Art Review: 'Into the Mystic' at Michael Kohn Gallery

LOS ANGELES TIMES
By Christopher Knight

Fred Tomaselli, "Untitled (Entrance)," 2012 (Michael Kohn Gallery / January 17, 2013)

CALIFORNIA---Mysticism isn’t new to art, having prompted (among other things) the emergence of pure abstraction into the Modernist lexicon more than a century ago. At Michael Kohn Gallery, a group exhibition of about 30 paintings, sculptures, video, prints and mixed media works from the past 50 years by 14 artists shows that it’s alive and well today — albeit with a suitably altered consciousness. “Into the Mystic” takes its subject loosely, proposing that ultimate insight consists of contemplative, intuitive knowledge, not merely facts. Like a doorway into deep space, the pattern merges a god’s eye — or perhaps a hell’s mouth — with a schematic vaginal canal, creating a psychedelically inspired vision of the birth of spiritual truth. Michael Kohn Gallery, 8071 Beverly Blvd., (323) 658-8088, through Jan 26. Closed Sunday. and Monday. www.kohngallery.com [link]