Among the works featured in this seven-year survey exhibition are two of Gaines' 'disaster machines,' Airplane Crash Clock (1997) and Falling Rock (2000). Invoking emotion and spectacle as a means of engagement, these automated sculptures enact generic disasters based on arbitrary time schedules. Artist's Talk, today at 6pm.
Charles Gaines
Projects from 1995-2001
Artist's Talk: Charles Gaines, Thursday, April 11 at 6pm
Accomplished Los Angeles-based conceptual artist, instructor and writer,
Charles
Gaines is described by Franklin Sirmans as " a part of the 1970s generation
of
artists for whom the crossover between studio and the seminar is a crucial
facet
of their work, one that can be slowly gleaned and understood through the
philosophical nature of his art, which always prompts more questions than
answers. Like (Robert) Smithson, Gaines is interested in a kaleidoscopic
between-ness with enough room for cosmic perspectives and the sublimities of
doubt delivered ironically and with uncanny clarity...."
Among the works featured in this seven-year survey exhibition are two of
Gaines'
"disaster machines," Airplane Crash Clock (1997) and Falling Rock (2000).
Invoking emotion and spectacle as a means of engagement, these automated
sculptures enact generic disasters based on arbitrary time schedules: in one
a
toy plane crashes into an urban landscape, in another a boulder crashes
through
a sheet of glass. Also included are works from the following series:
Night/Crimes (1995), juxtaposing images from the L.A.P.D. and Los Angeles
Times
archives with photographs of the night sky from the evening the documented
incident occurred; Absent Figures (2000-2001), which approach the
representation
of landscape in relationship to spectacle; and Cancelled Checks (2000),
comprising hundreds of bank checks made out to the first sentence in books
selected from the artist's personal library.
CATALOGUE AVAILABLE:
Color-illustrated with essays by the artist and Franklin Sirmans (28 pgs)
RELATED EVENTS
Opening reception: Saturday, March 16, from 6 - 8:00 p.m.
Artist's Talk: Charles Gaines, Thursday, April 11 at 6pm.
Lecture: Franklin Sirmans, Monday, April 22 at 7:00 p.m.
Lurid Stories was organized by the San Francisco Art Institute's Walter and
McBean Galleries as the 2001 Adaline Kent Award Exhibition and presented at
the
San Francisco Art Institute from June 14 - July 28, 2001. The presentation of
the exhibition at the Luckman Gallery has been made possible through a
generous
grant from the Pasadena Art Alliance.
Image: Charles Gaines, "Airplanecrash clock" (details). 1997
Luckman Gallery
California State University, Los Angeles
5151 State University Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90032-8116
Tel. 323 3436604
Fax (323) 343-6670