L.A. Louver hosts a special conversation between artist Gajin Fujita and cultural historian Josh Kun on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, from 6-8pm. The art talk takes place in conjunction with Gajin Fujita’s current exhibition – True Colors. The evening’s discussion will center around Fujita and Kun’s shared love of Los Angeles’ cultural landscape, focusing on themes of memory, artist placemaking, and neighborhood identity. On the eve of the 50th anniversary of hip hop, Fujita and Kun will also expound upon the influence of music and L.A.’s dynamic scene on their respective careers. This event is free and open to the public but space is limited, kindly RSVP by emailing rsvp@lalouver.com
LA Louver; courtesy of LAArtParty.com
See below for more info on additional exhibitions on view – Kienholz: Exchange of Values along with a Rogue Wave exhibition titled Color Play by Dion Johnson. See below for more info about these exhibitions. The exhibitions will run through May 6, 2023.
Gajin Fujita
Created between 2020 and 2023, the paintings and drawings in True Colors demonstrate radical technical and thematic developments in Fujita’s oeuvre as the artist explores experimenting with shadow and line, the realm of social critique, and the incorporation of portraiture into his practice. This is the artist’s sixth solo exhibition at L.A. Louver.
In this exhibition, Fujita’s distinctive combinations – Eastern and Western imagery and iconography; textual markings and graphic narrative; spray paint and gold leaf – persist and evolve. This evolution is most clearly seen in Fujita’s stylistic shift which employs shading as a means of delineation. Although still inspired by the forms and subjects of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, Fujita moves from classic black outlines to layers of transparent spray paint to give his figures greater dimensionality – a technical development which reinforces the thematic emphasis on the interior life of the artist. Inspired by photography, memory, and the visual diaries his mother prompted him and his brothers to create while growing up, True Colors is a diaristic account which records the thoughts and emotions experienced by Fujita over the last three years.
Gajin Fujita, Home Field LA, 2020, 24k gold leaf, 12k white gold leaf, spray paint, acrylics, paint markers, Sakura streaks on three wood panels; Overall: 72 x 60 in. (182.9 x 152.4 cm) Each Panel 72 x 20 in. (182.9 x 50.8 cm)
Also on View
Kienholz: Exchange of Values is an exhibition of text-based artworks by Edward Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholz. Renowned worldwide for their collaborative assemblage works and immersive tableaux installations, this presentation is a unique illumination of the creative interchange between the couple in their respective art practices. Consisting of seventeen watercolors by Ed and nineteen lenticular works by Nancy, Exchange of Values places emphasis on the conceptual and relational underpinnings of Kienholz.
Color Play is a Rogue Wave exhibition of new paintings by Los Angeles based artist Dion Johnson. A coalescence of ideas and techniques developed over years of observation and painting, Dion Johnson: Color Play conjures mesmerizing vistas, layered temporalities, and affective experiences.
On view: March 11, 2023 – May 6, 2023
What: “True Colors,” Gajin Fujita
Where: LA Louver, 45 North Venice Blvd, Venice, CA 90291
When: Wednesday, May 3, 2023, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Phone: 310.822.4955
Website: http://www.lalouver.com/
