ITCH SCRATCH SCAR | 2014
FELLOWS OF CONTEMPORARY ART
Los Angeles, CA 90012
September - November 2014
Fellows of Contemporary Art proudly presents Itch Scratch Scar as their final exhibition for the 2014 Curators Lab series. Curated by Kohl King and Alevé Mei Loh, Itch Scratch Scar will feature the work of 15 Los Angeles based artists whose works are substantially rich in process and investigate and interpret the theme of impulse, action and fulfillment.
Historically, during 1880s-1920s it was observed that the cultural hallmarks of boredom, cynicism and pessimism lead to the rejection of social order and traditional values, which, in turn, impacted artistic philosophy and production.
Similarly over the period thus far from 1980, there has been extensive political change, environmental degradation, technological advancement and economic inflation and turmoil. The current generation describes a world that has gotten smaller and time is perceived to have sped up. The exponential ripple effects of all these factors have left many with a deep unshakeable feeling that the world may not experience the dawn of a new century; and yet, within this unrest, artists still answer to the need to create and leave a mark in whatever ways possible, while still sustaining their existence.
As we head towards 2020, the theme of Itch Scratch Scar is to survey current artists who are actively engaged in capturing the relevant narratives of the epoch either through subject matter, choice of materials or genre.
Featuring artists Peter Wu, Christian Tedeschi, Kiki Seror, Christine Nguyen, York Chang, Shiva Aliabadi, Mariel Carranza, Marc Horowitz, Cody Trepte, Yoshie Sakai, Emmett Walsh, Patricia Valencia, Finishing School, Alevé Mei Loh and Kohl King.
PRESS AND LINKS FOR ITCH SCRATCH SCAR
WETLAB: Pimp Your Divining Rod: A Special Workshop by Finishing School
A 2007 report by the United Nations Environment Programme made the appalling prediction that if present water usage trends continue, 1.8 billion people will be living in a state of "absolute water scarcity" by 2025. Finishing School, a socially engaged L.A.-based art collective, have been underscoring this dire future in an ongoing project called WETLAB. As part of the "Itch Scratch Scar" exhibition currently on view at Fellows of Contemporary Art, Finishing School will lead a workshop on making a divining (or dowsing) rod, which participants will use to help create a "speculative water source map of Chinatown." We may need it.
Fellows of Contemporary Art, 970 N. Broadway, Suite 208
CRITIC’S PICKS: 2014 TOP TEN LISTS
Jan 2015
LOS ANGELES
By Shana Nys Dambrot
1) Fabien Castanier: Miaz Brothers “Miaz Brothers and the Masters”
Luscious art-historical portraiture made with aerosol paint. Fuzzy focus, clear intention.
2) SCI-Arc: Heather Flood “Punk’d”
Sculpture, function, materialism and graphicality majestically fused in a singular object.
3) Art Merge Lab: Devon Tsuno “Reclaimed Water”
Immersive, delicate depiction of water’s pervasive abstraction and infinitely regenerative patterning.
4) Luis de Jesus: Lily Stockman “Women”
Quirky patterns flaunting assonant palettes are actually reductive portraits, mapped opinions, and feminist landscapes.
5) Mark Moore: Clayton Brothers “Open to the Public”
Mixed-media paintings and objects evoke the anthropological wonderland of a local thrift store.
6) Honor Fraser: Annie Lapin “Various Peep Shows”
It’s easy to see why Lapin’s biggest fans are often fellow painters.
7) Western Project: Mark Dean Veca “Everlast”
Painterly flourishes, pictorial expansions, saturated tertiary hues, and breakfast burritos.
8) Fellows of Contemporary Art: “Itch Scratch Scar”
A deftly-curated group of painters, video-makers, and sculptors with spiritualized OCD.
9) Cohen Gallery: Siri Kaur “This Kind of Face”
Poignant photographic portraits reveal private and public lives of celebrity look-alikes.
10) 5 Car Garage: Megan Daalder “Eureka and the Biomass Man”
Sculptural installation / sci-fi musical theatre love story between janitor and sentient blob.
