Aaron Young’s Los Angeles exhibition, No Fucking Way, is on view in China Town from May 11 – June 23 at The Company. The provocative show focuses on celebrity psyche and pathology and features 6 new portraits of female tabloid sensations "obligingly pos[ing] with the American flag in some form -- either wrapped in it, dangling from their mouth, or worn as a bikini."
Image via Thecompany.com
The opening reception is this Friday, May 11, from 6-8pm.
Portraits of Casey Anthony, Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Knox, Jessica Simpson, Heidi Montag, and the skating rivals Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan are both an amalgamation and a departure from his previous work.
Young recalls the American flag theme from his 2011 New York exhibition, BUILT TOUGH but focuses on women instead of male-centric iconography. Young’s work appeals to anyone who appreciates spectacle, and classic, edgy symbols of American freedom like motorcycles, muscle cars, barricades, and barbed wire.
The Company described the linen canvases as resembling "large three-pointed folded flags, painted in saccharine pink, and flecked with textured circles that reveal the entirety of the image when standing at a distance."
They had me at saccharine pink.
On a conceptual note, Young blurs the real from the constructed by drawing on issues of mass-media and over-saturation and makes an interesting comparison between:
1. Actors who choose to perform (celebrities)
2. Those who must to save their lives in court.
As viewers, we become implicated by our own observation of these celebrities, since consumption will always mediated.
Young will participate in the MOCA organized show, Rebel, conceived by James Franco.
On view from May 15-June 23 at JF Chen Gallery.
Ed Ruscha, Rebel, 2011, acrylic on canvas, image via Moca.org
Rebel is an ode to Nicholas Ray’s masterpiece Rebel Without A Cause (1955) and includes works by Douglas Gordon, Harmony Korine, Damon McCarthy, Paul McCarthy, Terry Richardson, Ed Ruscha, and Aaron Young. Expect engaging, visceral, and multi-faceted artworks, films, and sculpture.
Angeleno's won't want to miss this evocative show with such a profound resonance with the Los Angeles art world and its relationship to Hollywood and the culture of the 1950's.
Who doesn't love references to teenage angst, eroticism, fiction and fact, and Hollywood and the art world?! Thought so. We can meet at the Chateau Marmont afterwards for a drink.
Angeleno's won't want to miss this evocative show with such a profound resonance with the Los Angeles art world and its relationship to Hollywood and the culture of the 1950's.
Who doesn't love references to teenage angst, eroticism, fiction and fact, and Hollywood and the art world?! Thought so. We can meet at the Chateau Marmont afterwards for a drink.
| "No Fucking Way" The Company 955 Chung King Rd. Los Angeles, CA 90012 | "Rebel" JF Chen 941 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038 |
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