In Production: Art and the Studio System, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019
November 5, 2019 - February 16, 2020
Organized by LACMA and curated by Rita Gonzalez
Installation Views
Individual Works
Press Release
In Production: Art and the Studio System emphasizes the overlapping histories of visual art and film, with a particular focus on how the site of the studio, both in visual arts and in cinematic production, has radically shifted in the last 20 years. Featuring 24 contemporary artists whose works critique, appropriate, and engage with Hollywood and the film studio system, the exhibition highlights the exceptional gifts and acquisitions related to film and video that have entered LACMA’s permanent collection in recent years.
Many artists have considered the proximity to movie studio facilities, and other sites of production and post-production, as one of the essential lures of making art in Southern California. Since the dawn of cinema, movie studios have been sites where crews of hundreds or even thousands manufacture a temporary fiction that will hopefully become a lasting image. While the work of movie production is a collaborative effort involving a vast network of people, the labor of the visual artist has long been understood as a solitary endeavor in the studio. While artists have indeed depended on the centralized sphere of the studio to create their works, the late 20th century ushered in new forms of dematerialized and decentralized artist practices, including the rise of film and video in an art context. As the birthplace of Chinese cinema, Shanghai is an especially fitting location to explore these crucial developments.
Featured objects include Martine Syms’s mixed-media installation that incorporates objects often used within commercial film and photography shoots—such as backdrops, c-stands and sandbags. Cayetano Ferrer is an artist who is interested in the history of how architectural and design components have been blended into a built environment. In Endless Columns (2014), Ferrer creates an immersive environment that, upon entrance, seems composed of elaborate architectural components and lighting design. In reality, the installation relies on mirrors and dual video projections on a CNC routed column to produce a form of neon Baroque familiar from Las Vegas showrooms. The centerpiece for the column design appears to be an exemplar of art deco design, but it is actually based on a salvaged trash can from the MGM Grand Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Imitation of Life (2013) by Mathias Poledna explores the artist’s interest in outdated and obsolete forms of film production. The artist employed a team of veteran animators from Walt Disney Studios to create a film that emulates the style and manner of 1930s and 1940s animation. Referencing the iconic style of Disney films like Pinocchio (1940) and Dumbo (1941), Poledna champions unknown and underappreciated artists and makers, such as the Disney sculptor and animator Blaine Gibson, whose sculpture of Mickey Mouse is presented here as well. Calling to mind the set design of superhero films, Mike Kelley’s Kandor 1 (2007) is a formal study of the lost city of Kandor in Superman mythology. The sculpture is rich and saturated in colors to simulate the vivid colors of Superman’s world and features elements of his findings such as the bell jar, the air tank (which sustained the miniature, encapsulated residents of Kandor), and a model of the city.
In Production Artists
Kathryn Andrews, United States, b. 1973
Brian Bress, United States, b. 1975
Robert Cumming, United States, b. 1943
Cayetano Ferrer, United States, b. 1981
Anthony Friedkin, United States, b. 1949
Blaine Gibson, United States, 1918–2015
Piero Golia, Italy, b. 1974
Sayre Gomez, United States, b. 1982
Douglas Gordon, United Kingdom, b. 1966
Alex Israel, United States, b. 1982
Mike Kelley, United States, 1954–2012
William Leavitt, United States, b. 1941
Dashiell Manley, United States, b. 1983
Nicole Miller, United States, b. 1982
Julie Orser, United States, b. 1974
Paul Pfeiffer, United States, b. 1966
Mathias Poledna, Austria, b. 1965
Alex Prager, United States, b. 1979
Amanda Ross-Ho, United States, b. 1975
Joe Sola, United States, b. 1966
Martine Syms, United States, b. 1988
Jennifer West, United States, b. 1966
Bruce Yonemoto, United States, b. 1949
Norman Yonemoto, United States, 1946–2014