Monica Marks ǀ Abandoned

Abandoned, a solo exhibition by Los Angeles–based artist Monica Marks, will be on view October 25 through November 21, 2025 at Gallery 825, located at 825 N La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles. An artist talk is scheduled for November 1 at 2 PM.

This immersive installation brings together sculpture, photography, painting, found-object assemblage, and projection to explore the haunting presence and layered human stories embedded in the abandoned homestead cabins of California’s Mojave Desert.

At the heart of the exhibition is a partially reconstructed “Jackrabbit Homestead”—structures originally built under the Small Tract Act of the 1950s and 1960s, which granted land parcels to homesteaders who often abandoned them after only a few years. Marks recreates one such home within the gallery: graffiti-tagged walls, discarded furniture, and weathered objects salvaged from the desert are placed in dialogue with a projection of brilliant desert sunsets and immersive sound recordings. The result is a poignant contradiction between beauty and decay, inviting viewers into a multi-sensory environment layered with memory, impermanence, and survival.

Complementing the installation are Marks’ photographs of abandoned homesteads, mixed-media panels pairing painted images with found objects, and sculptural displays of discarded artifacts collected near these sites. Together, these works explore the psychological, social, and ecological resonances of abandonment: the fragility of human endeavor, the reclamation of space by nature, and the parallels between abandoned structures and the displacement of unhoused communities.

A trained marital and family therapist, Marks brings her background in mental health into her art practice, framing abandonment as both a personal and collective wound. “I’ve always been interested in abandoned people, abandoned structures, and abandoned dreams,” she reflects. Through Abandoned, she extends this inquiry into a powerful communal space for reflection, empathy, and dialogue.

The exhibition coincides with Marks’ 60th birthday—a milestone she describes as an act of reclamation: “Turning 60 in this culture means confronting invisibility. This show is about choosing creation instead of resignation, and finding meaning in what remains.”