Monika Spruth Philomene Magers
Doug Aitken
John Baldessari
Patterson Beckwith
Lecia Dole-Recio
Mario Garcia-Torres
Jack Goldstein
Richard Hawkins
Patrick Hill
Sister Corita Kent
Norman Klein
Barbara Kruger
David Lamelas
Lisa Lapinski
John McCracken
Matthew Monahan
Christine Nguyen
Lari Pittma
Sterling Ruby
Allen Ruppersberg
Ed Ruscha
Lara Schnitger
Kim Schonstadt
Paul Sietsema
Catherine Sullivan
Robert Therrien
Pae White
Johannes Fricke-Waldthausen
Imagine Los Angeles. This is a thematic exhibition comprising the creative production of a number of contemporary artists, writers, and filmmakers living and working in LA. In light of Umberto Eco's and Jean Baudrillard's notion of hypereality, the exhibition perceives the city as a place with unclear boundaries separating reality and the imaginary.
Imagine Los Angeles
Curated by Johannes Fricke-Waldthausen
Doug Aitken, John Baldessari, Patterson Beckwith, Lecia Dole-Recio, Mario
Garcia-Torres, Jack Goldstein, Richard Hawkins, Patrick Hill, Sister Corita Kent,
Norman Klein, Barbara Kruger, David Lamelas, Lisa Lapinski, John McCracken, Matthew
Monahan, Christine Nguyen, Lari Pittman,Sterling Ruby, Allen Ruppersberg, Ed Ruscha,
Lara Schnitger, Kim Schonstadt, Paul Sietsema, Catherine Sullivan, Robert
Therrien, Pae White.
Uneasy Angel / Imagine Los Angeles is a thematic exhibition comprising the creative
production of a number of contemporary artists, writers, and filmmakers living and
working in Los Angeles. In light of Umberto Eco's and Jean Baudrillard's notion of
hypereality, the exhibition perceives Los Angeles as just such a place- with unclear
boundaries separating reality and the imaginary. In today's information society a
city cannot be seen and marketed as a static, self-contained or isolated system
anymore (Castells, 2004). Yet, a specific characteristic of Los Angeles is that its
historical reality is absolutely democratized: Fictional environments seem to be a
cultural foundation where both, originals and copies serve as historical reference
points. The logical distinction between "real world"and "possible
worlds" has been undermined because here everything must be like reality. What
then might it mean to address the artistic production of this multi-layered
city?
The perception of the artist as a travelling passenger in a hyper real,
interconnected space between reality and fiction serves as a starting point for the
exhibition. The culture of Los Angeles has expanded to that phenomena so much, that
it became an experimental laboratoy for artists in their research and creation of
"in between" spaces. Like the city itself, art created in Los Angeles
could be described as "post-historical" or "hyper-real" But
similar to the multiple practices within it, artists from Los Angeles can teach us a
lot about both contemporary life and history: about its ambiguities, its layering,
its complexities, its contradictions, its chaos.
As described often, L.A. is probably the most mediated town in America, nearly
unviewable save through the fictive scrim of its mythologies. Anticipating the idea
of the city as a fiction, simulation and simulacrum, an important notion about the
myth of Los Angeles is based on the concept of fragmented, co-existing realities.
Many of them are created by the local entertainment and media industry, constructing
their very own dynamic and a concrete actuality.
The contemporary relevance of Beaudrillard's thinking may be to consider which
contradictions are created by a highly mediated culture in terms of experiencing our
own identities: if we live in a culture that worships the virtual, desire, craving,
sensation, and simulation, how can we passively observe "what is"? How can
we acquire a consciousness of attention to the internal such as to experience
something as real?
When the imaginary becomes a genuine experience, the sensation behind it disappears.
It is what it is, and from there can proceed without contradiction. In this way, Los
Angeles and its art become something totally authentic.
The exhibition Uneasy Angel / Imagine Los Angeles will take place at both galleries
in Munich: Monika Spruth Philomene Magers, Munich and Sprueth Magers Projekte,
Munich.
Opening: Friday, September 14, 2007
Monika Spruth Philomene Magers
Schellingstrasse 48 - Munich
Opening hours: Tuesday - friday: 11am - 2pm and 3pm - 6pm Saturday: 11am - 2pm and by appointment
Free admission