplinary artist and writer, whose work centers on the use and meaning of language, and the translation of this process into the creative act. She often works with carbon paper to hand-trace letters, words, a ...

, Jon Pylypchuk, Eric Wesley,

Jonathan Horowitz Jonathan Horowitz (born 1966) is a New York-based artist working in video, sculpture, sound installation, and photography. Horowitz critically examines the cultures of politics, celebrity, cinema, war, and consumerism. From found footage, Horowitz ...

David von Schlegell David Von Schlegell (May 25, 1920 – October 5, 1992) was an American abstract artist, sculptor and educator. Early life and education David von Schlegell was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1920, the son of American impressionist artist Wil ...

Angus Fairhurst Angus Fairhurst (4 October 1966 – 29 March 2008) was an English artist working in installation, photography and video. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). Life and work Angus Fairhurst was born in Pembury, Kent. Having atten ...

R.H. Quaytman R. H. Quaytman (born 1961) is an American contemporary artist, best known for paintings on wood panels, using abstract and photographic elements in site-specific "Chapters", now numbering 35. Each chapter is guided by architectural, historical an ...

Jennifer Moon Jennifer Chihae Moon (born 1973) is a conceptual artist and life-artist living in Los Angeles. She was born in Lafayette, Indiana and completed her bachelor's degree at UCLA and master's degree at Art Center College of Design. After college Moo ...

Morgan Fisher Stephen Morgan Fisher (born 1 January 1950) is an English keyboard player and composer, and is most known as a member of Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s. However, his career has covered a wide range of musical activities, and he is still ac ...

Sean Landers Sean Landers (born 1962) is an American artist. He is best known for using his personal experience as public subject matterHa, Paul, Cynthia Daignault and Michelle Reyes Landers, eds. Sean Landers: 1990–1995, Improbable History. Zürich: JRP, ...

Walead Beshty Walead Beshty (born London, UK, 1976) is a Los Angeles-based artist and writer. Beshty was an associate professor in the Graduate Art Department at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, and has taught at numerous schools including University o ...

, and

Julie Becker Julie Becker (1972–2016) was an interdisciplinary American artist. She earned her BFA and MFA at CalArts in Los Angeles. Becker earned early acclaim for her 1996 installation ''Researchers, Residents, A Place to Rest''. Her works have appeared ...

. Alongside the exhibition program in that first year, the gallery hosted a record release party for

Stephen Prina Stephen Prina (born 1954) is an American artist. His work has been categorized as post-conceptualism. Prina is a professor at the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies (VES) at Harvard University. Early life and education Born in 1954, i ...

, a poetry reading with Mike Kelley, and a

Mia Doi Todd Mia Doi Todd (born June 30, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter. She was described by ''Dusted Magazine'' as "one of those artists that seem to function not just as creators in their own right, but as connecting links between other musicians." ...

concert in an alleyway adjacent to the gallery. Indie label

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally know ...

donated their discography for the basement record library, housed in a secret room designed by Andy Ouchi and Andy Alexander. In 2002, co-founder Intra unexpectedly died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

after attending the opening for one of the gallery's artists. In an obituary for ''

Frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

'', Will Bradley wrote, "Giovanni Intra died much too young on 17 December 2002 in Manhattan. He will be remembered for his achievements as an artist, writer and co-founder of China Art Objects Galleries in Los Angeles, and equally for his enthusiasm, intelligence, integrity, warmth and all-around obvious decency in an art world where those characteristics can sometimes be in short supply." A history of the space up to 2005 was published as a chapter in ''Recent Pasts: Art in Southern California from the 90s to Now''. China Art Objects is currently run by original founder Hanson and wife Tuesday Yates. Hanson has exhibited under the name Leo Mock. In 2010, the gallery moved from its landmark Chinatown location to

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

. In 2021, Hanson and Yates moved China Art Objects to Mérida,

. Their inaugural exhibition was "The Notebook" by Cuban artist Marco Castillo, founder of

Los Carpinteros ''Los Carpinteros'' is a Cuban artist collective founded in Havana in 1992 by Marco Antonio Castillo Valdes, Dagoberto Rodriguez Sanchez, and Alexandre Arrechea (who left the group in 2003). In 1994 they decided "to renounce the notion of individu ...

arts collective.

References

{{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Los Angeles Contemporary art galleries in the United States Art in Greater Los Angeles Art museums and galleries established in 1999 1999 establishments in California