Shana Nys DambrotCharles Gaines is an internationally recognized conceptual artist whose work and personal practice includes but is not limited to painting, photography, music, and the creative deployment of strict mathematical structures as armatures for visual expressions. From perception to politics, visualizing semiotics and systems-driven investigations, Gaines occupies a unique place in which despite the idea-based foundation of his practice, his concepts are expressed in compelling, evocative objects, images, and performances.
He is also a beloved and influential faculty member at CalArts, where his role as an educator provides the perfect hybrid platform for underscoring what he sees as the profound relevance of critical theory as well as aesthetic rigor in modern and contemporary art history.
Installation view, ‘Charles Gaines. Palm Trees and Other Works’, Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles, 2019. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth (Photo: Fredrik Nilsen)
On the occasion of a major new exhibition of Gaines’ work at Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles, Gaines once again combines his practice with his didactic calling, and so during the run of the exhibition, the artist transforms the gallery’s on-site Book & Printed Matter Lab into an ad-hoc classroom. In The Library of Ideas Gaines will conduct a ten-part lecture series addressing, “the tenets of aesthetics and critical theory in art, bringing his mastery of the field into a public setting.”
Charles Gaines. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth (Photo: Fredrik Nilsen)
The lectures are free, but registration is essential as space is limited. Additionally, the Book Lab is already open for perusal of the lecture series’ curated supporting materials.
The Library of Ideas begins Thursday, September 26 and continues Thursdays, 5-6pm, on October 3, 10, and 17, and November 7. The schedule for the remaining lectures will be announced on October 11. The exhibition continues through January 5.
Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles, 901 E. 3rd St., downtown. hauserwirth.com.
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