Beset on All Sides at Durden and Ray
Beset on All Sides at Durden and Ray
June 24, 2017
11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Durden and Ray
1923 S. Santa Fe Ave, Los Angeles CA 90021


Durden and Ray presents Beset on All Sides.

In June 2017 Durden and Ray unveiled its newest collaborative venture, creating a new exhibition model for its dynamic and cooperating group of artists. The project involved a structure built within the downtown Los Angeles gallery, video, art, documentation, decision-making and group dynamics.

The exhibition opened June 3 and continued its construction through the month so viewers could watch it develop, interact with the artists and engage with its ideas.

Durden and Ray will host a closing reception to present the finished installation from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday June 24, 2017. The gallery is at 1923 S. Santa Fe Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90021.

To create the work, Durden and Ray artists built a physical framework from construction scaffolding that acts as the theatrical setting to display sources of information in the form of letters, photographs, notes, art works (paintings and sculptures), nonart objects and more, supplied by members of the group and other artists. Any shipping materials were incorporated into the structure as self-referencing elements.

This project, Beset on All Sides, will be re-created at different venues and at different scales, depending on space available, as part of the group’s growing international exchange projects. With ongoing editions using different art works and objects, it can stay vital and fresh and even refocus toward specific themes when desired.

This exhibition at Durden and Ray is its first rendition of the project.

The work is inspired by the Quentin Tarantino movie “Pulp Fiction,” in which the writer/director plays with the logic of narrative and disrupts the film with multiple storylines, self-referential asides, and humorous and hip takes on the tropes of various genres, while maintaining a focused examination of the languages used inside the arc of the story.

The Durden and Ray project plays a similar game. As part of our implicit political position within the scenario, Durden and Ray titled the proposal after a quote from the character, Jules Winnfield (played by Samuel L. Jackson): “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.” As Durden and Ray is based in Los Angeles, it seems appropriate to set the stage with a cult movie.

Artists:
Jorin Bossen, Gul Cagin, Jennifer Celio, Sijia Chen, Dani Dodge, Tom Dunn, Lana Duong, Roni Feldman, Jon Flack, Ed Gomez, Kio Griffith, Jenny Hager, Ben Jackel, Brian Thomas Jones, David Leapman, Alanna Marcelletti, Sean Noyce, Ty Powell, Max Presneill, Nano Rubio, David Spanbock, Curtis Stage, Steven Wolkoff, Alison Woods


1923 S. Santa Fe Ave, Los Angeles CA 90021

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