Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
These questions posed by 70's British rock band Queen to launch their iconic single...
Date: May 15th – June 28th, 2009
Opening: May 15th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Curator: Phyllis Green
Artists: Lisa Bloomfield, Karen Carson, Phyllis Green, Micol Hebron, Iza Jadach, Karen Koblitz, Rachel Mason, Mery Lynn McCorkle, Blue McRight, M.A. Peers, Fellis Stela, Milena Dopitová (in project room)
These questions posed by 70's British rock band Queen to launch their iconic single "Bohemian Rhapsody" easily pertain to the city of Los Angeles. This Southern California city is indelibly associated with a benign climate, extensive leisure and the pervasive aura of celebrity that is Hollywood. Sarcastically referred to by her detractors as "La La Land", a place where people out of touch with reality reside and where nonsensical ideas originate, Los Angeles has developed steadily over the last thirty years as an entertainment center and an art center. Among the traits associated with the visual arts in the region is an indulgence in fantasy and role-playing, inspired not only by pop culture, but by the revisionism that has characterized West Coast Art in general and the subversive influence of the Feminist Art Movement of the 1970's in particular.
The proposed exhibition, "Is this the real life?" features emerging and mid-career Los Angeles artists who indulge in fantasy and role-playing to produce videos or create images that reveal a fanciful world. The work presented will include video, works on paper, sculpture and artist's books by Lisa Bloomfield (artist's books, works on paper), Karen Carson (works on paper), Phyllis Green (video, sculpture) Micol Hebron (video, photo), Iza Jadach (works on paper), Karen Koblitz (fabric, works on paper), Rachel Mason (video, photo), Mery Lynn McCorkle (works on paper), Blue McRight (works on paper), M.A. Peers (works on paper) and Felis Stella (video).
