Agnes Martin

It’s easy to fall into a trance when walking through the Agnes Martin retrospective at LACMA. The works are precise and meditative but not necessarily peaceful. The galleries are partly lit by natural light, so sunset has a softening effect. Martin, who moved from New York to New Mexico and stayed there until her death in 2004 (she “disappeared into the desert,” the story often goes), is known for destroying the paintings that weren’t quite right, and for being a sometimes-difficult loner. Her works are mostly seen one at a time, hung alongside other minimal, controlled art made in the 1960s or '70s. In this context, she seems aligned with the trend. At LACMA, where her art fills a whole floor, she becomes her own thing entirely: neurotic and idiosyncratic yet sagelike.