Something Is Happening in Melrose Hill

By Katherine Kesey

In the last few years, Los Angeles's Melrose Hill neighborhood has quickly become one of the city's most walkable arts districts. This past Saturday night, there were nearly ten coordinated openings, and I attended almost all of them. Taken individually, the shows were equally captivating. Together, they were a warm and exciting medley of passionate color, lighthearted mystery, and wry humor.

Hannah Tishkoff, Beyond Love There is No Belief. 2026. Acrylic, oil, and pennies on headboard. 36 ¼ x 63 x 2 in. OCHI Gallery. Photo credit: Katherine Kesey.

Hannah Tishkoff at OCHI Gallery. Left: Thinking. 2026. Flashe, acrylic, oil, and pencil on linen. 36 x 24 in. Right: P.E.O.P.L.E. (Performing Everyday Only Perfect Love Exists), 2026. Acrylic, flashe, oil, and collage on Masonite and wood. 56 x 10 ½ x 1 ½ in. Photo credit: Katherine Kesey.

My first stop was OCHI Gallery, where I saw Hannah Tishkoff's first solo exhibition with the gallery, Beginning of a Poem. Her multimedia works seemed not only to flawlessly break the rules of painting, but also to create a new standard entirely. Among her works, I felt like a toddler just learning the worlds of color and language — excited by the simplest of things yet daunted by how much I didn't know. "NO NO NO," declared a brightly painted headboard affixed to one of the gallery walls. "Thinkingggggg…." spiraled cursive text superimposed on a painting of a tree. Polka dots hopped over everything. Hole-punched papers, numbers, haphazard text, strange characters, and primary colors filled the room. Her work felt like a secret code that only the most wholehearted could decipher.

Talya Petrillo, Quiet, Not Dramatic. 2025. Cardboard, foam, paper, paper pulp, copper, confetti, concrete, 2 rocks. Dimensions variable (approx. 6 x 5.5 ft.) Reisig & Taylor Contemporary. Photo credit: Katherine Kesey.

Detail - Talya Petrillo, Quiet, Not Dramatic. 2025. Cardboard, foam, paper, paper pulp, copper, confetti, concrete, 2 rocks. Dimensions variable (approx. 6 x 5.5 ft.) Reisig & Taylor Contemporary. Photo credit: Katherine Kesey.

Just next door, at Reisig & Taylor Contemporary, the three-person group exhibition bent sun provided the perfect companion to Hannah Tishkoff's work at OCHI. Frantz Jean-Baptiste's bold, colorful paintings were further emphasized by their grid display and conversed easily with Trey Ross's intricate porcelain sculptures spread throughout the space. Tayla Petrillo's sculpture, Quiet, Not Dramatic, stopped me in my tracks at the front of the gallery. It rose from the floor like a jungle gym of slender sea creatures, or the distorted image of a gum-encrusted elementary school desk. It appeared almost cheerful, with a smattering of confetti pasted to its sides.

I spent a long time with Quiet, Not Dramatic, and when I finally moved on, Petrillo approached me. We did not know each other, and I appreciated her friendliness as we chatted about her studio, the process of making the piece, and how lightweight the sculpture is despite its size.

Constanza Schaffner, Let No One Sleep. 2025-26. Oil on linen. 70 x 90 in. FERNBERGER. Photo credit: Katherine Kesey.

Constanza Schaffner, Puttino Simpático. 2026. Oil on linen. 9 x 12 in. FERNBERGER. Photo credit: Katherine Kesey.

At each show, there was an atmosphere of cheer and goodwill. Artists chatted together, greeted friends, and introduced acquaintances. I was also introduced to Constanza Schaffner, the artist exhibiting at FERNBERGER. Her solo exhibition, Pasolini's Garden, was a garden indeed. It overflowed with dramatic, colorful oil paintings that showed off her knowledge of philosophy and art history like a gorgeous, strutting bird of paradise. The work combined Renaissance references with self-portraits, historic architecture with Italian celebrities, and natural elements with perfectly rendered jewelry and fabric — all without missing a beat.

At James Fuentes Gallery, the group exhibition Wayfaring Stranger, featuring works by Ned Armstrong, Zuzanna Bartoszek, and Dylan Solomon Kraus, was misty and mysterious. At Faun, Henry Erdman's meticulous clay works were rivaled only by the number of people who had packed the gallery to see them. Rele Gallery's ongoing exhibition, Saints of Good Evening Street, presented a solo exhibition of Tonia Nneji's captivating oil paintings.

The charm of Melrose Hill is its walkability, and I spotted the same visitors in multiple locations throughout the night as I wandered up and down Western Ave. Additional openings Saturday night included David Zwirner, Charlotte Call, and Wilding Cran, along with many more ongoing exhibitions. Most are up through mid to late May.

OCHI Gallery 605 N. Western Ave, Los Angeles CA, 90004 Hannah Tishkoff: Beginning of a Poem On view April 11 – May 23, 2026

Reisig and Taylor Contemporary 603 N. Western Ave, Los Angeles CA, 90004 Talya Petrillo, Frantz Jean-Baptiste, Trey Ross: bent sun On view April 11 – May 16, 2026

FERNBERGER 747 N. Western Ave, Los Angeles CA, 90004 Constanza Schaffner: Pasolini's Garden On view April 11 – May 30, 2026

James Fuentes Gallery 5015 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles CA, 90004 Ned Armstrong, Zuzanna Bartoszek, and Dylan Solomon Kraus: Wayfaring Stranger On view April 11 – April 25, 2026

Faun 546 N. Western Ave, Los Angeles CA, 90004 Henry Erdman: Semblance On view April 11 – May 9, 2026

David Zwirner 606 N. Western Ave, Los Angeles CA, 90004 Magdalena Suarez Frimkess On view April 11 – May 22, 2026

Charlotte Call 560 N. Western Ave #B, Los Angeles CA, 90004 Victor Nwankwo: eⁱKENGA On view April 11 – May 16, 2026

Wilding Cran 607 N. Western Ave, Los Angeles CA, 90004 Fran Siegel: Arribada On view April 11 – May 16, 2026

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Katherine Kesey is a writer and fine artist in Los Angeles, CA. Her writing appears in Space on Space Magazine, and her flash fiction has been published in KAIROS Literary Magazine, Bristol Noir, and The Terrible Orange Review.