Born in Nuremberg to Polish-Jewish parents, Gustav Metzger (1926 – 2017) fled Nazi Germany to England via the ‘Kindertransport’ when he was 13. When he began his art studies in 1945, he entered a world inspired by scientific experimentation, just as the Atomic Age—in all its paradoxes—dawned. Over seventy years, through his writing, calls to action and art, Metzger wrestled with the contradictions of his time by championing how both ‘auto-destruction’ and ‘auto-creation’ in science, ecology, politics and art were equally important tactics to address the state of humanity. ‘Gustav Metzger. And Then Came the Environment’ is the artist’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles and his second major show in the US. The title comes from Metzger’s 1992 essay ‘Nature Demised’ where he proclaims an ‘urgent need to redefine notions of nature and the environment,’ because ‘environment’ is a term that ‘has been hijacked by the forces that are manipulating the world’ and it should be renamed ‘Damaged Nature.’ The show features seminal early experiments developed with scientists, such as ‘Dancing Tubes’ (1968) developed in the Filtration Laboratory of the University College of Swansea and ‘Liquid Crystal Environment’ (1965) which was one of the earliest public demonstrations of what would become Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)—now omnipresent in our computer, telephone and watch screens. For the first time an animation has also been commissioned in response to Metzger’s writings. Artist Justin Richburg—who created the animation for Childish Gambino’s hit ‘Feels like Summer’—will produce a short in response to Metzger’s ‘Damaged Nature’ manifesto.  The exhibition will be accompanied by a Hauser & Wirth Publishers book featuring decades of conversations between Metzger and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist.     ‘Gustav Metzger. And Then Came the Environment’ will be presented in conjunction with the Getty Museum’s citywide PST Art initiative, ‘Art & Science Collide.’ - New York-based artist Firelei Báez has achieved wide acclaim for her paintings, drawings and immersive installations that explore the influences of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora against the backdrop of colonial histories and narratives. This September, in her first exhibition with Hauser & Wirth, Báez will present ambitious large-scale canvases, drawings and her first-ever bronze sculpture at the gallery’s Downtown Arts District complex. In vivid and richly layered works, Báez depicts fantastical figures and alternative worlds. Femme figurations entwine with verdant plant life, intricate hair arrangements and elaborate textile designs that overlay found historical documents. Báez’s exuberant paintings imagine new worlds and narratives, drawing on beauty to reprocess the effects of violence and trauma. Destabilizing the categories of gender, race and nationality, she consistently pushes the boundaries of established histories and knowledge. A wide range of disciplines and cultural references are incorporated into her work, including art history, science fiction, pop culture, anthropology, folklore and fantasy. The exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Downtown Los Angeles coincides with two museum surveys, ‘Trust Memory Over History,’ at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg Germany (6 June – 13 October 2024) and ‘Firelei Báez,’ at Vancouver Art Gallery Canada (2 November 2024 – 16 March 2025), and follows the artist’s first UK exhibition ‘Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream)’ at South London Gallery (28 June – 8 September 2024).