Shana Nys Dambrot
The Art Rise programs under the We Rise mental health resources rubric were created in collaboration with museums, cultural institutions and independent artists and collectives. The installations in Downtown, Koreatown, Mid-Wilshire, Leimert Park and South Central technically end along with the wrap up of the WE RISE programming month on May 31, but many of the 21 installations will remain in place for longer, some indefinitely. If you’re looking for something besides beaches and barbeques to do this weekend, consider checking them out. All are free and easily accessible, even by metro.
Here are some highlights:
LACMA transformed part of its construction fence into an exhibition wall. Commissions from artists Scoli Acosta, Andy Alexander, The Revolution School, Favianna Rodriguez and Kerry Tribe are displayed in vinyl on the fence along Wilshire Blvd.
In partnership with ICA LA and LAND, Julia Bogany (Tongva), poet Megan Dorame (Tongva), and artist iris yirei hu constructed a human sundial entitled Pakook koy Peshaax (The Sun Enters the Earth and Leaves the Earth) at the Los Angeles State Historic Park, out of stones which date back to at least 7000 BC, and have been found throughout the Los Angeles Basin.
At the Line Hotel, artist Jisoo Chung’s film Jason seeks to subvert the dominant language in digital technology, which excludes the artist’s Korean name, “Jisoo.” Digital devices and platforms have perpetually autocorrected her name to “Jason” since immigrating to the United States to study art. Jason evokes feelings of isolation, disembodiment and otherness that immigrants experience when their identities are renamed through autocorrection, mispronunciation or outright dismissal.
Grand Park’s Celebration Spectrum by dublab, in collaboration with Tanya Aguiñiga and curator Mark “Frosty” McNeill is a public art installation, along with programming and digital experiences, reflecting the myriad ways in which L.A. County’s diverse populations express their joy with installations that will create space for all the missed celebrations in Los Angeles during the last year.
L.A. Plaza de Cultura y Artes’ building has been transformed into a monumental neon mural by Patrick Martinez with social-political messages addressing the plight and resilience of essential workers in Los Angeles. Entitled Only Light Can Do That, after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s beloved sermon given in 1957 at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, the more than 25 new neon artworks at this site-specific installation give recognition to essential workers as behind-the-scenes heroes who champion representation and healing for all.
The art collective Classroom of Compassion mounted a mixed-media installation and large-scale floral altar titled Los Angeles, I hope u know how loved u are featuring photos and stories submitted by the community to remember the many residents lost as a result of COVID-19, particularly in Latinx communities disproportionately affected. The project in collaboration with The Mistake Room is installed in a truck-wash lot in Downtown.
L.A. Commons and artist Dominique Moody worked with associate artists and youth groups through a series of story circles in South L.A. to capture the narratives of residents in their neighborhoods. The resulting “story portraits” are human-scaled laser-cut metal sculptures that represent each of the storytellers and located in the respective communities in which the storytellers reside. The complete series is on view outside CAAM.
MOCA’s Little Tokyo location, The Geffen Contemporary, is the site of two projects — with organizations Crenshaw Dairy Mart and Los Angeles Poverty Department. Crenshaw Dairy Mart’s abolitionist pod (prototype) is a garden in the form of a geodesic dome — the prototype for a design the group hopes to implement across Los Angeles in an effort to create community gardening and collective gathering spaces. Los Angeles Poverty Department’s project The New Compassionate Downtown is a performance with a cast of eleven performers who live and work in Skid Row and imagines a vision of downtown that attracts people who value wisdom and compassion instead of nightlife and dining.
As a soundtrack companion to Art Rise, REDCAT will present Sed (Thirst), a series of 16 sound works by artists Dorian Wood and Carmina Escobar that connect and engage the various Art Rise sites across Los Angeles.
Participating Artists and Organizations:
Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio, Clockshop
Jisoo Chung, GYOPO
Dominique Moody, L.A. Commons (In collaboration with several artists at four sites)
Scoli Acosta, Andy Alexander, The Revolution School, Favianna Rodriguez, and Kerry Tribe; LACMA
veronique d’entremont, LAND and ICA LA
Julia Bogany, Megan Dorame, and iris yirei hu; LAND and ICA LA
Patrick Martinez, L.A. Plaza de Cultura y Artes
Los Angeles Poverty Department, MOCA
Crenshaw Dairy Mart (Patrisse Cullors, Alexandre Dorriz, noé olivas), MOCA and The Mistake Room
Dorian Wood and Carmina Escobar, REDCAT
dublab & Tanya Aguiñiga, The Music Center and Grand Park
Alvaro Parra, Quetzal and Vendedores En Acción; Self Help Graphics & Art
Self Help Graphics & Art Youth Committee; Self Help Graphics & Art
Classroom of Compassion, The Mistake Room
Gisela McDaniel, The Mistake Room
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