Produce Haus, formerly the Zadik Zadikian Product Studio, held its grand opening on April 27 featuring a group exhibition titled “WALLS: A Quest For Immersive Space.”

Produce Haus at night, featuring, L-R, works by Kaloust Guedel, KuBO, and Zadik Zadikian; the floor that you see will be completely gilded for the grand opening

Featured in Produce Haus’s main room – with a gold-leafed floor, 16′ high ceilings and 60-foot-long east and west walls offering panoramic views of downtown L.A. – are works by Zadik Zadikian, Kaloust Guedel, and KuBO. In the two-story-high sky-lit entry stairwell, works by Rouzanna Berberian, Gary Brewer, Clayton Campbell, and Yvette Gellis will be installed. Filmmaker Corey Burns is documenting the project.

Blending evanescence and endurance, each of the artists’ works coalesce around the architecture of a living piece of Los Angeles history – a 100-year-old building inside the colossal produce market that runs the full block from 7th Street to 8th Street in between Central and Alameda in the DTLA Arts District. The building went up in 1918, the same year that Warner Bros. Studios, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Otis College of Art and Design got started. A century later, as L.A. is in the throes of a new wave of artistic proliferation, Zadikian’s vision has transformed the space into a vector for creative collaboration. Adorned with gold and copper patina, rich colors, and natural light, Produce Haus distills the illuminated openness that Zadikian feels is the essence of Los Angeles as a place. As artists intervene with large scale installations, the ever-changing environment itself becomes the work of art.

Art critic Peter Frank has said, “The…artists treat the wall as a site not for composing a mural, but for composing an expanded physical and aesthetic experience. The space is raw; the outside light and atmosphere penetrate it; but the work maintains its self-possession precisely by responding to the vagaries of space, light, and material.”

Image: Copper/leaf patina-ed wall, windows overlooking market; Zadikian’s “Foreigners” series of sculptures

About Zadik Zadikian: Zadikian was born in Erevan, Soviet Armenia. At age 19 – already an accomplished artist – he escaped by swimming across the Arax River in mid-winter. Of the five friends he was with, only he and one other made it to freedom. He first got to the U.S. in 1969, landing in San Francisco, where he became an assistant to sculptor Benjamino Bufano, a friend of Brancusi. He moved to New York City in 1974, and worked assisting Richard Serra – and developing own work. From his bio: “In 1976 he covered his entire home and studio, 10,000 square feet of walls, floor and ceiling with industrial gold, by pounding and gilding so as to uniformly transform it into a singularly radiant vision. A predilection for the magic and majesty of gold leaf led to the 1978 project of ‘1000 Bricks Gilded in 24 Karat Gold Leaf.'”

In Los Angeles for almost a decade, Zadik continues his passion for creating with gold with the new sculpture series “Foreigners,” and the gilding of Produce Haus, eventually to include the ceiling as well as the entirety of the floor. Integral to the purpose and spirit of Produce Haus is a dedication to the friends of Zadikian’s who did not escape. That can be felt in the generosity of the free-flowing artistic collaboration, and in the atmospheric beauty and presence of the timeless space being created in a landmark L.A. building about to have its centennial.

Produce Haus is located at 1318 E. 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90021; Enter into the Market space at Market Court, on 7th in between Alameda and Central; you will see a vintage “CAFÉ” sign where at entryway. If there is an attendant, say you are there for Zadik’s studio. Once inside, drive to the far end of the very large parking lot. The studio door will be to the right – there will be signage indicating the entryway. Check out the Huffington Post article by Shana Nys Dambrot.

Details from works by: Zadik Zadikian, KuBO, Kaloust Guedel, Rouzanna Berberian, Gary Brewer, Clayton Campbell, Yvette Gellis and Gary Paller.

Where: Produce Haus, 1318 E. 7th Street, LA, 90021
When: On View thru April 25, 2017
Website: http://www.produce.haus/