Various Small Fires (VSF) is thrilled to announce the opening of our newest gallery space, VSF OC, situated in the commercial center of Tustin, a fast-growing city within central Orange County, California.
VSF OC will debut with a public community opening on Saturday, April 26, 2025, from 6 to 8 PM, with an inaugural exhibition curated by VSF Founder and Owner Esther Kim Varet. Kim Varet is also a candidate in the 2026 election for California’s 40th U.S. Congressional district, in which VSF OC is located.
Titled The Orange Curtain, a phrase that has been used to reference the perceived cultural and political disconnect between Orange County and its northern sister megapolis Los Angeles, this exhibition brings together Southern California contemporary artists Edwin Arzeta, Jackie Castillo, and Marcel Alcalá, each of whom draw on their shared Orange County roots. The Orange Curtain highlights a small portion of the significant and under-appreciated contributions of past and present artists in the Orange County region to the history and landscape of contemporary art.
Born in Orange, CA, Jackie Castillo (b. 1990) produces lens-based sculptural works incorporating industrial materials emblematic of working-class labor, offering a meditation on the evolving urban and suburban landscapes of Southern California. In contrast to Castillo’s constructed forms, Edwin Arzeta, also a native of Orange, CA (b. 1986), renders drawings imbued with an ephemeral delicacy—his floral motifs and candle-lit confections appearing to hover just above the paper’s surface. Marcel Alcalá (b. 1990), from Santa Ana, channels their Mexican-American heritage and queer identity into resplendent canvases that celebrate the Southern Californian vernacular with riotous color and electric energy.
Various Small Fires started in 2012 as an informal artist project space within Kim Varet’s former Venice Beach home. Since then, VSF has evolved into a globally recognized leader within the contemporary art world. The gallery established its first permanent space in Hollywood in 2015, a 5,000-square-foot compound with an expansive outdoor sculpture gallery. Over the past decade, VSF has expanded its presence internationally, opening outposts in Seoul, Dallas, and now Tustin.
The name Various Small Fires is a nod to Ed Ruscha’s 1970 seminal conceptual photo book, Various Small Fires and Milk, which featured deadpan images of small flames emitted by matches, stoves and the like, with a playful non sequitur coda photograph of a glass of milk. VSF’s unique exhibition programming and stellar roster of represented artists have likewise provoked unique discourse within the art world, offering reflections on democracy and media, climate change, the immigrant experience, and racial and socioeconomic dynamics, among other pertinent topics. In Esther Kim Varet’s recent career profile with The New York Times, she succinctly summarizes her lifelong mission: “I’m drawn to people who have historically been the underdog. I want to elevate vulnerable voices.”
The Orange Curtain is a continuation of the gallery’s commitment to amplifying the voices of under-represented artists and dispelling myths around hierarchy and value. Following this inaugural exhibition, Kim Varet has outlined upcoming programming at VSF OC that include rare solo exhibitions by founder of The Hundreds and VP of Creative at Disney Bobby Kim, homegrown Cerritos and LA painter of the Korean-American experience Wendy Park, the octogenarian painter of climate disasters Jessie Homer French, and an Orange County-centric design and art showcase curated by gallerist colleagues Ben Lee Handler and Emilia Yin.
VSF OC will be open to the public Wednesdays through Saturdays 10AM-6PM, beginning April 26, 2025, at 119 N. Prospect Ave. in Tustin, CA.