DIVERSEartLA Returns to LA Art Show to Examine How Biennials Shape the Evolving Art Landscape

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Marking its 31st year, LA Art Show returns to the LA Convention Center January 7–11, 2026. Led by director and producer Kassandra Voyagis, the fair will feature more than 90 exhibitors. Its non-commercial platform, DIVERSEartLA, curated by Marisa Caichiolo, returns with "The Biennials and Art Institutions in the Contemporary Art Ecosystem," examining how contemporary art evolves and circulates through global biennials (large-scale biannual contemporary art exhibits) and institutions, complementing and challenging one another as engines of innovation, engagement and cultural dialogue.

This edition will feature five unique art installations in addition to a video presentation that displays leading international biennials and their practices. While biennials spark experimentation and cross-disciplinary exchange, institutions offer continuity and long-term stewardship together forming a responsive, dynamic ecosystem. Amid rapid sociopolitical change, especially in Latin America, biennials remain vital laboratories of critical thought, addressing migration, extractivism, memory, community, and sustainability. Their temporal, site-specific nature highlights the immediacy and fluidity of contemporary practice.

"Since its founding in 1895, the Venice Biennale has remained the most influential model. After World War II, biennales and triennials across cities like São Paulo, Istanbul, and Johannesburg expanded global representation, embracing social critique and experimental media while navigating tensions around inclusion, markets, and cultural diplomacy," states Caichiolo 

DIVERSEartLA features five installations along with a video homage to influential global biennials:

Marcos Ramírez ERRE: Biennials of the Past, Themes of the Present curated by Alma Ruiz Recognized as a key figure in borderland cultural practices, Ramírez reflects on the biennials he participated in from 1997 to 2014 across Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, and the United States, revealing how the themes explored then remain just as urgent today.

Casablanca Biennial 2026 (Morocco): AGUAS by Eugenia Vargas Pereira, curated by Marisa Caichiolo
A community-driven installation centered on ritual, environmental memory, and the cleansing of local waterways. Focused on the Los Angeles River, it becomes a large "analog darkroom" with 55 illuminated trays holding submerged river portraits. Volunteers may add selfies, joining a collective reflection on water, climate vulnerability, and ecological care.

Gwangju Biennial (Korea): The Roads in You by Yoon Chung Han, curated by Ho Tzu Nyen.
An interactive biometric work that scans participants' vein patterns and maps them onto road networks, revealing parallels between the body and the environments we inhabit. Using vein recognition, image processing, and AI, it generates striking visualizations and optional 3D-printed keepsakes that prompt reflection on human-environment connection.

World Textile Art Biennial (Miami): Forest Memory by La Rueca Collective (Argentina), curated by Pilar Tobon.
A textile-and-video installation evoking disappearing forests, addressing the environmental and social impact of deforestation. Using weaving as a metaphor for identity and interconnectedness, the work serves as both remembrance and ecological warning.

Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Reston, USA): Land-escape and the Aura of Distance by Arden Bendler Browning, co-curated by Jonell Logan and Hannah Barco
A mixed-reality installation where visitors navigate painterly virtual environments derived from the artist's travel sketches. Layered projections and a hybrid natural-mechanical soundtrack explore perception, climate anxiety, and escape, blending digital and physical worlds.

Global Biennials: There will be special video presentation spotlighting six influential global biennials, underscoring their pivotal role in shaping today's contemporary art ecosystem: NYLAAT (New York), Cuenca (Ecuador), NOmade, SACO (Chile), the World Textile Art Biennial (Miami), and the Gwangju Biennale (Korea).

Additionally, DIVERSEartLA will honor Chile's upcoming participation in the 61st Venice Biennale with Inter-Reality by Norton Maza, co-curated by Marisa Caichiolo and Dermis León.

Media Contact:
Emma Haber
917-892-4700
[email protected] 

SOURCE LA Art Show