Luciana Abait
Luciana Abait was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is currently based in Los Angeles. Her multimedia works deal with climate change and environmental fragility, and their impacts on immigration in particular.
Abait’s artworks have been shown widely in the United States, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia in solo shows in galleries, museums and international art fairs. Selected solo exhibitions include On the Verge at Hilliard Art Museum in Louisiana; Escape-Route at Laguna Art Museum, Luciana Abait: On the Verge at Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University and A Letter to The Future at Los Angeles International Airport in California; Flow, Blue at Rockford College Art Museum and Luciana Abait at Jean Albano Gallery in Illinois; Nest at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania; and ARCO in Spain. She has completed numerous corporate and public art commissions, among them “Vistas”, a 24 feet mural commissioned by Miami- Dade Art in Public Places and “Hong Kong Windows”, commissioned by Swire Properties in Hong Kong.
Abait’s works and her focus on environmental activism have been featured in The Art Newspaper, Los Angeles Times, Hyperallergic, Aesthetica, and Stir World among others. This work has led to her invitation as a Guest Speaker at the Culture Summit 2024 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Abait’s works are held in private, public and corporate collections from the United States, Europe, Latin America and East Asia. Among these collections are: Art in Embassies, US Department of State; The Related Group, Florida State University, Permanent Art Collection of Neiman Marcus, Miami-Dade Public Library System and Four Seasons in Florida; King and Spalding in Texas; Lehigh University Museum and West Collection in Pennsylvania; Sprint Corporation in Missouri; Flint Institute of Arts in Michigan; the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington D.C., and Freshfields and Swire Properties in Hong Kong. Abait is the recipient of the 2016 Santa Monica Individual Artist Fellowship Award, the 2022 “Art Lives Here” Award by the Geffen Playhouse and the 2024 LL Stewart Fellowship by the Oregon State University.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
My art practice is informed by my immigration history from South America into the US in the 1990’s. Because of this, assimilation and adaptation are key elements of my work and over the last twenty years the main subjects of my work have been the resilient but malleable elements of nature: water, air, vegetation, fire, mountains and icebergs. Through manipulated photographic landscapes, installations, video and photo-sculptures, natural landscapes and human-made objects are impossibly adapted to new roles where they coexist in a magical reality.
My work critically reflects upon humans and their fraught relationship with the natural environment, portraying their aggressive intrusion nature while also imagining alternate (or future) realities. Icebergs represent me as a wanderer–¬shifting between oceans and continents. Mountains, in turn, are metaphors for the hurdles and obstacles I have had to climb along the way since I departed my native hometown. I frequently use color manipulation to achieve a surreal mood within the natural landscape to create a child-like sense of wonder for viewers of my artworks. The altered landscapes portray distortions that take the viewer on an out-of-this-world voyage that enables them to get lost, and to find a sense of possibility and freedom.
At the core of my works is a deep search to find a new place in the world to call home and to regain a sense of belonging amidst great challenge.
Luciana Abait was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is currently based in Los Angeles. Her multimedia works deal with climate change and environmental fragility, and their impacts on immigration in particular.
Abait’s artworks have been shown widely in the United States, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia in solo shows in galleries, museums and international art fairs. Selected solo exhibitions include On the Verge at Hilliard Art Museum in Louisiana; Escape-Route at Laguna Art Museum, Luciana Abait: On the Verge at Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University and A Letter to The Future at Los Angeles International Airport in California; Flow, Blue at Rockford College Art Museum and Luciana Abait at Jean Albano Gallery in Illinois; Nest at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania; and ARCO in Spain. She has completed numerous corporate and public art commissions, among them “Vistas”, a 24 feet mural commissioned by Miami- Dade Art in Public Places and “Hong Kong Windows”, commissioned by Swire Properties in Hong Kong.
Abait’s works and her focus on environmental activism have been featured in The Art Newspaper, Los Angeles Times, Hyperallergic, Aesthetica, and Stir World among others. This work has led to her invitation as a Guest Speaker at the Culture Summit 2024 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Abait’s works are held in private, public and corporate collections from the United States, Europe, Latin America and East Asia. Among these collections are: Art in Embassies, US Department of State; The Related Group, Florida State University, Permanent Art Collection of Neiman Marcus, Miami-Dade Public Library System and Four Seasons in Florida; King and Spalding in Texas; Lehigh University Museum and West Collection in Pennsylvania; Sprint Corporation in Missouri; Flint Institute of Arts in Michigan; the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington D.C., and Freshfields and Swire Properties in Hong Kong. Abait is the recipient of the 2016 Santa Monica Individual Artist Fellowship Award, the 2022 “Art Lives Here” Award by the Geffen Playhouse and the 2024 LL Stewart Fellowship by the Oregon State University.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
My art practice is informed by my immigration history from South America into the US in the 1990’s. Because of this, assimilation and adaptation are key elements of my work and over the last twenty years the main subjects of my work have been the resilient but malleable elements of nature: water, air, vegetation, fire, mountains and icebergs. Through manipulated photographic landscapes, installations, video and photo-sculptures, natural landscapes and human-made objects are impossibly adapted to new roles where they coexist in a magical reality.
