Marisa Takal, Understanding, 2019; Hand Embellished, Signed, and Numbered Limited Edition Print

Marisa Takal is a Los Angeles-based artist who regards color as a crucial mode of communication between her art and audience, infusing paintings and sculptures with vivid hues that draw viewers in for deeper contemplation of latent meanings. Graphic shapes and stenciled texts are often collapsed into bold patterns that echo the repetition, exhaustion, and small triumphs that define our daily lives, as well as human beings’ conditioned behavioral patterns and psychological coping mechanisms. The artist eschews the idea of perfection, and instead embraces mistakes as she layers, scrapes, and remixes her compositions. A recipient of the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Award and the Stanley Hollander Award, Takal has exhibited works at Night Gallery, Los Angeles; Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago; Loyal Gallery, Stockholm; and the Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles; among others.

Understanding originates from her newest body of work on view at Night Gallery, which explores the depths of our mental landscapes. Made up of intersecting planes and spaces, the work depicts various domestic and natural environments that are joined together by a tall blue tree at the center. For this limited series, the artist will collage additional textures and texts as a way of adding further “(dis)connected” layers.

Takal notes, “These organizations are important to me because I love supporting artists! And as an artist, I love support! ART FOR CHANGE opens up space to support artists while simultaneously supporting art spaces and other organizations that hold a deep impact on our culture at large.”

This limited edition is part of ART FOR CHANGE’s Spring 2021 virtual benefit exhibition, Love to New York City, which supports artists and five New York City arts organizations––The Kitchen, Performance Space, Printed Matter, Abrons Art Center, and NADA’s new nonprofit. Of the total net proceeds of prints sold from this series, 50% will directly benefit the participating artists, and 20% will benefit the organizations.