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Bigger than the biggest thing ever and then some. Much bigger than that in fact, really amazingly immense, a totally stunning size, real ‘wow, that’s big’ time. Infinity is just so big that by comparison, bigness itself looks really titchy. Gigantic multiplied by colossal multiplied by staggeringly huge is the sort of concept we’re trying to get across here. Douglas Adams, in Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, hints at the mind-blowing notion of infinity that has puzzled and perplexed the human mind for eons. The very finite nature of earthly experience has always led humans to question in the form of mythology, religion, science and cosmology; what if there is no end? |
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The Birth of an Artistic Capital – Andrzej Lawn
Spanning 30 years of history, “Los Angeles 1955-1985 The Birth of an Artistic Capital,” brings to Paris an exceptional collection of avant-garde artwork acknowledging how Los Angeles is a unique part of art history that cannot be denied. Compacting 30 years of art history into a show of 350 works is no easy task, and credit is due to curator Catherine Grenier who manages not only to include the big names, but also acknowledges the influence and work of many other lesser-known artists contributing to the Californian art scene. Chronologically laid out, one is lead through all the major Californian artistic movements. Beginning with assemblage, L.A. Pop, Finish Fetish, Light and Space, Conceptual Art and Performance Art, Grenier amasses a collection of work that should not be missed.
Before Los Angeles had a strong character of its own, it was seen as an alternative to the New York art scene. Developing free from historical and institutional totalism, Los Angeles forged its own position in the art world by rejecting standardized influences in order to grasp the language of art for itself. This allowed artists to dispense with trends and to rebuild a sense of artistic consciousness that was distinctively Los Angelean.
Some of the many major works in the show include Ed Ruscha’s painting The Los Angeles County Museum on Fire (1965-1968) and his artist’s books showcasing typical Californian anti-aesthetic work. John Baldessari’s I am Making Art (1971) contains a similar anti-aesthetic within his 19 minute black and white video. In the film, Baldessari is shown from the knees up and simply shifts his body position and utters the words, “I am making art,” raising the idea of art and the questions around our inability to define what art is, and why. I am Making Art is a provocative work of art that questions its own very nature and legitimacy. Also of special interest is a mini video retrospective of Chris Burden’s early performance works containing the infamous Shoot (1971) piece (where Burden asked a friend to shoot him in the arm with a rifle), supplemented with relics from the actual performances, live photographs and original texts.
Upon leaving the exhibition, one is left with a good sense of how dynamic and culturally diverse the art scene that developed in the Los Angeles area was. The ideas that were born in Los Angeles are concepts that still resonate throughout the world and that have become embedded in our culture. Living in a transcultural world where information and experience are transmitted instantly, and the internet allows us to be everywhere at once yet nowhere at the same time, one wonders if it is possible for a new nexus of art like Los Angeles to evolve. Although the art market will always be present in the financially wealthiest cities, can the energy that existed locally in Los Angeles that produced such rich art exist anywhere today? Is a future art capital