My work critically reflects upon humans and their fraught relationship with the natural environment, portraying their aggressive intrusion nature while also imagining alternate (or future) realities. Icebergs represent me as a wanderer–¬shifting between oceans and continents. Mountains, in turn, are metaphors for the hurdles and obstacles I have had to climb along the way since I departed my native hometown. I frequently use color manipulation to achieve a surreal mood within the natural landscape to create a child-like sense of wonder for viewers of my artworks. The altered landscapes portray distortions that take the viewer on an out-of-this-world voyage that enables them to get lost, and to find a sense of possibility and freedom.
At the core of my works is a deep search to find a new place in the world to call home and to regain a sense of belonging amidst great challenge.
$4,005.00
Photograph and acrylic painting on canvas.
44x29x3"
Plexiglass shown in installation shots is not part of the artwork. It was used at LAX to protect the art. In this piece, Los Angeles is depicted in a surreal manner, presenting the city as if it were built atop a swimming pool.
After living in Los Angeles for many years, I felt it almost necessary to create a body of work that pays homage this city and its relationship with water. Swimming pools and water are an essential part of Los Angeles’ culture and identity. At the same time, climate change has produced dramatic floods and droughts in this amazing city. “Water Cities” intends to make the public reflect on the effects of these issues in our city under a new light. Rivers of water, swimming pools, water towers and giant drains invade some of this city’s most iconic landmarks with the intention of creating a poetic, fantastic, surreal, memorable experience.
$5,720.00
Photograph and acrylic painting on canvas.
40x40x2"
Underwater Series is directly influenced by my experience of living in Los Angeles. The image of water transmits a sense of peace and calm that is very much embedded in California’s identity. Swimming pools in particular are a very important architectural component of California’s lifestyle and landscape. In my work, the elements found underwater such as ladders, corners, steps lose theirs sense of usefulness and attain a symbolic quality. The magnificent light that shines through the surface creates a theatrical and surreal atmosphere. The special moment captured in this work, with all its beauty, elicits peacefulness and quiet.
$17,170.00
Photograph and acrylic painting on canvas (set of 5).
110x60x2"
Untitled #18 from Underwater Series is directly influenced by my experience of living in Los Angeles. The image of water transmits a sense of peace and calm that is very much embedded in California’s identity. Swimming pools in particular are a very important architectural component of California’s lifestyle and landscape. In my work, the elements found underwater such as ladders, corners, steps lose theirs sense of usefulness and attain a symbolic quality. The magnificent light that shines through the surface creates a theatrical and surreal atmosphere. The special moment captured in this work, with all its beauty, elicits peacefulness and quiet.
$5,720.00
Photograph and acrylic painting on canvas.
30x30x2"
This particular piece from "Mixed Nature Series" presents a corner of the unique gardens of the Getty Museum in a poetic and whimsical manner. This series intends to create the sensation in viewers of witnessing a new visual nature through the creation of manipulated landscapes and installations. It reflects upon human beings and their relationship to the urban and natural environment that surrounds them. It also questions man’s relationship to the micro and macro universes and the significance of individuals in connection to the masses. The photo-based artwork, shows beings, humans, insects and plants readapting to new roles and coexisting in a magical reality. While playful, these works invoke climate change as a looming peril and intend to elicit in the viewers the compassion for other forms of life while creating awareness of the urgency of environmental responsibility
$5,720.00
Photograph and acrylic painting on canvas.
30x30x2"
This particular piece from "Mixed Nature Series" presents a corner of the unique gardens of the Getty Museum in a poetic and whimsical manner. This series intends to create the sensation in viewers of witnessing a new visual nature through the creation of manipulated landscapes and installations. It reflects upon human beings and their relationship to the urban and natural environment that surrounds them. It also questions man’s relationship to the micro and macro universes and the significance of individuals in connection to the masses. The photo-based artwork, shows beings, humans, insects and plants readapting to new roles and coexisting in a magical reality. While playful, these works invoke climate change as a looming peril and intend to elicit in the viewers the compassion for other forms of life while creating awareness of the urgency of environmental responsibility
$5,720.00
Photograph and acrylic painting on canvas.
30x30x2"
This particular piece from "Mixed Nature Series" presents a corner of the unique gardens of the Getty Museum in a poetic and whimsical manner. This series intends to create the sensation in viewers of witnessing a new visual nature through the creation of manipulated landscapes and installations. It reflects upon human beings and their relationship to the urban and natural environment that surrounds them. It also questions man’s relationship to the micro and macro universes and the significance of individuals in connection to the masses. The photo-based artwork, shows beings, humans, insects and plants readapting to new roles and coexisting in a magical reality. While playful, these works invoke climate change as a looming peril and intend to elicit in the viewers the compassion for other forms of life while creating awareness of the urgency of environmental responsibility
$5,720.00
Photograph and acrylic painting on canvas.
