Shana Nys Dambrot

Shana Nys Dambrot is an art critic, curator, and author based in Los Angeles. She is currently L.A. editor for Whitehot Magazine, contributing editor to Art Ltd., and a contributor to KCET’s Artbound, Flaunt, Huffington Post, The Creators Project, Vs. Magazine, Palm Springs Life, Montage, Desert Magazine, L.A. Review of Books, and Porter & Sail. She studied art history at Vassar College, writes loads of essays for art books and exhibition catalogs, curates and/or juries a few exhibitions each year, sometimes exhibits her photography and publishes short fiction, and speaks in public at galleries, schools, and cultural institutions nationally. An account of her activities is sometimes updated at sndx.net.

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Artbound

Ten Seasons of Evolution and Revolution on 'Artbound'

From the beginning, the DNA of “Artbound” has been about democratization, not only in terms of access to more contemporary arts-based programs but about diversifying that content itself in meaningful ways. Follow its journey through ten seasons.

Ching Ching Cheng, "Letting Go" series | Courtesy of the artist

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Artbound

Motherhood Opens Artist Eyes to New, Exciting Materials

There’s a long and glorious tradition of artists turning to their immediate surroundings for the materials with which to make their work. So when an artist becomes a parent, specifically a mom, why not expect the same kinds of investigations?

Abstract petroglyphs at at Coso Rock Art District National Historic Landmark | Courtesy of Maturango Museum No Trespassing AB s9

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Artbound

Travel to California's Paleoindian Past Inside a Military Base

The greatest (meaning both the largest and the best preserved) concentration of Native American rock art in the country is only about a hundred miles north of Los Angeles. It's in China Lake Naval Base. And that’s where things get interesting.

Albert Bierstadt, Among the Sierra Nevada, California, 1868 | Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Helen Huntington Hull, granddaughter of William Brown Dinsmore, who acquired the painting in 1873 for "The Locusts," the family estate County, NY.

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Artbound

From Bierstadt to Bob Ross: How Landscape Painting Re-Imagined the American West

Before the golden age of Hollywood Westerns, the mythology and allure of the American West was portrayed by dedicated, skilled landscape painters. Their legacy continues today.

Robot series | Courtesy of Church of Type

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Artbound

Church of Type Ends Its L.A. Run This Month

In just five years, Kevin Bradley’s letterpress emporium the Church of Type has become a landmark destination for artisanal, slow culture Los Angeles. It ends its five-year run in L.A. this month.

Artist Jasper Johns photographed with his work at the Whitney in New York City, October 1977.| Jack Mitchell/Getty Images

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Artbound

Get the Scoop on the Jasper Johns Exhibition at the Broad Here

The art of Jasper Johns has changed over the decades. His works have taken on a whole new set of meanings in our present-day political climate. All of which makes this landmark exhibition at the Broad as fresh and timely as it was 60 years ago.

Cathy Akers vase | Courtesy of the artist

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Artbound

The Serious Play of Clay

What people typically mean when they think of ceramics tends toward a refined style, where everything is fine and poised. In powerful contrast to that heritage, rises the epic and still-expanding trend of “de-skilled” ceramics.