Torrance Art Museum (TAM) presents a dynamic duo of group shows and a super solo in their Fall Exhibitions. The Main Gallery hosts Material Matters as one of seven venues in the Los Angeles region taking part in the 5th SUR:biennial (2019). Gallery Two examines superheroes in contemporary art with To Save The Day! The Dark Room features artist Kayla Tange’s interactive illuminated sandbox, Intentions. ---- Material Matters features works by Cruz Castillo, Elisa Ortega Montilla, Ruben Ochoa, and Tessie Salcido Whitmore. These four artists gather together the materials of urban life, here in Southern California — plastics, steel, concrete, fabrics, detritus — and manipulate them in order to address themes of identity, memory, political positions, and the poetics of the urban environment. The artists make discoveries with these gathered materials and reassemble them in new ways to bring a fresh insight into what it might mean to be urban within our massive contemporary metropolis. ---- Since their inception, the presence of super powered human beings in comic books has served as mighty metaphors for societal conditions, both the dreams and the ills. Even today, with the explosion of Marvel and DC characters onto the silver screen, we see how this dynamic explores human frailties and strengths, our moral and ethical positions, as well as the trials and tribulations of our world. To Save the Day! features work by contemporary artists Enrique Chagoya, Chaz Guest, Craig Knight, Aaron Noble, Fernando Rascon, U.S. Department of Illegal Superheroes (ICE DISH). ---- The Dark Room features an interactive installation, Intentions, by Kayla Tange. Inspired by concepts of childhood innocence, the meditative energy of Japanese Zen gardens, and the impermanence of Tibetan sand mandalas, visitors of all ages are invited to play, draw, and write intentions in an illuminated sand box.