Made it back to see Phantom Sightings, this time without the crowds. I didn’t take that many pictures, but the ones I took are in this Flickr set.
Above - Vocho, Margarita Cabrera - This piece steals my heart. A sewn Volkswagen bug, with the non-Mexican parts removed and replaced by fiber elements. This piece has a funny bit, kind of a little gag - it rides on casters, and I found the idea of pushing a stuffed VW around on casters to be kind of performative and funny. I don’t know why. The interior is really well made. Here’s a shot of the whole car, and here is her label.
Above - Vocho, Julio Cesar Morales - This body of work, which everyone in LA has had blasted into their heads by the promo for the exhibition, drips with completeness and intent. These are reproductions of materials documenting human trafficking at the US border, downloaded from the website of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I’m seeing more and more works based upon the web cross my desk over the past three years, especially a lot of things based on or in reference to Google maps, and this is really some of the more mature and well-thought work that I’ve seen based upon anInternet source. Here are three more works, and his bio is here.
Above - Shizu Saldamando - Point of disclosure - I work alongside Shizu as a Getty Multicultural Undergraduate Internship Program Discussion Leader, but I don’t know her that well. I first saw her work at her 2007 Tropico de Nopal show. I was really taken with her ballpoint on cloth drawings, her ability to use mixed media in a contextually solid way and I was also very much impressed by her navigation of her own tricky, multi-racial identity politics in her artist’s talk. Her bio is here.
Above - Cruz Ortiz - This picture is here because I love catapults, especially scratch built ones. This is actually a trebuchet, the most awesome species of catapult, and I love the sling made from a piece of cut-off jeans. I thought that this installation was slightly unfocused, but this element latched onto me.
Above - Treasure Room, Eduardo Sarabia - A little square tiled room at the back of the space holds Treasure Room, which I can only describe as temple-like. Masonic, even. I was filled with a kind of cautious reverence while I was in this space.
Above - Nicola Lopez - I saw this work installed in Santa Fe over a year ago, and I’ve been trying to find an opportunity and the resources to bring her work out to LA. Looks like LACMA beat me to it, and I’m glad to see her work in this show. This picture really doesn’t do the work any justice at all - This whole piece is composed of prints. Go see the show, dammit.
Technorati Tags: Nicola Lopez, Eduardo Sarabia, Cruz Ortiz, Shizu Saldamando, Julio Cesar Morales, Margarita Cabrera, VW, VW Bug, Beetle, Volkswagen, Fiber Art, sculpture, painting, Buttercup, Powerpuff Girl, human trafficking, smuggling, LACMA, Phantom Sightings, Catapult, Trebuchet, art, contemporary art
May 1st, 2008 at
[...] Photos from the Phantom Sightings show at LACMA. [...]
May 3rd, 2008 at
Does anyone have contact information for the artist Shizu Saldamando. I would like to commission a portrait from her. A buisness email adress would be very much appreciated.
May 3rd, 2008 at
I’m sure you can contact Shizu either through LACMA or through Tropico de Nopal, the gallery that hosted her most recent solo show.