“DegreeZero: Utopia/Dystopia in Contemporary Art”

by David S. Rubin

Wönzimer, Los Angeles

Continues through May 22, 2026

Lawrence Gipe, “In Commemoration of Gardi Sugdub (Vanishing Island),” 2024, oil on canvas, 72 x 96”. All images courtesy of Wönzimer.

Art is political, it is often said, yet there are clearly artworks that are Political, with a capital ‘P’, where specific social and moral issues drive the art. Such is the case with the works of the thirteen artists in “DegreeZero: Utopia/Dystopia,” a thought-provoking exhibition curated by participating artists Lawrence Gipe and Constance Mallinson. The curators’ thesis centers on the idea that utopia and dystopia are related to one another, two sides of the same coin like yin and yang. They are interdependent and fluid, with most versions residing in the liminal areas. Topics addressed by the participants include ecological concerns, identity politics, colonialism, and surveillance.

Gipe and Mallinson call attention to environmental maladies in their own large representational paintings but bring different temperaments to their respective works. Although Gipe often bases his paintings on black-and-white photos of historical places or events, the source for his “In Commemoration of Gardi Sugdub (Vanishing Island)” (2024) is a full-color aerial view of a Caribbean island that is packed border to border with architecture and currently is in danger of sinking into the sea. Due to the enlarged scale, bold colors, and thick impasto, Gipe’s painting at first appears to be an abstraction. When we scrutinize it further the image resolves into a disturbing reflection on overpopulation and the planet’s diminishing resources.=

Constance Mallinson, “Gordian Knot,” 2026, oil on canvas, 48 x 48”.

Mallinson’s “Gordian Knot” (2026), by contrast, joyfully conveys a sense of optimism. Set against a black background, it is a lively composition of twigs, leaves, and everyday detritus arranged to resemble a festive Christmas wreath. Rather than pushing towards despair, the work seduces us into considering that the overabundance of waste is a problem to be mitigated through such methods as recycling.

Kaya & Blank, “Crude Aesthetics Heliograph #4,” 2026, heliograph plate with crude oil from the La Brea Tar Pits, 4 x 6”.

Other artists examine our present-day situation by turning to history. This is exemplified in small works that pack a powerful punch by Mark Steven Greenfield and the team Kaya & Blank, who call attention to the detriments of massive oil consumption in Los Angeles. The artist duo photographed highly trafficked areas like freeway overpasses and fast-food drive-throughs and printed the images on tiny reflective metal plates using the medium’s original heliographic process to develop the images. The technique involves coating a plate with petroleum tar and processing the image in the sun. The artists cleverly tied their choice of material to their subject matter by working with oil from the La Brea Tar Pits. Greenfield also repurposes an art historical format, the Old Master gilded altarpiece. The works here combat racial stereotyping of Blacks and enlighten us about important historical figures that the Western canon has omitted. Each subject is meticulously painted within a circle surrounded by a gold leaf field. Each single figure sports a halo that conveys a saintly stature.

Keith Walsh, “Socialist Workers Party U.S. and Descendents,” 2021, ink, color pencil and vinyl emulsion paint on paper, 71 x 43”.

One of the most riveting works here is a history lesson in itself. Keith Walsh’s “Socialist Workers Party U.S. and Descendants” (2021) is a visually dynamic, precisely hand-painted charting of far-left activism in the United States from 1945 to the present. Whereas reading conventional historical diagrams might prove tedious, Walsh’s painting achieves the opposite effect. Rendered in black and red on white (colors associated with Russian political posters of the early 20th century) and incorporating portraits of some of the left’s key figures (such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), the composition is incredibly animated.

Works by Hilary Baker and Ben Jackel employ sparse visual vocabularies. The barren landscape in Baker’s “Aspen Grove Estates” (2023) serves as a haunting reminder that it has become increasingly difficult for the painting’s bewildered animals to find the food they need for sustenance. Jackel’s “Bat” (2017) is a sleek sculptural replication of a drone that quietly calls attention to threats posed by new technologies whose destructive force is only beginning to be understood.

Austin Caswell and Lynn Aldrich juxtapose uncommon materials to focus on the cyclical nature of environmental growth and decay. Caswell’s sculpture “The Dressing and the Drift” (2026) is a disconcerting arrangement of a decaying tree branch and a displaced rock, a metaphoric allusion to nature itself being out of order. Aldrich’s “POST-EXTINCTION START-UP” (2019-26), constructed from fake rock pump covers, pet caves, and pools, imagines a future civilization and the possibility of rebirth.

Another way to explore contemporary issues is through fictitious narratives, as exemplified by Umar Rashid’s painting of a generic battle scene where Black warriors are represented as equestrians wearing polo shirts, a symbol of social and economic status from which people of color have long been excluded. Marcos Serafim employs digital technology in his video/installation performance “semipermeable: syringe” (2024-ongoing), which examines the prevalence of selective processes in determining who would receive medical treatment for HIV/AIDS or be allowed to cross the U.S./Mexico border. At the exhibition opening the artist performed the work live, manipulating sound via computer as an audience witnessed a jarring, psychedelic vision of intermingling mostly male bodies, mostly male, alternately shown receiving medication from a syringe and kissing.

Beihua Guo, “Beihua Shoots the Bomb,” 2025, stills from single-channel video, 5 min. 48 sec.

Liz Cohen and Beihua Guo take a yet more performative approach by inserting themselves into their narratives. Cohen’s intriguing photographs celebrate her mixed heritage (Colombian, born to Jewish and Catholic parents) while championing female empowerment. In “Black Execution” (2010), she poses in a bikini to show off her toned body (having worked with a trainer), while standing next to a hybrid automobile that she made (having studied auto mechanics) by converting a German sedan into an American low rider.

Appearing as an enthusiastic photographer in his video “Beihua Shoots the Bomb” (2025), Guo brings a welcome note of levity to the exhibition. As Dr. Strangelove reincarnated, he takes us on a hilarious journey as he documents atomic bombs exploding all around him. Let’s hope that on Earth One it doesn’t come to that.

David S. Rubin is a Los Angeles-based curator, writer, and artist. As a curator, he has held positions at MOCA Cleveland, Phoenix Art Museum, Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, and San Antonio Museum of Art. As a writer he has contributed to Art and Cake, Art in America, Arts Magazine, Artweek, ArtScene, Fabrik, Glasstire, Hyperallergic, and Visual Art Source. He has published numerous exhibition catalogs, and his curatorial archives are housed in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.

For more information: www.davidsrubin.com.