The Athenaeum is pleased to present Unconscious Research, an exhibition of new work by Los Angeles-based artist Marisa Takal. Unconscious Research features paintings and sculpture in which Takal explores exterior and interior expressions of the self.

Predominantly working with oil on canvas, the paintings represent a shift in her work as she fully embraces the elemental language of abstraction, while her sculptural works showcase a collection of more linear and legible subjects.

A Rolodex piece will be included in homage to the Athenaeum’s card catalogs, inviting visitors to peruse lists of personal feelings, collected from Takal’s friends and colleagues over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Takal’s interests in the dissonance between our inner and outer consciousnesses and our human attempts to organize ourselves within that space are highlighted in this showcase of collective emotions and the inner workings of her artistic practice.

The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library is one of only 17 nonprofit membership libraries in the United States, and one of three west of the Mississippi. Founded in 1899, the Athenaeum provides library resources in music and the arts and presents over 200 programs and cultural events annually at two venues in La Jolla and Logan Heights in San Diego. This rare cultural institution offers a depth and accessibility of resources and programs found nowhere else in the region.

Marisa Takal (b. 1991, Montclair, New Jersey) received a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute in 2013. She has shown in numerous solo, duo, and group shows at Night Gallery, Los Angeles; Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York; White Columns, New York; Page Gallery, New York; Del Vaz Projects, Santa Monica; Bolsky Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles;  Dr. Bernard Heller Museum, New York; Nicodim Gallery, New York; Fall River Museum of Contemporary Art, Fall River; Jeffrey Stark, New York; and Loyal Gallery, Stockholm. In 2016, she was named the recipient of the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Award and the Stanley Hollander Award. The artist lives and works in Los Angles.