Plus Monet paints ethereal Venetian views and Die Plek settles into new digs
Words by DAVID NASH and ELIZABETH VARNELL
Analog Intelligence at Sprüth Magers
Marking his first solo exhibition in L.A. in nearly 30 years, David Salle returns with a trove of new paintings at SPRÜTH MAGERS. His new work explores AI’s influence on the role of image making, recognizing an undeniable new world of imagery presented by the transformative, data-driven technology. Presented as part of the gallery’s 10th anniversary, Salle presents a rousing selection of works that “extend his long-standing exploration of juxtaposition, ambiguity, and visual resonance.” The compositions are overtly beautiful and hypercritical, inviting viewers to interpret and critique their meanings. Feb. 24–Apr. 18. 5900 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., 323-634-0600; spruethmagers.com. D.N.
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Noma Projects Foregrounds Flavor
Intrepid foragers willing to try their hand at home cooking, and those who want to taste the fruits of René Redzepi’s labor but lack entry to his sold-out L.A. residency, need look no further than a Silver Lake pop-up. For the first time, the Copenhagen chef and his staff are expanding NOMA PROJECTS outside the restaurant’s home city, stocked with a pantry of items developed in the team’s fermentation lab and test kitchen to bring home. In addition to standouts like Mushroom Garum, Nordic Soy Sauce, Cep Oil, and Corn Yuzu Hot Sauce, already bottled and ready, Redzepi and his team are collaborating with producers in L.A. and nationwide. In April, the group’s new cookbook, The Noma Guide to Building Flavor (Artisan), a companion volume to the 2018 Noma Guide to Fermentation, will join the tasty assortment. noma.dk/la. E.V.
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Die Plek’s West Hollywood Digs
Curator Kaat DeJonghe actively reevaluates photography in the context of contemporary art, approaching it from a philosophical and post-production angle. Her new gallery, DIE PLEK, opened last fall in the 1936 Modern Creators building designed by Rudolph M. Schindler. 8758 Holloway Dr., West Hollywood; dieplek.com. D.N.
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Good Impressions at the de Young
Venice has always gripped the imagination of creatives. Claude Monet’s transformative trip to the city, just after the turn of the 20th century, inspired him to paint architectural subjects and hauntingly deserted waterways, 20 of which are assembled among 100 works in Monet and Venice at the DE YOUNG. Devising his version of the Venetian view, Monet worked out the play of light on water and the reflections he’d been trying to depict in his own garden at Giverny. Often painting from a gondola, he studied the sky, canals, open ocean, and surrounding buildings and discovered how to depict their luminous interplay. The fleeting moments and impressions he captured are all at the first exhibition devoted to the works since their Paris debut in the previous century. March 21–July 26. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., S.F., 415-750-3600; famsf.org. E.V.
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Jonas Wood’s Baseline Game at the Gagosian
GAGOSIAN has the home court advantage with its latest exhibition of tennis paintings by contemporary artist Jonas Wood, the gallery’s 10th with the L.A.-based art-world power baseliner. Wood’s bold volley views — with their flat, layered color blocks and incorporated advertising copy — are, as he has described, “about an interest in abstraction, and how the court becomes a geometric puzzle.” Completed between 2025 and earlier this year, each new work is a linear depiction of a match held at a Women’s Tennis Association, Association of Tennis Professionals, or Olympic tournament from a behind-the-baseline vantage point, and without players or officials shown, as with the sizeable oil and acrylic on canvas, Shanghai Masters (2025). And although spectators are occasionally rendered as repetitious brushstrokes, they always remain vague so as not to fault the overall composition. His first tennis-themed paintings date back 15 years, like Mini French Open, 2012, which fetched just over $208,000 during a bidding war at a 2017 Phillips sale in Hong Kong. Often compared to 20th-century luminaries like Edward Hopper, Wood’s paintings are vivid extractions of modern life in the context of where he lives and works, and of his interests (as illustrated by Nintendo 3, which is based on a video game he enjoys with his children). March 12–Apr. 25. 456 N. Camden Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-271-9400; gagosian.com. D.N.
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Minotti’s Pacific Palazzo
In 2004, Mary Ta, a worldwide leader in luxury furnishings, debuted MINOTTI, West Hollywood’s ground zero for modern Italian design. As an installation within the design outpost — in collaboration with L.A.- and Milan-based architect and designer Giampiero Tagliaferri — Ta introduces the MILANGELES LOUNGE, an immersive experience that explores the cultural duality through a honed composition of materiality, texture, tradition, and experimentation. Highlighted, along with a mix of vintage items, are several pieces from Tagliaferri-conceived lines like the weighty and low Diagramma coffee table, Libra bergère and ottoman, and Coupé seating system. 8936 Beverly Blvd., L.A., 310-278-6851; minotti-la.com. D.N.
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Dior Maison’s Pattern Play
For her latest interiors launch, Cordelia de Castellane, artistic director of DIOR MAISON, looked to the Napoleon III–style chairs with cannage seats Monsieur Dior offered guests attending his salon-based presentations. The motif is reinvented with optical effects blending lighter hues with darker colors for trays, cushions, and throws alongside Miss Dior vases in Limoges porcelain or hand-engraved crystal. The new Cross Cannage collection also incorporates tartan codes advancing the interplay of colors and tonal straw marquetry on limited-edition lacquered wooden boxes with velvet interiors. Another example of the ateliers’ workmanship appears in vases handcrafted in collaboration with Osanna Visconti. 323 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-859-4700; 3333 Bristol St., South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, 714-549-4700; 185 Post St., S.F., 415-398-2204; dior.com. E.V.
Feature image: David Salle, Cap (2025), at SPRÜTH MAGERS. © David Salle/VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. PHOTO: John Berens, courtesy Sprüth Magers.
This story originally appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of C Magazine.
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