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| Echo Park Arts | |
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HAPPINESS, PRIMITIVES: A Travelogue of the Journey Back from Eden
Photographic
exhibition by Check out more work at: http://www.ausartweb.com/jennifergardner.htm June 2 through July 15, 2001 Opening Reception: Saturday June 2nd, 7 to 9 PM
Also see below for details on the special performance of Anaïs Nin’s writings read by: Gordon Henderson, Miguel Sanchez, Steve Abee and more to be announced. Saturday June 9th -7 to 9 PM
Jennifer Gardner’s poetic photographs mix
genres and emotions to depict dual subjects - half-human, poised with candid
nudity and half-comic strip character. The overlaying emotional language
traverses a range of emotions-from amusing delight to deeply personal truths.
The title of Gardner’s exhibition, and much of its inspiration, comes from
the unexpurgated diaries of Anaïs Nin, Incest ‘From A Journal of Love’
(1932-1934) and Fire ‘From A Journal of Love’ (1934-1937). The phrase
‘Happiness, Primitives" is from one of Gardner’s favorite passages of
this work. "Nin’s text struck a resounding chord in me and helped guide
the series. I was moved by her daringly honest self-exploration into the dark,
native regions of her heart, and her courage to write about it so
candidly," says Gardner. "Nin used her personal relationships and
her sexuality as a means to gain greater self-awareness – an endeavor that
was, at the time, reserved for men only." Gardner created these images to
reach much the same goal. Visually Gardner’s characters are often reminiscent of those in Maurice Sendak children’s story ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. Her creatures are simultaneously cute and cuddly plus fearsome with a dose of eerie surrealism. The photographs are soft focus black and white images of 'grown-ups' at play. Gardner positions her fleshy, often oversized ‘real bodies’ in the wilderness or urban landscapes, leaping about with glee without any covering except large oversized toy heads. Live erotic caricatures pose with costume heads from a lion, panda bear, sheep and bull, panther, rabbit and chipmunk. The project began by Gardner photographing her friend Bob nude in the landscape. These early pictures were as much about Bob as they were about the landscape. Gardner says "one day, for reasons still unclear to me, I asked Bob to put on a rabbit mask while we were in the Arizona desert, and this series was born." "The masks served nicely to simultaneously mirror and mock the dehumanizing or objectifying effect of pornography, but without turning the project into a photo-diatribe against the evils of male-dictated societal conventions. I like portraying Bob and other friends/models in all their imperfect splendor." At first Gardner concentrated on photographing masked men only, finding both the images and the process of making them darkly am using and empowering. "I enjoyed rebuking feminine beauty myths and turning the notion of sexual exploitation on its head by depicting male nudity in the same way that men have depicted women since even before the invention of the camera," says Gardner. The exhibition’s signature image ‘Lion and Bear throwing the ball’ shows a gargantuan male wearing a lion’s head playfully tossing a globe to a hybrid of a man and fierce bear with open fangs. The twilight exposes a full moon that hangs in the middle of the frame perched above the ball. Another photograph catches a fleshy man standing prone like a gunslinger beside three gigantic cacti; his floppy rabbit ear falling askew over the mask’s empty bottomless eyes. Gardner’s accompanying text by Nin reads "While he talks I feel this dark-skinned, mythological animal so potent, not human looking, but animal, with the ugliness of earth, the solidity, and the sinewyness, and the mind so agile and abysmal." The series evolved as Gardner began to photograph women and children in various combinations in urban locations. "These images comment on modern domestic life, and in their own way, attempt to debunk other supposed norms that we, as a society, and especially as women, have had imposed upon us," expresses Gardner. "While certain viewers might differ, this project is not meant to convey any particular feminist manifesto. I am not an intellectual feminist. All I know is that the images are, at least to me, sometimes funny, sometimes moving and sometimes surreal. And that, to me, is satisfying enough". Jenifer Gardner, AKA Grossblatt is a native to California, raised, educated and currently working in Los Angeles as an entertainment business litigation attorney, it is Gardner’s roots to this city that helped discover many of the scenic urban locations used in her photographs. With the assistance of some of photography’s greatest - Shelby Lee Adams, Albert Watson, Keith Carter and Mary Ellen Mark - Gardner honed her skills for shooting both landscape and portraits by attending their workshops. Her previous bodies of work have touched on themes such as people with disabilities and Hollywood’s runaway children. Solo exhibitions include Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies (1996), The Angst Ensemble Theater, San Francisco (1998), Fototeca Nacional (National Photo Library), Mexico (1999) and the XIV Abril Mes Internacional De La Fotografia, Yucatan, Mexico (2000). In 1997 Gardner was invited to exhibit in the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography’s Biennial Exhibition. To celebrate the inspiration of Anaïs Nin’s
writings, fototeka is hosting a special reading of passages by the writer;
read by male poets. Local identities include, Gordon Henderson, Steve Abee and
Miguel Sanchez among others, to soon be announced. Starting at 7pm to 9pm, on
Saturday June 9th, all enthusiasts are welcome. This event is free.
