past Exhibitions
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January 9 - February 6, 2010
Michele O'Marah
A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do
Michele O'Marah
A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do
January 9 - February 6, 2010
Kathryn Brennan Gallery is thrilled to present A girls got to do what a girls got to do, an exhibition of new work by Michele O'Marah. For the exhibition, O'Marah has created three new video works that are re-created scenes from the Pamela Anderson film Barb Wire (1996). Continuing her examination of the mass media representation of the revolutionary, this exhibition is the second half of a project that began with her piece How Goes it with the Black Movement? (2007), whose focus was a PBS broadcast interview between Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton and conservative host and author William F. Buckley on his program Firing Line. A counterpoint to the heady, academic discussion of the former, O'Marah's current source, Barb Wire, is an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name. Anderson's "Barb" is a disaffected mercenary in the post-Second U.S. Civil War city of Steel Harbor, who gets caught in the middle of the revo lutionary activities of a former flame who is working to expose the ruling Neo-Fascist government for its ruthless behavior. Aimed at a Gen X audience, the film has acquired a cult status despite a poor reception, both critically and at the box office.
For A girls got to do what a girls got to do, the artist will be exhibiting three video works, installations of set pieces, photographs, and text-based drawings. Having re-staged four scenes from the film, O'Marah has cast a different actress for each to play the character of Barb. In addition to the artist's probe of the corporatized, MTV version of a revolutionary hero, O'Marah's efforts serve as deconstructive analyses of the film's representation of femininity. Hiring a diverse range of professional actresses to fill Anderson's stiletto high heels, O'Marah's "Barb" takes various forms. Working with each actress, O'Marah's video works take on the most sexually explicit scenes from the film and offer a variety of interpretations of the lead role: campy, flirty, and sexy. The one-dimensional, Barbie Doll of a character is given a depth, sexuality, and humor that is lacking in the original. Set pieces from the production of the videos re-installed and accessori zed with photographs and sculptures blur the line between art installation and function. In addition, a series of text-based works on paper, pulled from dialogue and lyrics from the film’s soundtrack (primarily new metal cover versions of older songs), address issues of authorship and contrivance.
Michele O'Marah received her BFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and currently resides in Los Angeles. O’Marah has had solo exhibitions at Sister, Los Angeles and Mary Goldman, Los Angeles as well as two person exhibitions at Rental, New York and Peres Projects, Berlin. Her work has been featured in group exhibitions at the CCAC Wattis Institute in San Fancisco, White Columns, New York, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, the London Institute of Contemporary Art, London, and The Station, Art Basel Miami Beach. -
September 12 - October 10, 2009
Analia Saban
Light Breaks Out of Prism
Reception for the Artist: Saturday September 12, 2009 6:00 – 9:00 PM
Thomas Solomon Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by Los Angeles artist ANALIA SABAN. This is Saban’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, and opens the 2009-2010 season at Cottage Home. The exhibition opens on Saturday, September 12, 2009 with a reception for the artist from 6 to 9 PM.
Analia Saban works in flat and sculptural media to debunk the mysteries associated with contemporary art. The artist’s secrets – be they of production or concept – are laid bare in her new translucent works in acrylic on canvas and thermo-formed polyethylene terephthalate sculpture. Taking clichés of painting as a point of departure, (still life, landscape and portrait,) she denies the viewer’s desire to assign meaning to the images. Rather than making paintings per se, Saban uses a four-color separation process to create unique single color layers (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) that she affixes to both primed and unprimed canvases. This process takes fundamental color theory to a physical level. For instance, she overlaps a layer of translucent yellow and a layer of translucent blue to create the illusion of green. The works then, result in a hybrid between Painting and Printmaking, and Painting and Sculpture. Saban aims to use simplified materials and processes to eliminate the mystery associated with artistic production and reveal the complex simplicity of image and form with color and light.
Analia Saban was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was educated at Loyola University, New Orleans (BFA 2001) and University of California, Los Angeles (MFA 2005). Recent solo exhibitions include Kim Light Gallery/Lightbox (2005); Galerie Praz-Delavallade, Paris, France (2009, 2007); Galerie Sprüth Magers Projekte, Munich, Germany (2007); ESSO Gallery, New York City (2007); and LINCART, San Francisco (2005). A 2009 recipient of the Durfee Foundation ARC Grant, Saban lives and works in Venice, California. -
July 11 - August 15, 2009
Summer Group Show
Walead Beshty, Eric Wesley, Pae White
China Art Objects
Mimi Lauter, John McAllister, John Williams
Bart Exposito, Christopher Michlig
Thomas Solomon Gallery
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May 30 - June 27, 2009
Video Journeys
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April 25 - May 23, 2009
Alexis Smith: "Play It As It Lays"
Thomas Solomon Gallery
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March 21 - April 18, 2009
Exhibition showing at both Cottage home & China Art Objects Galeries
1999 - The Ten Year Anniversary Show
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 21, 6-9pm
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February 13 - March 14, 2009
Brad Eberhard
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January - February 2009
Kirsten Stoltmann
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November 15 - December 20, 2008
Krysten Cunningham: TIME MACHINES
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Thursday October 30th at 8 PM
East of the 5, South of the 10
Performance
SISTER
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October 11th- November 8th 2008
Mary Weatherford
Brick Walls and Sea Life
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September - October 2008
Group Exhibition: Nietzsche vs Emerson
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July 12 - August 16, 2008
I Can See For Miles
Bjorn Copeland, Rob Thom
Davis Rhodes, Jeni Spota, Matthew Spiegelman, Kirsten Stoltmann
Troy Brauntuch, Brad Eberhard, William Eggleston, Isa Genzken
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May 10 - June 21, 2008
Sandeep Mukherje
