In the studio: Adrienne Maki & Omari Douglin
The multi-disciplinary, Los Angeles-based artists Adrienne Maki and Omari Douglin look back at collaborative exhibitions, the origins of their artist-run space Room 3557 and their experience of recent life in Berlin, where over the course of 2 months they created the show Adrienne und Omari. Reflecting on this new collaborative body of work, the two share how it adds a fresh perspective onto their own individual practices and art as a whole.
SSM: Hey you two 👋 To kick things off... What’s the first photo you both took today?
AM: Hej from CPH! Wandered into Ørstedsparken earlier:
OD: Today my first screenshot was this –
OD: The colors match some of the works in the show.
SSM: I was thinking that right now, as I am in the gallery looking at all of them! I like the message too though – I screen grab things on my phone that I want to take time to look through later. Do you sometimes do this for source material?
OD: All the time. It’s a way to use images that can speak without using words in the work.
SSM: So let's start with the title: Simple and direct. Both of you have your individual artistic practices, but have collaborated together before. Can you tell us a bit about the evolution of that?
OD: I think in the beginning our interests over lined at wanting to both make clothes especially because our shared studio was located in the Fashion district of Los Angeles. I had an opportunity to present something experimental alongside my solo show back then at Sebastian Gladstone so we decided we’d make a boutique in the upstairs of the gallery of the clothing we had been making/having produced.
Adrienne Maki & Omari Douglin, Cupping Season, 2022, Sebastian Gladstone, Los Angeles
SSM: Since this whole show was developed and created in Berlin and not in your hometown of LA, how do you find working 'remotely' in different / new cities? How has the city been for you both of you to work in – it was a first time, is that correct?
AM: Yes it was a first for us to fully make a show outside of the US. It was also our first time in Germany, so our eyes were totally fresh. It was stimulating and refreshing being in a new city.
Working remotely was interesting, it felt very natural. So much of any show 'happens' during install, so that every show has a remote element baked into it already. The making of the show was very fluid and immediate – taking inspiration from moments and encounters during our stay.
SSM: I can totally understand your point, and especially when experiencing the show in person – Further illustrated when understanding the background and context of the different works and their relationship to different moments that happened to you both in the city...
I wanted to quickly return to your collaborative efforts. Room 3557 is the project space in LA that both of you run, taking its name from the literal location in the Boyle Heights district of the city. What are the origins of Room and how have the limitations of the space aided (and challenged) the artists you invite into the space? Has this in turn influenced your collaborative processes together?
AM: Room 3557 is a project we've been running since 2022. When we started it, we were new to the city and saw a lot of potential to build a program that we aligned with.
Each show is sort of conceived as a different room, so we like to alter the space each time. This typically results in changing the floor or painting the walls in a specific way for each show.
The gallery is the perfect sized space to do this, and has been great for artists to work in. Every show has its own energy, and that's what keeps it exciting.
Room 3557 has been great for us to flex our curatorial muscles. We've learned through each show and each artist. At the end of the day it's a collaborative vision between us as well as the artists and curators we work with.
fuckgirl collapse, curated by Mara Hassan, Room 3557, Los Angeles, 2024
OD: I don’t really consider LA to be my hometown or NYC either since it’s changed so much as a city from when I was a kid. So I take “home” with me wherever I go. Working in different cities stimulates me and keeps me inspired. I hope to visit hundreds maybe thousands of cities in my lifetime because Planet Earth is the real home.
Being in Berlin was great. I love a city with a real winter that snows. So many people leave and don’t like the winter but I found it refreshing. The cozy vibes were unmatched. Walking around and looking at buildings etc. was super fun and experiencing a new place.
Exactly Room is a platform for curation and turning Artists dreams into reality. In theory any real Curator could run the gallery once the mission is understood. Working with the different Artists and Curators in the capacity we have done via Room is priceless. Working with Adrienne on this project has been a great way to put our minds together and present strong exhibitions that reflect Artists that are serious about Art.
