Join us for a visit to three La Cienega galleries. We begin at Luis De Jesus, where we will be joined by artist Ken Gonzales-Day for a walkthrough of his exhibition Bone-Grass Boy: The Secret Banks of the Conejos River We will then move to Von Lintel Gallery to see Floris Neusüs: Intent and Gesture: Photograms- Color (1966-2007). Then on to Kopeikin Gallery for two exhibitions: Alejandro Cartagena: The Collective Memory of the Worst Place to Live in the World Today if You Are Not White. and the group exhibition Tell Me A Story: Contemporary Mexican Photography, curated by Cartagena.
Bone-Grass Boy: The Secret Banks of the Conejos River (1993-1996; 2017) was created as an artistic response to the heated debates that raged in the late 1980s and early 90s around AIDS, gay and transgender rights, immigration and the border, and multiculturalism - and directly addressed mixed racial identity - at a time when the work by Latinx artists were rarely exhibited or written about. This significant body of work established Gonzales-Day's interest in uncovering missing histories in what can now be seen as his unique use of historical research, and it laid the groundwork for his future projects that include Searching for California Hang Trees, Erased Lynchings, and Profiled.
In 1960, the same year as the “anthropometries” of Yves Klein, Neusüss created his first nude figurephotograms, also known as “Nudogramms.” Neusüss was not concerned with using the photogram technique to record a nude form for the sake of documentation but rather to push experimental boundaries of the photogram medium. The works in this exhibition are experiments in photochemical action painting, which show Neusüss’ use of color in unexpected ways with astounding results. Sponges and rags soaked in fixer or developer are applied to the surface of exposed photograms producing painterly gestures, sometimes highlighted by brushstrokes of pigment.
In his newest body of work, The Collective Memory of the Worst Place to Live in the World Today if You are Not White Mexican photographer Cartagena continues his examination of social, urban and environmental issues but now has micro-trained his lens onto the city of Santa Barbara. Cartagena peels away at the immediate beauty and presents new impressions of the coastal community of Santa Barbara, California.
In Tell Me a Story: Contemporary Mexican Photography, Curator and Mexican photographer Cartagena presents an examination on the breadth of styles and subjects that are being addressed today in contemporary Mexican photography. From the personal to the public, and from the industrial urban city to the northern farmlands of Mexico, these six young creators are exploring the possibilities of the medium and how to address the current social and political situation of a country in crisis. The exhibition includes traditional photo based works and PST LA/LA site specific installation pieces. Participating artists are Aglae Cortes, Fernando Gallegos, Juan Carlos Coppel, José Luis Cuevas, Karla Leyva and Mariela Sancari.