30x30x2"
This particular piece from "Mixed Nature Series" presents a corner of the unique gardens of the Getty Museum in a poetic and whimsical manner. This series intends to create the sensation in viewers of witnessing a new visual nature through the creation of manipulated landscapes and installations. It reflects upon human beings and their relationship to the urban and natural environment that surrounds them. It also questions man’s relationship to the micro and macro universes and the significance of individuals in connection to the masses. The photo-based artwork, shows beings, humans, insects and plants readapting to new roles and coexisting in a magical reality. While playful, these works invoke climate change as a looming peril and intend to elicit in the viewers the compassion for other forms of life while creating awareness of the urgency of environmental responsibility
$11,445.00
Photograph and acrylic painting on canvas.
90x38x3"
In this work, I intend to create the sensation in viewers of witnessing a new visual nature through the creation of a surreal universe in the corner of a hidden garden. It reflects upon human beings and their relationship to the urban and natural environment that surrounds them. It also questions man’s relationship to the micro and macro universes and the significance of individuals in connection to the masses. The photo-based artwork, shows humans and their belongings readapting to new roles and coexisting in a magical reality. While whimsical, this work invokes climate change as a looming peril and intends to elicit in the viewers the compassion for other forms of life while creating awareness of the urgency of environmental responsibility
$9,300.00
Photograph and acrylic painting on canvas.
77x51x3"
Plexiglass shown in installation shots is not part of the artwork. It was used at LAX to protect the art. The Water Cities - Los Angeles series continues Luciana Abait's exploration of cities she has lived in or exhibited her work, including Miami, Chicago, and Atlanta. Drawing from her fascination with aquatic environments, Abait envisions cities submerged in water, highlighting its essential role in sustaining life and emphasizing the urgent need to protect this invaluable resource.
Each piece features an aerial view of iconic Los Angeles landmarks, such as the Hollywood sign and the Getty Museum, inviting viewers to immediately recognize and engage with the familiar. Abait then digitally transforms these landscapes, inserting surreal aquatic elements—highways turned into rivers, underwater views of pools with swimmers, and fields dotted with water towers. Her painterly manipulation of these large-scale photographs compels audiences to pause, uncover the anomalies, and reflect on the environmental themes embedded in the work.
Through Water Cities - Los Angeles, Abait calls attention to pressing ecological issues such as pollution, deforestation, and the consequences of environmental disasters, all while creating awareness from the powerful platform of visual art
$4,005.00
Photograph and acrylic painting on canvas.
44x29x3"
Plexiglass shown in installation shots is not part of the artwork. It was used at LAX to protect the art. After living in Los Angeles for many years, I felt it almost necessary to create a body of work that pays homage this city and its relationship with water. Swimming pools and water are an essential part of Los Angeles’ culture and identity. At the same time, climate change has produced dramatic floods and droughts in this amazing city. “Water Cities” intends to make the public reflect on the effects of these issues in our city under a new light. Rivers of water, swimming pools, water towers and giant drains invade some of this city’s most iconic landmarks with the intention of creating a poetic, fantastic, surreal, memorable experience.
$4,005.00
Photograph and acrylic painting on canvas.
44x29x3"
Plexiglass shown in installation shots is not part of the artwork. It was used at LAX to protect the art. After living in Los Angeles for many years, I felt it almost necessary to create a body of work that pays homage this city and its relationship with water. Swimming pools and water are an essential part of Los Angeles’ culture and identity. At the same time, climate change has produced dramatic floods and droughts in this amazing city. “Water Cities” intends to make the public reflect on the effects of these issues in our city under a new light. Rivers of water, swimming pools, water towers and giant drains invade some of this city’s most iconic landmarks with the intention of creating a poetic, fantastic, surreal, memorable experience.
$4,005.00
Photograph and acrylic painting on canvas.
44x29x3"
Plexiglass shown in installation shots is not part of the artwork. It was used at LAX to protect the art. This piece, "Dodger Stadium" presents in a playful and whimsical manner the love that this city has for swimming pools. The stadium has actually become one. After living in Los Angeles for many years, I felt it almost necessary to create a body of work that pays homage this city and its relationship with water. Swimming pools and water are an essential part of Los Angeles’ culture and identity. At the same time, climate change has produced dramatic floods and droughts in this amazing city. “Water Cities” intends to make the public reflect on the effects of these issues in our city under a new light. Rivers of water, swimming pools, water towers and giant drains invade some of this city’s most iconic landmarks with the intention of creating a poetic, fantastic, surreal, memorable and thought-provoking experience.