The gallery proves we work well together curating and this show proves we work well together making Art. The freshness of the show shows we understand the stakes. We can do anything. Anything Art related we can tackle.
SSM: I completely agree with the above regarding the show here in Berlin, and also super insightful to learn what you’re both saying about your collaborative and curatorial mission with Room. Can we talk a bit about the materials in the show? We're interested in both your excavation of objects from different sources in Berlin and giving them a kind of 'second life'. Did the objects instruct the development of the motif in the paintings or visa versa?
AM: It's hard to say exactly – so much of making is this back and forth action between the objects and painting. You have to consider the nature of the object, its properties, materials and then consider the structure of the painting. How does this feel with that... what happens to the composition when this action is applied... it's all very organic. What you'd expect when thinking about form and image making. It shouldn't be over complicated, and should sit just so. It's play at the center... that's Art. If it's painful – forget it. If you have to think too hard – no use.
That's what is so wonderful about the show – it's instant.
Adrienne Maki & Omari Douglin, Yin and Yang, 2025, Learn more →
OD: I think the objects generated ideas and in some cases the ideas generated objects. For example Yin and Yang (2025) was made from the objects in a mystery grab bag purchased from Comme Des Garçons in Berlin. We had no idea what that piece was going to look like before opening the mystery bag and pulling out its contents. After seeing what was inside, the idea for the piece came to light. We started by painting the panel ground red, mirroring the red shawl found inside the package. Then the brown paper bag that contained everything was glued down on the surface. The tissue paper from inside was attached in such a way that it formed a figure and then half the body was painted with white gesso to fix it onto the surface more permanently. The other half was painted with black gesso for contrast. Also, those were the colors of the reuseable bag that was also inside the package. The 150 euros glued down to the surface was how much it cost. There was also a t-shirt and a door stop inside but we didn’t use those.
The piece is a metaphor for us shopping which always involves risk, chance and spending money. It would have never happened had we not taken a chance on buying a grab bag.
SSM: Of course, the CDG grab bag! I think as you say, that really encapsulates the immediacy (and playfulness) of the piece – reacting to the given circumstances and how playfulness is at the centre of this show in certain respects.
I feel that there are several art historical references in the exhibition... Polke, Kippenberger and Lüpertz come to mind. Did their work, (or post-war German art) influence the exhibition at all – maybe even subconsciously?
AM: That's interesting you bring up Polke, Kippenberger and Lüpertz – what are the specific references or relationships you see within the show?
OD: Maybe! I think we had Arte Povera on our minds and thought there was a direct correlation between that movement and our approach to the materials gathered for the show. Using materials maybe we had never used before and challenging value systems, adding worth to things that seemed worthless. We liked Germano Celant's philosophy to make Art without the restraints of traditional practices and materials and I was interested in what throwaway items could be transformed into Art. We wanted the works to have a large physical presence so did not limit ourselves to the 2D surfaces of the panels.
Adrienne Maki & Omari Douglin, Anansi the Spider, 2025, Learn more →
OD: Anansi the Spider (2025) was inspired by Pino Pascali's piece Vedova Blu (1967) and Cinque Bachi da Setola e un Bozzolo (1968). Deer Park (2025) was inspired by a Steiff deer toy we purchase at a flea market. Those 2 pieces arguably have the biggest presence in the show and use non traditional materials as “paint”.
Pino Pascali, Vedova blu (Blue Widow), 1968, Photo: Roberto Marossi
OD: If I had to say German artist influences I’d say more the Joseph Beuys, Blinky Palermo Imi Knoebel camp subconsciously inspired me. Pickpocket (2025) is lowkey a portrait of Beuys with his signature hat. In my opinion the show is more Fluxus/conceptually driven then painting history concerned. The flow and process of making the work being more important than the finished works is what makes this show accessible to everyone and not just for the big patrons. We wanted to connect with everyday people with this show not just art world people so we let whatever influences organically come and didn’t focus too much on German painters. That being said I’m sure there are connections to be made between some of the works and some of those artists you mention.
