Durden and Ray will hold the opening reception of XYZ, an exhibition that resists the commodification of art, from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday Aug. 5, 2017.
The artists in the show — Lana Duong, Martin Durazo, Ed Gomez, Brian Thomas Jones, Ruben Ochoa, Alison Petty Ragguette, and Jaime Scholnick — use unconventional materials to create sculpture that comments on the current political climate.
Curators Ed Gomez and Brian Thomas Jones explore parallels between Los Angeles artists’ current work and Italy’s “arte povera” movement. The term was coined by Italian art critic Germano Celant during the period of upheaval at the end of the 1960s, when artists began attacking the values of established institutions of government, industry and culture.
“We chose artists and works that respond to the resistance movement rising worldwide to combat the devolution of culture brought on by the current political atmosphere in our country,” Jones said. “The ideas contained within the show also relate to the resistance to and the reconfiguration of the art exhibition model in the era of art commodification — through the emergence of artist-run spaces and collectives such as Durden and Ray.”
Opening reception: 4-7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017
Closes: Aug. 26, 2017
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday by appointment
Location: Durden and Ray, 1923 S. Santa Fe Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90021
