Support System at Sidebitch LA
A flash of pink in the river of digital content and the name Sidebitch LA caught my eye recently. The name belongs to a new project space hidden among the noodle joints and smoke shops of San Gabriel. I reached out for an appointment to see the current show, Support System, and headed over around dusk last Sunday. Sofie Ramos met me outside, introduced herself as the woman behind Sidebitch, and led me down the driveway to the open-air gallery in the back.
Concrete walls form an irregular L shape and are painted pink with sharp blue waves lapping around the floor. Paintings, photos, drawings, ceramics, and video are thoughtfully spaced on walls, in nooks, and leading up into the fencing and trees. One drawing stands above the fence, a group of figures kneeling and holding each other up in a human pyramid. The image by Yerin Kim is also featured on a digital show poster, including an animated gif of rising waves threatening to consume the group. It is cheerful with a sad undertone, measuring anxious uncertainty in the air but suggesting that artists are linked with the power to transform through acts of mutual aid and support. Indeed, many of the artists involved are community organizers, writers, and educators whose practices seek ways to engage the generative potential of creativity outside of traditional frameworks.
As I looked, Sofie stayed with me in the space, chatting about the work and various rhizomatic connections between the artists, a mix of creatives with a shared sense of care, color, humor, and Bay Area energy. I was enthralled by the materiality of two small collaged rattan paintings by Eric Baisa. In one, the warm browns and tans of the woven palm emanate color light from accumulations of yellow and orange paint. In another, bits of reflective paper shimmer from behind the mesh work, like a bird’s nest stretched into a painting surface. Nearby, a small, cream-colored cat stretches, catching reflected magenta light in the lap of a cropped figure in Sarah Thibault’s painting. Against a low wall, a group of lemurs hold the council to discuss suffering, existence, and psychedelic rehab in a stop motion segment from Clement Goldberg’s multimedia project, Our Future Ends.
Experiencing the show as a whole rekindles the childlike joy of discovering treasures in one’s backyard. There are corners to turn where both work and the environment can surprise, delight, and ground you. Still, each artist has room to breathe, never feeling crowded or misplaced. A much-needed reprieve from the white cubes, Sofie has created a meeting point of creative energy with open edges. Grab a coffee from Fresh Roast or noodles from Chong Qing nearby, swing by this weekend, or follow here for their December show.
