Los Angeles is coming back to life. That’s a sentiment that somehow simultaneously feels cliché and unexpected all at once. But just look around: concerts are being promoted, theaters are rescheduling shows, and bar hoppers are, once again, singing far too loud at far too late on my street. The party is just beginning, and the perfect celebration of this return to normalcy is Federico Solmi’s new show, “The Bacchanalian Ones,” on view at Luis De Jesus’ new Arts District location.

Bacchanalia, the Roman era parties to honor Bacchus, the god of wine and festivities, and are associated with a commiserate level of drunkenness. In Solmi’s show, the artist incorporates his background on illustration and animation with a renewed emphasis on painted works to illustrate some of Western history’s controversial heroes.

The majority of the works on view are LCD screens displaying animated videos of immense celebrations, set into sumptuous and ornate painted frames which carry on the themes of the scenes. In attendance at these celebrations are familiar faces, albeit twisted to possess terrifying, toothy grins and wide, unblinking eyes. The main work, entitled The Bathhouse (2020), has five screens depicting Julius Caesar, George Washington, and Christopher Columbus among others partaking in the festival. In other works, such as The Golden Gift (2020) or The Indulgent Fathers (2020), we see these same characters partying through historical moments, such as Columbus’ crusade landing or the crossing of the Delaware.

Solmi reimagines these figures as devilishly smiling partiers, who are unconcerned with the people – particularly Native victims of colonialist action – who are trampled over by their revelry. The show, through all its varied mediums, points a finger towards the rampant deification of these historical figures despite the atrocities and pain they perpetuated and profited from.

In our return to normalcy, it’s important to continue the interrogation of the history we’ve been given which has started anew in this past year. We will return to the parties, the galas, the concerts, and the shows – but will we work to create a better status quo? Will we have the strength to tear down the monuments to misguided men, and to look at the world through fresh eyes? This is yet to be seen, but it’s through the work of Solmi’s Bacchanalia that we can begin the task of dissecting the complexities of our Western “heroes.”

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles
1110 S. Mateo St., Los Angeles, CA 90021
Thru June 19th, 2021