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| MADE
IN ECHO PARK
Need a graphic designer to create your business cards? Or a musician to help you complete a composition? Then look for the upcoming "Made in Echo Park: A Directory of Designers & Creative Services." The
free directory will be aimed at residents, business owners and
If
you would like to be included in the directory, call (213)
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Echo
Park Art Hero Jesus Sanchez!
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Delirium-Tremens
 Delirium-Tremens joined Ojala Fine Arts & Crafts, which opened in May 1998, in an emerging ‘‘gallery row’’ on Echo Park Avenue. In September 1998, a third art space—Fototeka, which focuses on photographic arts—opened its doors on the same block. AaronDonovan, whose paintings and have been exhibited in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New Orleans, and PattiCastillo, who works in ceramics, are both residents of Echo Park. Delirium-Tremens
in located at 1553 Echo Park Avenue. For more
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in
echo park
Small galleries speak up on the East Side By Hope Urban-reprinted with kind permission from Glue On Echo Park Avenue is a mural Aaron Donovan painted in homage to a man across the street who has bunnies, chickens and a pony—and at one time, a cow—in his sprawling yard just steps from Sunset Boulevard. Entitled “Chicken Corner,” the huge, colorful mural announces a new presence in the neighborhood: a triple-threat response to the often snobby West Side art world. The opening of three new galleries this year, all dedicated to providing a venue to emerging artist who have been shunned by the more conservative art machine, promise to transform this vibrant working-class community with artistic energy. Artist/Millie’s waiter Aaron Donovan and Pac Bell operator/Spaceland doorgirl Patricia Castillo saw a need—an unpretentious place where artist could show—and a space—a turn of the century storefront in need of restoration. One sold ’64 Galaxie station wagon and countless tips later, Delirium Tremens was born. To settle an argument on the name, Donovan and Castillo chose one by a blind opening of the dictionary (a method used by countless bands in the same neighborhood). And yet Delirium Tremens—the formal name for the DT’s, or the shakes and hallucinatory visions drunks suffer upon withdrawals—fits perfectly with the duo’s vision of aesthetic provocation. I really like art that people love or hate—nothing lukewarm,” says Donovan, whose hard luck getting his own show led him to open his own space. “I was taking my slides around, kind of frightened, and the galleries were so pretentious. They’d glance at the slides, look you over, look at their watch, and boom! You’re outta there.” An ArtCenter College of Design graduate, Donovan realized that many of his former schoolmates were likely undergoing the same experience. He finally got a break last May when Ojala Fine Art, located next to the DTs space, opened its doors and gave him a show. “There’s a lot of talent, but no venues,” says Jesus Sanchez, the proprietor of Ojala. Sensing a wealth of untapped talent in Echo Park, Silver Lake and Chinatown, Sanchez is committed to showing work for those communities. And so is Fototeka, a photography gallery that is set to open nearby before the end of the year. “We want to bring people in, not be a snobby presence,” says Robin Blackman, one of three people launching Fototeka. As for Delirium Tremens’ niche in this mini art zone, the concept is to explore the fine line between illustration and fine art. “Think brain damage,” Donovan suggests. glue
style and action in los angeles is the new fashion and arts magazine
busting out of Los Angeles, covering the trendsetting East Side of town.
This is the world of Beck, indy film, cheap rent, affordable designer clothes,
boutiques selling Mexican love potions, web geeks on crank, the Darby
Crash Memorial Punk Rock Museum, and a million bands that will never get
signed. Glue sees it all and takes pictures! Glue magazine is available
at all major newsstands in LA, and at the following stores:
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