The first thought I had when I read that the name of this show was Sidewalk Chalk was just the idea of a summer and childhood. Chalk is harmless but formative. It's a tool of imagination and expression, transforming ordinary concrete into temporary canvases for vibrant drawings, games, and messages. To me, sidewalk chalk represents spontaneity and communal art, where children and adults can collaborate in crafting fleeting masterpieces that are washed away but never forgotten. It's about the joy of creation without the pressure of permanence, celebrating the freedom to experiment, play, and connect with others in shared public spaces.
And that brings me to Katherine Bernhardt, who opened the new solo show at David Zwirner in LA with her raw mash-ups of pop cultural iconography. She paints Garfield, ET, Cookie Monster with a childhood wonder, enlarging their personas to double human size, like doubling down the imprint these cartoon characters have had on our lives. Marshmallows and sticks of butter are here, too. There is a sense of joy and also an almost madness of culture, an intensity of cartoon imagery that is surreal and almost twistingly bizarre. After school cartoons were an acceleration of adrenaline that wasn't found in the classroom, a sugar-fueled escape that literally sold you sugar. Bernhardt paints butter like it is as vital to our memories as Sesame Street. It's irreverent and it's pop. —Evan Pricco
