The Fallen Easel

The Fallen Easel
John Baldessari, Sharif Farrag and Christina Forrer

24 April–30 May 2026

Maximillian William is pleased to present TheFallen Easel, an exhibition that brings together LA-based artists Christina Forrer (b. 1978) and Sharif Farrag (b. 1993), alongside a single work by John Baldessari (1931–2020). 

Though all three of the artists in the exhibition share a playfully subversive approach to form and narrative, the exhibition foregrounds a set of contrasts, particularly in terms of medium, tone and voice. John Baldessari’s TheFallen Easel (1988), a dynamic composition of nine monochrome photographs, inhabits the gallery as a wry interlocutor between Farrag and Forrer. In one of TheFallen Easel’s images, the faces of three besuited men are obscured by the artist’s trademark circles of primary colours, while in another, tightly cropped into a long horizontal format, we see an easel pushed to the ground as if abandoned by a frustrated painter. Working with found photographs and film stills, Baldessari asks questions about origins and authorship, as well as the instability of narrative in pictorial art. Farrag’s glazed ceramics often feature agglomerations of street-smart oddballs, bizarre natural forms and mythical creatures, often reflecting the heightened irreality of life in LA. Forrer’s weavings, by contrast, occupy a more interiorised space, where snippets of psychodrama and folklore unfold upon the textured surface of a warm tapestry. Forrer’s Regula (2026) depicts a woman holding a head, which may or may not be her own, with an arm that appears to be connected to her severed neck by a stream of delirious colour. The expression on the disembodied head is strangely calm, and overall the work offers a startling combination of humour and violence, even while the weave itself offers a visual experience distinct from any hint of narrative. Farrag’s Jester Jug (2026) is a lush overflow of flowers and creatures, while a small blue figure – the jester? – emerges from the vessel that supports the profusion of life. 

Despite both artists drawing upon popular forms of storytelling, from comic books to myths, the medium-specific experience of looking at their work is vividly different. The smooth, glazed surface of Farrag’s ceramics evokes a sense of luxuriousness even while the energy and characters seem to subvert that association. Where Farrag’s sculptures express a centrifugal force, Forrer’s woven works conjure an interiorised space, in a medium that evokes domesticity and humility, if also synonymous with fairy tales and historical dramas. And while Farrag’s work effloresces from a central point, with content that reflects the delirious sheen of urban life – the artist will create for the exhibition a body of work that takes on London’s landmarks – Forrer’s dives deep into our unconscious, revealing, in the warp and woof of her tapestries, our darkest conflicts and desires. 

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John Baldessari (1931–2020) was an American conceptual artist whose work reshaped the landscape of contemporary art over six decades. Initially trained as a painter, he began to incorporate text and found photography into his practice in the mid-1960s, later expanding into print, video, sculpture, installation and film. His work was featured in more than 200 solo exhibitions worldwide, and he was the recipient of numerous honours, including the National Medal of Arts and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale. His work is held in public collections internationally, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum.

Sharif Farrag (b. 1993, Reseda, California) is a Los Angeles-based ceramic artist. His work combines classic ceramic techniques with improvisational construction, resulting in vividly coloured, detailed sculptures that merge narrative imagery, personal experience and hybrid identity. Recent solo and group presentations include Jeffrey Deitch, New York; François Ghebaly, Los Angeles; and the Clay Biennial, Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles. He has a forthcoming residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan and is featured in the permanent collection of The Broad, Los Angeles, amongst others. 

Christina Forrer (b. 1978, Zürich, Switzerland) lives and works in Los Angeles. Working in tapestry, weaving, painting, and works on paper, Forrer creates densely populated scenes of fantastical conflict and interaction, animated by vivid colour and expressive form. Forrer has had solo exhibitions at Luhring Augustine, New York; SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah; and Swiss Institute, New York and has participated in exhibitions at venues including the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles and The Jewish Museum, New York. 

Image: Christina Forrer, Twizzle, 2026, Cotton and wool, 114.3 x 137.2 cm, 45 x 54 in.