Adrienne Maki & Omari Douglin, Pickpocket, 2025, Learn more →
SSM: Retrospectively, were there exhibitions that you both visited in the city that permeated through from your time spent working in Berlin?
OD: For me there were shows that I liked but they more told me what Berlin was missing and what we needed to bring to the city.
SSM: That’s interesting! I know sometimes artists don’t even wish to see other gallery exhibitions when they’re working on shows, just to keep a clear focus on their own practice – Works the other way too I think...
I think that’s a point you make: The flow / process of making the work being more key than the painting. Connecting with the everyday. I guess I didn’t mean so much aesthetically with those 3 German artists (although I love Kippenberger’s & Polke’s openness in embracing unconventional materials in their work - be that found objects & memorabilia in Kippenberger's work or Polke’s just totally experimental side. They were responding to the beginnings of consumer society in West Germany in different ways. He and a group of other artists called themselves the Capitalist Realists, and they were really picking and including everyday things to make paintings of and with, things like dish clothes, socks, shirts...
AM: Right, the position of assemblage is super powerful – this move in expanding the potential of mark making beyond paint has been explored by so many artists... Integrating objects into painterly compositions brings about associations that can can either be entirely new, complex, or totally simplistic. It interests me how objects can be both presented as the thing itself while also functioning as a mark or gesture.
So much of what I think about is "how do you draw in space?" What happens when mark making expands beyond my hand and into three dimensions. That's what I love about Anansi the Spider (2025) and Deer Park (2025) – each perform on both a sculptural and painterly level sucessfully.
I agree with Omari – the Italians have had a huge impact on my ways of seeing.
Much of the associations between historical art works and the show I only made after the fact.
That's something that happens a lot in the practice... meaning and relationships emerge after the fact. You see the through lines once you step away from the work... Anansi the Spider (2025) is Adolph Gottlieb, Deer Park (2025) is Cosima von Bonin ... it's quite striking ... once you take a breath, it all becomes clear.
Adolph Gottlieb, Sign #2, 1973, Courtesy the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Licensed by VAGA at ARS, NY
AM: Arriving in Berlin I really had no expectations.
From what I've observed, a lot of young artists seem to be steeped in darkness or rely too heavily on readymades ... these gestures feel timid ... this is true in America as well.
Net net – be bold, learn how to make things, use color and embrace love, that's where Art lives.
Adrienne Maki & Omari Douglin, Deer Park, 2025, Learn more →
OD: Oh definitely Kippenberger and Polke's openness in embracing unconventional materials aligns with how we made the show. I knew about the use of the dish cloths, socks and shirts use but didn’t know they were apart of a group called Capitalist Realists. I will look more into the groups participants and works they made during that movement.
Exactly, we are like sponges soaking up the influences reflecting what speaks to us in the nature of a place and its people. We like to synthesize the references, influences organically and not think to hard on how things relate. That’s what was nice about finding everything in Berlin. No matter what it was going to speak to the place through material use and us drawing with the materials.
I wasn’t surprised but I was delighted to have space to walk and and explore the city at a time when many people had left. We had a nice place to live and two studios to work in which was a great way to be in 3 different neighborhoods. The pace was slow and easy going, calm and relaxed. I enjoyed being able to go to the grocery store and not wait on a line or throw away my trash in one of the little orange garbage cans posted all around the city. The flea markets were great object history books and the museums/ galleries were reflections of how experimental artists are in Berlin. It just felt more pleasant for me vs being in a busier city like NYC. My German friend gave me hints about the place but I didn’t take them to heart, I just went and had my own experience without preconceived notions. People always talk about Berghain being this crazy club but I didn’t have the interest to go... I preferred being in the studio!