Nir Hod, R. Crumb, And The Collection Of Geri Brawerman

Nir Hod at Michael Kohn Gallery

Nir Hod’s new exhibition at Michael Kohn Gallery, Dorian’s Garden (on view through January 2026), is stunning – in the main gallery room are several large shimmering canvases – flowers appear on the surface of what immediately calls to mind Monet’s paintings of water lilies. But as one looks closer, it is hard to situate the painting. Are they on a body of water? Is this a garden path where the light has been obscured? The closer one gets to the work, the more likely you are to catch your own reflection in the silvery surface. In another canvas, “100 Years Is Not Enough” one sees a ghostly reflection of a man standing there.

As one gazes deeply into the work, we realize that we are in the Bardo, the in-between state between death and rebirth. Hod has named this exhibition Dorian’s Garden with its specific reference to Oscar Wilde’s The Portrait of Dorian Gray. The exhibition materials lead with this quote from the novel: “The common hill-flowers wither, but they blossom again. The laburnum will be as yellow next June as it is now. In a month there will be purple stars on the clematis, and year after year the green night of its leaves will hold its purple stars. But we never get back our youth.”

The press materials refence Hod’s use of an Old Masters palatial ambiance and color palette. I saw the flowers in the paintings more as a reference to French Romantics such as Fragonard. They seem at moments to appear casually across the canvas painted imperfectly, almost impulsively.

At a recent lecture I attended, Matthew Rolston spoke about the philosophical concept of “The Unity of Opposites,” which is a good way to describe these new works by Hod. The flowers look beautiful but they are dying. A canvas that seems to teem with life is all about decay. The now seems lost in the eternal; the present is constantly disappearing.

R. Crumb at David Zwirner Los Angeles

Robert Crumb is the father – by now the grandfather or even great grandfather of underground comics that critique contemporary politics and tell personal stories that are often exaggerated for comic effect. Although animals had been anthropomorphized in cartoons over a half century earlier (Mickey Mouse, for example), until Crumb’s Fritz the Cat, they didn’t have X-rated sex lives.

Several decades ago, in 1991, Crumb, his second wife Aline Kominsky Crumb, and their daughter Sophie, moved to a remote area of France. He continued to contribute comics and supervised the publication of books of his comics and notebooks. Although visitors, friends, and the internet connected him to the world, he was nonetheless more isolated.

Aline died in 2022. During the pandemic, in part because she was immunocompromised, she was vaccinated. Crumb who has always been deeply skeptical of governments and their mandates, went down the vaccine conspiracy wormhole (and, of course, caught Covid).

Although Crumb has drawn in his notebooks every day since he was a teenager, in recent years, Crumb imagined he was finished making comics. However, after Aline’s death, Crumb created his first comic in years, Tales of Paronoia, which Fantasgraphics is publishing on November 5.

David Zwirner in Los Angeles is exhibiting Crumb’s original artwork from the comic, as well as an independent story.

Visually, Crumb remains a master of the comic book form, drawing as well if not better than ever.

Crumb has the ability to say or do things that are offensive (sexist), or traffic in conspiracies (so many – take your pick), and make fun of himself for doing so. One has to admire his honesty, and his consistency in continuing to swim against mainstream culture. But it is hard to countenance what Crumb seems to believe – so, I suppose we are left to appreciate the art of it and laugh with the man who makes it.

Geri Brawerman Collection to be sold at Sotheby’s in New York in November

Geri Brawerman, who passed away last December. was a Los Angeleno who made a difference. She was known as a stylish and elegant woman with a large heart and a devotion to philanthropy. In LA, you will find her name and that of her late husband Richard prominently displayed at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, its Nursing Institute, at the Jewish Home for the Aging, and the Jewish Federation. Wilshire Boulevard Temples’ Elementary schools, known everywhere as “Brawerman,” are named for them.

Geri Brawerman was also a passionate art collector, whose personal collection included works by Picasso, David Hockney, Mark Rothko, Alexander Calder and sculpture by Henry Moore.

Sotheby’s will be offer the works across several November day and night auctions of contemporary art. Geri Brawerman’s art will find new owners but her legacy will live on through the lives touched by her philanthropy.

For more information, see Sotheby’s site.