“We’re a joyful art gallery,” CODA Gallery director Samuel Heaton says. “Our philosophy is that art should be uplifting and beautiful and inspiring.” Founded in 1987, CODA is a landmark on El Paseo, beckoning passersby with colorful paintings and quirky sculptures — and it’s got a stacked lineup for its 2024–2025 exhibition season. Here’s the lowdown on some of the artists who will be showing work at the legendary space.
Lucia Heffernan
Dec. 6–20, 2024
Perhaps no one captures CODA’s happiness-inducing ethos like Lucia Heffernan, a Taiwan-born artist known for painting animals into anthropomorphic situations. Her puppies, kittens, rats, and other critters drive cars, play pickleball, and — meta alert — even create charming oil portraits that bring whimsy into photorealism.
James Corbett
Jan. 3–17, 2025
Australian sculptor and former motor-wrecking business owner James Corbett’s favorite medium is an unusual one: car parts. “He makes [them] come alive,” Heaton says. Indeed, Corbett’s sculptures of android-like humanoid figures and animals such as dogs, goats, and birds are almost uncannily expressive and realistic.
“Kirlian Botanical” by C. Dutch.
C. Dutch
Feb. 7–21, 2025
No, that’s not a portal to another universe. It’s the arresting work of experimental Southern California artist C. Dutch, which seems to fold light into kaleidoscopic ribbons. “When people see [his pieces], they think they are somehow powered,” Heaton says. “But what they actually do is collect available light and redirect and amplify it.”
Michael Steirnagle
March 7–21, 2025
An Indian Wells resident, Michael Steirnagle was a freelance illustrator for 18 years before transitioning into fine art, creating wonderfully crowded scenes that capture bodies in motion, dancing, playing polo, and lounging or frolicking by the seashore. Even his paintings of people alone feel kinetic, thanks to soft lines and smudgy shapes.
Robin Austin
March 7–21, 2025
Look closely at this new take on pointillism, and you’ll see that English artist Robin Austin’s portraits of icons like Marilyn Monroe, Mick Jagger, and one-time Palm Springs resident Lucille Ball are composed of thousands of tiny pop culture pieces, from small, relevant photos to magazine and album covers.
“Varsity Pickle” by Lucia Heffernan.
“Destinations #3” by Jamie Perry.
Daniel Raynott
April 4–18, 2025
Though painter Daniel Raynott lives in Ireland, “he’s one of our most popular midcentury architectural artists,” Heaton says. “He’s visited here a lot and loves the California lifestyle.” Raynott’s affection for the Golden State is reflected in his richly hued depictions of mid-mod homes through clean lines, flat roofs, and inviting backyard pools.
Nathan Neven
April 4–18, 2025
Like Raynott, Irish artist Nathan Neven paints fabulous midcentury houses. But you’ll have to be quite the animal lover to step inside his canvases — creatures like tigers, giraffes, ostriches, and a football-wielding gorilla dwell in and around Neven’s sumptuously decorated abodes.
Carrie Graber
May 2–16, 2025
Southern California–born Carrie Graber designs furniture between painting canvases— which maybe explain why every stool, chair, and table in her warm, light-filled, photorealistic pieces make the viewer itch to go antiquing. See the best of California living in her work: beachgoers relaxing under umbrellas, surfers sharing a pizza, and a woman strolling around her Palm Springs pool.
“Dean, Judy, and Frank” by Robin Austin.