Keith J. Varadi

Everyday War @ ASHES/ASHES, Nov 11 – Dec 17

9 November 2016

The Everyday War group exhibition is on at Los Angeles’ ASHES/ASHES is, opening November 11 and running to December 17.

Curated by Keith J. Varadi, the show features work by Scott Benzel, Steve Kado, Jenine Marsh, Quintessa Matranga, Erin Jane Nelson and Naoki Sutter-Shudo.

The press release reveals little on what’s to expect, however, it includes a text musing on the state of the new millennials and contemporary Los Angeles:

“…a self-motivated (or self-driven) sign to give up on nostalgia. Fact: There is no crying in stadiums. Also, there is no crying in the South, either. You read a blank billboard built on the False Word of God and you want to cry, but in this light, all you can do is squint. You stare at a statue carved by the sweaty hands of a half-assed apologist and you want to cry, but in this heat, all you can do is sweat. People getting fired; people getting fired up.”

Seeb the ASHES/ASHES website for details.**

Jenine Marsh, 'The Extrovert', (2016). Installation view. Courtesy the artist + Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto.
Jenine Marsh, ‘The Extrovert’, (2016). Installation view. Courtesy the artist + Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto.
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Keith J. Varadi book launch @ LACA, Jun 26

24 June 2016

Keith J. Varadi is launching a new book called LIFE TASK at Los Angeles Contemporary Archive (LACA) on June 26.

The LA-based artist, who works with painting, installation and photography, as well as writing and poetry, has read and exhibited his work around the world, including San Serriffe in Amsterdam, Cooper Cole in Toronto and Shanaynay in Paris.

The release party, hosted by publisher and new press Maga Books, will feature performances from Varadi himself, as well as Gene McHugh and Chanel Von Habsburg-Lothringen, and DJ sets from Paul Cowan & Katie Kraft and Steve Kado & Keith Rocka Knittel

More recently, Varadi curated the Remains of the Day: Might, Will Return. pop-up exhibition hosted by hotel-art.us at Dodger Stadium parking lot in Los Angeles and has an exhibition called Miso Soup for the Silicon Soul running at San Francisco’s Et al.. 

See the LACA website for details.**

Keith J. Varadi, LIFE TASK (2016). Published by Maga Books, Los Angeles.
Keith J. Varadi, LIFE TASK (2016). Published by Maga Books, Los Angeles.
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Keith J. Varadi @ Et al., May 20 – Jun 25

20 May 2016

Keith J. Varadi is presenting solo exhibition Miso Soup for the Silicon Soul at San Francisco’s Et al., opening May 20 and running to June 25.

The press announcement comes accompanied by a droll text that points to the violence of the mundane, analogous to grim conversations around water coolers and Google searches on how to avoid loneliness leading to career prospects: “Any word can start a war”.

The LA-based artist works with painting, installation and photography but it’s his use of writing as part of his practice that distinguishes Varadi’s work. He’s read at Amsterdam’s San Serriffe, presented an exhibition called Nu Haiku at LA’s Smart Objects, and more recently shown Self-Evident Loss at Toronto’s Cooper Cole.

The following night, Varadi will also be taking part in a 1275 Galleries Present reading —an event introduced on the site with the same text as Miso Soup for the Silicon Soul —at Minnesota Street Project with Anne McGuire and Ian Dolton-Thornton on May 21.

See the FB event page for details.**

Keith J. Varadi, Nu Haiku (2014). Exhibition view. Courtesy Smart Objects, Los Angeles.
Keith J. Varadi, Nu Haiku (2014). Exhibition view. Courtesy Smart Objects, Los Angeles.
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Keith J. Varadi @ Cooper Cole, Apr 1 – 30

31 March 2016

Keith J. Varadi is presenting solo exhibition Self-Evident Loss at Toronto’s Cooper Cole, opening April 1 and running to April 30.

The artist, who as well as working with painting and installation uses writing and photography as a medium, introduces the show with a short piece of prose that follows the rather existential musings of an unknown protagonist over death in the future, five years from now, in a discombobulated recounting of narrative: “Point is: Relativity cannot be proven in the court of loss. I forget the point when…”

Varadi has collaborated with Andrew Norman Wilson, contributed to Loyal gallery’s Loyal Magazine Vol. 2 and is publishing a book of his writing and photography with Maga Books.

