THING

This exhibit may be a million miles away nestled against the ocean breezes and warm sunshine rays, but UCLA's Hammer Museum is hosting a show that packs a powerful yet playful punch! "THING" features twenty fresh LA based sculptors whose work ranges from pieces that mimic half eaten bread to large ceramic constructed "hot rods".
Matt Johnson"s Breadface was an image seen all over LA. The show"s symbol of THING was printed on books, flyers, and flags advertising the show. A fun illusion made of cast plastic and some oil paint.

Kristen Morgin's "hot rod" is not a found object. She builds her forms from clay, cement, and glue over armatures of wood and wire. Seeing the car instantaneously called to mind images of abandoned automobiles left to rot in the streets and yards of Detroit. This car, beautifully assembled, captures a deconstruction that really feels wore out and aged by nature. Her work expands upon the notion of everything created returns to the earth and then is recycled.

Kaz Oshiro mysteriously uses paint, canvas, stretchers, and Bondo to mistakenly create commercial and pop objects. The "Pink Marshall Stack Wall" is a perfect duplicate of the original, but not real. He is a real magician in the way he fools the viewer. A custom countertop with sink and wall cabinets fits into the corner of the gallery. Again another trick completely made from the above materials.

Lara Schnitger stretches and drapes fabric over stick-like forms. Some pieces push and poke over the wood slats while others become costumes with jeans and shirts. The towering sculptures form a fantasy world where the viewer questions volume, space and their relationship to the structures.


For more info and other artists check out ....

http://www.hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/66/ or reviews http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=1873&IssueNum=95