So, on to the subject at hand, The Burning House, an exhibition featuring collaborative works by Faile, David Ellis, and Swoon which runs through March 17 at LA's New Image Art before heading to Museum Hetdomein Sittard in Holland.
Before getting to the nitty gritty details, it's worth pointing out that in addition to not liking to simply add to the blog echo chamber, EMERGE intentionally plays the devils advocate, trying to avoid some of the memes that other trend-focused folks are getting their knickers in a twist over. Street art happens to be one of those memes, which lends even more credence to our motivations for posting about The Burning House. To get EMERGE to break not one but two of the cardinal policies of the blog, this must be one hell of an art show.
And indeed it would appear to be just that. Featuring work from some of the post-graffiti scene's most visionary (not to mention credible in the art world- Swoon was part of the 2006 Whitney Biennial) folks, The Burning House not only juxtaposes Swoon's intricate paper cut-outs, Faile's poster-art collages and Ellis's (nee Skwerm) highly detailed motion paintings, but interweaves all three into a cohesive whole which doesn't simply hang on the gallery wall, neatly organized in frames. Rather, the The Burning House completely covers the gallery's walls, doors and windows, not only bringing the renegade feel of actual street art into the gallery but throwing the decorum normally associated with galleries back out onto the street. There's even one area which the artists transformed into a trashed living room, whose red glow is offset only by an offkilter tv upended on the floor. There are some individual works from each of the artists as well, but the real star of the show is the beautiful cacaphony of their collaborative work.
The original post from Cool Hunting compares the show to the recent takeover of a disused building in Manhattan's NoLiTa neighborhood by the Wooster Collective, who handed the interior and exterior of the structure to street artists from all over the world. For a week or so, thousands of curious folks got to see just what a city could look like if artists felt no compunction about where they hung their work. The Wooster on Spring show was a really exhilarating concept but it lacked the almost precision curation that supports The Burning House. The comparison is fair enough since both Faile and Swoon were involved in Wooster on Spring, but in the end, it doesn't really do the Burning House justice.
So do yourself a favor if you are anywhere near LA. Schlep over to NIA and check out the show. Or maybe use it as an excuse to take that trip over to the Netherlands you've been meaning to take since you can't remember your last tour through Amsterdam.
Faile, Swoon, and David Ellis
Faile, Swoon, and David Ellis
Faile, Swoon, and David Ellis
Faile
David Ellis
Swoon
