Rico Gaston "Three Trips Around the Block"
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"Three Trips Around the Block" is a 15-year retrospective of Gatson’s sculpture, painting, video, drawings, and installations, including several new pieces created for the exhibition. The title of the retrospective stems from a powerful experience Gatson had with his brother who, after spending fifteen years in prison, reconnected with the artist by taking a long walk around the block. The conversation that occurred during their “trips around the block” inspired Gatson to creatively explore their own disparate lives – a personal excavation made public in this poignant and provocative exhibition.
Merging history, current events, and mass culture, Gatson’s videos, paintings, and sculptures are politically and racially charged commentaries on American culture. His two- and three-dimensional works are as thought provoking as his videos—abstractions in black and white become politically loaded symbols, and sculptures turn to totems of racism and hate. In the newly commissioned work, Gatson creates landscapes that harness the power and energy of the 1965 Watts riots, which spawned the Black Panthers and other social organizations of the 1960s. Critic Ida Panicelli wrote in Artforum: “Gatson works with precision, exploring power symbols as elements of collective imagination and bringing to light their potential for manipulation.”
[Image: Rico Gatson "Untitled (L.A. Riots)" (2011) paint and glitter on wood panel 48.5 x 49.5 in.]
Media
Schedule
from September 30, 2011 to November 23, 2011
Opening Reception on 2011-09-30 from 19:00 to 21:00