To Live and Die (But Not Show) in L.A.

Jason Rhoades, 1965�2006

Comments (0) By Doug Harvey Thursday, Aug 3 2006

(� Black Pussy)

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The Los Angeles version of “Black Pussy” was the culmination of a series of controversial Islam-flavored works that included an attempt to take a live tuna on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and a scale model of the Kaaba made from LEGOs. Rhoades’ irreverent humor often blinded viewers to the complexity and formal intelligence of his work. If there’s any justice in the world, some attempt will be made to retain his controversial final work — at least for long enough to allow greater public access — in the city where it was made.

“I think more recently he became interested in his work being here in L.A.,” says McCarthy. “And over the last year he was trying to do it. We talked a few times about opening our own gallery. It’s always this thing — how do you show in L.A.?” But art-world logistics aside, Rhoades’ untimely passing cheats L.A. and the world at large of a tremendous, insurrectionist talent who improbably had just begun to gather a full head of steam. He pissed a lot of people off, but it was always exciting and rewarding to see what exponentially extravagant creative vision he was going to use to do it next. As Josh White puts it: “I loved Jason, and what he was doing was such a fucking cool thing, and it’s just such a monumental bummer that it got cut short.”