We have San Diego’s art scene on full display

Talk about star power. This spring, MCASD taps La Jolla’s most celebrated residents for an exclusive showcase of art. Opening April 18, the museum is the sole West Coast venue for Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys, a landmark exhibition of over 130 works from the personal collection of the musical icons who live in La Jolla’s Razor House by Wallace Cunningman. This “giant” presence is anchored by monumental, large-scale works from icons like Amy Sherald, Titus Kaphar, and Derrick Adams, exploring the profound depth of Black American and diasporic art. Most notably, the La Jolla installation features a world first: a 25-foot masterpiece by Mickalene Thomas — inspired by Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe — added specifically for this MCASD run. It is a striking testament to the couple’s personal philosophy: “By the artists, for the artists, with the people.”

The curation is fresh. Really fresh. This historic library is mastering its own art form by honoring the classics while forging new connections. Since 2022, Executive Director Christie Mitchell has been low-key delivering high-impact programming with 200-plus annual events across its venues in La Jolla and Logan Heights. One of only 17 nonprofit membership libraries in the U.S., the Athenaeum offers a diverse range of experiences, from live acoustic sessions to academic lectures. “We’re aiming to bring people into our orbit and put the Athenaeum back out into the world,” says Mitchell. “It’s a place where you connect with people around these incredible subjects.”

The newest La Jolla gallery isn’t a traditional space. That’s the allure. Leave it to Jennifer Luce — the award-winning architect behind Mingei International Museum — to conceive Et Galerie inside her Luce et Studio, blurring the lines between art, craft, and architecture. “Intersecting the work of craft-based artists with our architectural spaces has been one of the most satisfying collaborative experiences of my career,” says Luce. “Et Galerie gives us the opportunity to share these amazing talents with our community.“

A hundred years is a long run in the West Coast art world. This year, The San Diego Museum of Art marks its centennial with a dizzying birthday roster of Old Masters and greatest hits. “Our centennial is a bold declaration of our future,” says Executive Director Roxana Velásquez, who is treating the anniversary as a high-octane launchpad rather than a retrospective. The calendar is anchored by four major shows including Cafés and Cabarets: The Spectacular Art of Toulouse-Lautrec. These fragile Post-Impressionist gems are seldom pulled from the vaults, making this a high-stakes moment for local connoisseurs to see the collection in full. Also on view: Forging a Legacy: 15 Years of Landmark Acquisitions, showcasing masterpieces from Monet, Picasso, and Sargent alongside cutting-edge contemporary commissions. Future trip: Don’t miss A New Vision, previewing the high-profile campus transformation designed in partnership with the world-renowned Foster + Partners.

“I accept my brother’s death, but I do not accept his art dying with him.” For artist Marcelo Bengoechea, this manifesto is the driving force behind a global legacy. The mission has resonated far beyond his home in Encinitas, turning a profound personal tragedy into a celebrated artistic collaboration. In December 2004, a massive tsunami claimed the life of Marcelo’s brother — internationally acclaimed photographer Fernando Bengoechea — while vacationing in Sri Lanka with his then partner, Nate Berkus, the celebrated interior designer. After years of navigating profound grief, the former Reef creative director emerged with a poignant collaborative vision: weaving his brother’s most iconic photographs into tactile, multidimensional works of art. “There is beauty on the other side of suffering,” Marcelo says of the process. The works, most recently exhibited at Palm Springs Modernism Week, are featured in the private collections of Oprah, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and Donna Karan, as well as the homes of Berkus and his elite clientele.

La Jolla Historical Society continues to flex its might in the architecture sphere. The latest exhibition, Space Maker, explores the architects, designers, and creative practitioners rethinking the concept of space. On view: late architectural icons Russell Forester and Cliff May alongside living legends like architect Jennifer Luce; light-bending late artist Robert Irwin, and the formidable San Diego artist Kaori Fukuyama. Plus: artist-architect Miki Iwasaki, sculptor Christopher Puzio, and other mavericks. 

Oriana Poindexter suits up for her art — in a full dive suit. The ideal conditions? Clear and calm. The marine scientist and artist forages the waters of La Jolla, Point Loma, and Solana Beach for her medium: seaweed. “The feeling of giant kelp on your skin is amazing,” says Poindexter, a Laguna Beach native who lives in La Jolla. “The searching, finding, and plucking of the seaweed, the exposure in sunlight, and the final immersion of the print in water — it all feels like an antidote to modern life.” Poindexter practices cyanotype printing, one of the oldest chemical photographic processes, using a light-sensitive solution to produce striking cyan-blue prints. The results are intoxicating, and sought after. Her work has been exhibited at the Catalina Museum for Art & History and the Laguna Art Museum, with private commissions at the InterContinental San Diego and NextMed HQ in Carlsbad.

It’s the color and balance of each smear, the distinct harmony of abstraction. The ethereal work of Karina Bania has found its way into private and corporate collections across Hong Kong, Miami, New York, Norway, and beyond. The La Mesa-based artist continues to appear in significant collections and gallery shows worldwide, including her upcoming solo exhibition, Continuum, at Maybaum Gallery in San Francisco this month and Kennedy Contemporary in Newport Beach. Largely self taught, Bania’s path began when she ditched her business degree for a backpack and a paintbrush. While in India, she honed her trademark use of pigments and stained washes on raw canvas. 

Navigating the global art market requires more than just an eye for aesthetics; it requires total fluency. Enter Ryan Campbell Garrett, an art advisor who translates the opaque language of the art world into a collection strategy. She hits the world’s premier fairs (Frieze London, Art Basel) to pinpoint acquisitions geared toward client goals — investment or aesthetics. “We are providing the same high-level expertise and access you’d find in New York and L.A., right here in Rancho Santa Fe,” says Garrett. 

This octogenarian knows a thing or three about portraiture. The Rancho Santa Fe resident began a second career in the art space, honing a style that marries photorealism with abstraction. His muses range from Marilyn Monroe to a mysterious woman in red. Celebrating his 80th birthday this year, Johansen found his true calling later in life after a successful business career.