Upcoming Shows
A VOYAGE OF GROWTH AND DISCOVERY
by Mike Kelley and Michael Smith
PLYWOOD CURTAINS
by Jennifer Bolande
ETERNITY FOREVER
by Marnie Weber
May 26th – August 26th 2010
at The Farley Building
1669 Colorado Boulevard, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, CA 90041-1435
Wednesday to Saturday: Noon to 7pm
Sunday: 1pm to 6pm
After a first stop in NYC, Baby Ikki returns to Los Angeles where A Voyage of Growth and Discovery was initially generated. A mixed-media work including a multi-channel video, a 30-foot sculpture and a sound installation, A Voyage of Growth and Discovery is a collaborative project by Mike Kelley and Michael Smith, curated by Emi Fontana, and co-produced by West of Rome and the SculptureCenter (Long Island City, NY), where it premiered in Fall 2009.
The two-and-a-half hour, six-channel video component of A Voyage of Growth and Discovery follows the existential journey of Baby IKKI as he wanders through a festival of “radical self-expression” in Nevada’s remote Black Rock Desert. The installation evokes the festival’s fantasy-like environment, which is both folksy and grand—a mixture of fairground, playground, hippie commune, and the futuristic architectural aesthetic of R. Buckminster Fuller.
A Voyage of Growth and Discovery will be exhibited in the same studio space where it was first conceived of and developed. By opening the studio to the public, West of Rome calls into question the traditional division between the artist’s public and private spheres: the studio, which is normally reserved as a secluded, private space, is now turned inside out as it becomes the official site of public presentation.
Bringing the visitors to the Farley Building, where the studio is located, serves as yet another occasion for West of Rome to highlight a part of the city outside the art-world’s usual path, making the installation highly interesting in terms of both its history and its present state. Ethnic diversity and a large population of creative professionals have long characterized the neighborhood of Eagle Rock, which only in recent years has seen a dramatic process of gentrification. Tucked in the hills of North-East Los Angeles, the Farley Building once served as a self-storage facility and is a typical construction of the local landscape.
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Continuing the “Women in the City” series, the upcoming West of Rome Public Art productions include the interventions of two seminal L.A. artists: Jennifer Bolande and Marnie Weber.
“Plywood Curtains” by Jennifer Bolande
Starting Summer 2010 in the streets of Greater Los Angeles
Jennifer Bolande’s newest project, Plywood Curtains, was conceived especially for the streets of Los Angeles, with a plan to diffuse virally throughout the city over the next year. It consists of numerous fabric curtains, printed from detailed, at-scale photographs of plywood sheets, which will be hung in the windows of vacant storefronts in L.A.’s commercial districts. As viewers encounter the installation repeatedly in a variety of locations, the curtains will help activate the empty properties.
“Eternity Forever” by Marnie Weber
Opening Fall 2010. At the Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum Project, Altadena
A film/performance/exhibition by Marnie Weber that will take place at the historic Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum, where stars of the Hollywood Silent Film era and Civil War heroes are interred. The film will be shot there, with the look of the expressionistic early black-and-white silent cinema. Her Gothic heroine will be depicted in a mystical landscape populated with fantastic characters. Weber will compose a soundtrack to accompany the film and the performance. The film will premiere in the graveyard with a live performance.
West of Rome Public Art (WoR) is a nonprofit art organization dedicated to the realization of artists’ projects, exhibitions, and public interventions in unusual or under-recognized locations in Los Angeles that engage the public in experiences unique to the city. West of Rome was founded in 2005 by its director, Emi Fontana, and received 501(c)(3) status in 2009.
WoR Public Art
380 South Lake Avenue, Suite 209
Pasadena, CA 91101
info@westofrome.org
T 626-793-1504
F 626-793-1508
