Biennial ‘Made in L.A.’ highlights local artists and art scene
Made in L.A.
Through Sept. 2
Hammer Museum, LA > < ART and Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
By Michael Palumbo
June 3, 2012 11:42 p.m.
A photo collage shows a woman with two sets of teeth superimposed on her face, which is further obscured by pink dots that swirl in front of the blonde woman’s eyes and nose.
The rest of the yellow backdrop shows some coupons for Tylenol and a picture of lawn chairs. Written above the images is one word: “California.”
Crafted by Meg Cranston, the abstract work “California” is one of many artworks featured in the exhibition “Made in L.A.,” which features art and performances at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Hammer Museum and the LA> < ART associate director and senior curator Cesar Garcia.
“The intention is to see what artists are exploring in their work,” Garcia said. “There is no theme for the show, but we started noticing that many artists of the city were interested in materiality, theatricality, subjectivity, archeology and mythology.”
Forti is one of 20 “Made in L.A.” artists who either work at UCLA or have received doctoral and graduate degrees at UCLA. Another is Meleko Mokgosi, who received his graduate degree in fine arts in 2011 and is featuring 10 paintings and installations called “Pax Kaffraria: Sikhuselo Sembumbulu” as part of an eight-part series that he is currently developing.
“My work is about the anti-imperial sentiments that occupy regions of (southern) Africa such as Uganda, and how they are responding to globalization and outside influences and how that impacts their understanding of nationalism,” Mokgosi said.
Mokgosi said he storyboards all of his paintings to construct a whole narrative in 10 paintings that portray these issues. Mokgosi, whose work reflects South African imperialism from 1856 to the present, also said he has certain cultural and political motifs to represent these issues.
“There’s the motif of a security guard who is defined as a proxy for those in power. Some of my paintings look at the significance of the security guard over colonial, postcolonial and contemporary times and how this symbol impacts culture and understanding power in any region,” Mokgosi said of his historical paintings.
Garcia said the exhibit reflects what artists living in Los Angeles are experimenting with and how they’re trying to capture the locale.
“The exhibit is a fractured snapshot. … It gives a local pulse for what is happening (in Los Angeles). … Some of the most interesting works have been produced in L.A., and we’ve never had a platform that shows that. We’re not trying to drastically change the art scene here; we’re just trying to show that it has always been here,” Garcia said.