See the FB event page for details.**

Keith J. Varadi, Nu Haiku (2014). Exhibition view. Courtesy Smart Objects, Los Angeles.
Keith J. Varadi, Nu Haiku (2014). Exhibition view. Courtesy Smart Objects, Los Angeles.
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Brian Kokoska + Loyal Magazine launch @ Loyal, Nov 27 – Dec 19

27 November 2015

Brian Kokoska‘s solo exhibition Hush Hook is on at at Stockholm’s Loyal Gallery, opening November 27 and running to December 19.

There’s little information on this particular exhibition, except that a previous exhibition by Kokoska at Paris’ Galerie Valentin, titled Poison IV, presented a kind of “total environment” within a reconstruction of a “three-dimensional image”. 

Alongside the exhibition will be the launch of Loyal Magazine Vol. 2, Issue 1, edited by Kristian Bengtsson, Amy Giunta and Martin Lilja, and featuring contributions by Zoe Barcza, Sascha Braunig, Nick DeMarco, James Ferraro, Spencer Longo, Sandra Vaka Olsen, Britta Thie, Brad Troemel, Keith Varadi, Quintessa Matranga and many more.

See the Loyal Gallery website for (limited) details.**

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Andrew Norman Wilson + Keith J. Varadi @ Shanaynay, May 22

22 May 2015

Andrew Norman Wilson and Keith J. Varadi team up for a performance night titled Heartburn Cocktail, taking place at Paris’s Shanaynay gallery on May 22.

In the descriptor for the show, Varadi writes that he spoke with Norm (Andrew Norman Wilson’s nickname) who will do a set of his “lie down comedy” that has him telling jokes while lying down on the ground.

Varadi will join him for a reading of a new selection of poems, perhaps some of the ones listed from 2015 on his site, like ’86 Scripts’, ‘A Messy Trade’, ‘Steal Those Cuts’, ‘So Cosmopolitan’, or ‘Sling’.

See the FB event page for details. **

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‘NOON ON THE MOON’ launch @ San Serriffe, Feb 14

13 February 2015

San Serriffe will be hosting the launch of fourth edition of the ‘Noon on the Moon’ poetic series on February 14.

The Amsterdam-based art book shop brings the launch on the ugliest day of the year – Valentine’s Day – perhaps as a means of channeling the forced sentimentality of the holiday into something actually meaningful.

The evening kicks off at 17:00 and the poetic series combines (like most things do these days) poetry, literature and visual art, challenging the traditional forms of narrative.

Initiated by Keren Cytter and co-edited with Fiona Bryson, the fourth edition is seasonally themed, interpreting the dreaded holiday in an abstract sense with poetry from Barry Schwabsky, Charles Bernstein, Judith Goldman and Dorothea Lasky, prose by Veronica Gonzalez Peña, and colorful romance covers illustrated by  Vicki Khuzami. Other contributors include Luna Miguel, Sophie CollinsKeith J Varadi and Dena Yago, amongst a dozen or so others.

See the San Serriffe website for details. **

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Keith J Varadi @ Smart Objects, Nov 7 – Dec 14

6 November 2014

Renaissance man Keith J. Varadi is opening up his latest solo exhibition, titled Nu Haiku and running at LA’s Smart Objects from November 7 to December 12.

The LA-based artist, writer and curator has already shown his work internationally, passing through Ricou Gallery in Brussels, Welcome Screen in London, and Stadium in NYC, as well as curating and organizing a selection of exhibitions through the States. His writing has also passed through some major art media outlets, including ARTFRUMKaleidoscope, and WOW HUH, as well as a collaborative book with artist John Roebas titled Happy Hour at Flem’s.

By way of a press release, Smart Objects merely released a haiku-like poem to introduce the show:

Revel in the might of a flashlight,

recognize how time flies over place,

and life costs like the backside of a dime.

See the Smart Objects exhibition page for details. **

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