“Hiding the Unnecessary”, a group exhibition curated by Los Angeles artist Kathryn Pitt, opens Friday, June 2 at the Makery, 260 S Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles. An opening reception will be held from 5-8.30pm. Gallery hours are Monday – Friday by appointment (thelosangelesmakery@gmail.com or (213) 392-2611); or Saturday and Sunday from 12-5 pm.
“In this exhibition I wanted to explore how we can interact and work together in a world that feels both hyper connected through technology and yet at the same time, on a human level, can feel so disconnected. That disconnect can lead to negative and unreal meaning.” Kathryn Pitt, Curator and artist
Visual art in the Western tradition casts the individual artist as a singular and self-sufficient creator of art. “Hiding the Unnecessary” challenges that historical solitary view of how artists work. Curator and artist Kathryn Pitt notes that “collaborating with other artists, I believe, inspires creativity and forces you to step outside your comfort zone.” With that idea in mind, she enlisted LA photographers to pair with visual artists to join her in this project. Pitt is one of the participating artists, facing the same challenges as the others.
The resulting pairs of photographer and artist were asked to create an original abstracted, distorted, disfigured or disjointed piece of art- alluding to something that is not quite complete or seen. The photographer started the process, creating work based on the brief. The work was then presented to the partner visual artist to create a new piece of art in response. As part of this exhibition, “Hiding the Unnecessary” examines what it means to communicate through art and how artistic partnerships can provide a bond not only between the artworks but also between artists themselves. The gestation of the show spanned several months, allowing the photographers and artists time for reflection and discovery. Their resulting conversation is reminiscent of the call/response of jazz improvisation- fluid, collaborative, and progressive. The participant pairs take turns as creator and audience. And by recognizing and engaging the viewer’s presence, the works in “Hiding the Unnecessary” draw us into the act of creation and we become part of the conversation.
Participating Artists: L. Aviva Diamond, Austin Lubetkin, Derek Bertelsen, Cheryl Panlilio, Donal O Sullivan, Veronica Marshall, Nicole Katano, Kathryn Pitt, Rachel Berkowitz, Merrilyn Duzy, Robyn Sanford, and Lynn Heinz
The Makery is a visual arts space providing exhibitions, workshops and design consulting. It is a shared multidisciplinary studio workshop offering services to Downtown Los Angeles and beyond.
