Kim Light Gallery early 90s

opening reception on Saturday, September 15, 2007, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

A special one–time-only performance by Karen Finley will be held at the gallery on Thursday, October 4 at 7:30 PM and will be free to the public, reservations only

Kim Light Gallery was originally located at 126 N. La Brea Avenue in Hollywood from September 1992 – June 1994, and run by Kim Light and Jeff Poe (now co-owner of Blum & Poe, the first contemporary art gallery to open in Culver City). The gallery introduced the work of many cutting-edge artists who have gone on to have formidable art careers. The works chosen for this exhibition reflect the pulse of the Los Angeles art community at that time, with an emphasis on the “body”, sexuality, history and empowerment. Karin Davie’s paintings and works on paper, of the “Odalisques” series shown in 1993, engage both rectilinear and curvilinear geometries in a painterly eroticism, and Jason Fox envisions his “sleeping bag” paintings as Pollack-like monsters, where the paint is alive (1993). Chris Wilder uses found cultural constructs in his monochromatic “paintings” made of fake fur, accompanied by a mesmerizing video of bubbles rising in a glass of beer (1992); Keith Boadwee’s c-print photographs of “butt-hole targets” reference the work of Kenneth Noland and Barnett Newman and the sewn film projection screen paintings of Bruce and Norman Yonemoto are an ironic play on the idea of the dematerialization of the art object (1993). The prurient thrill of seeing up close what is foreboded and suggestive of life-threatening harm is the power of the “bombs” by Gregory Green. Anya Gallaccio seduces the viewer with her obsessive need to contain things-usually specimens of nature, such as flowers and embraces their decay – but in her installation Red on White (1993)– she uses blood and salt as a contemporary vanitas to defy stereotypes of femininity. In her well-known art work Priss Room Installation, Kim Dingle uses the female child as the prism through which to view the role of women within culture. Monica Majoli’s paintings are the most sexually explicit, engaged with issues of identity, intimacy and mortality, while Dani Tull’s watercolor paintings of small children are sexually suggestive, yet they are never explicit. Karen Finley, an artist known for her controversial art and performances, gives voice to grief, pain, rage and pleasure in her installation, “Written in Sand,” originally installed in 1992 as a tribute to the victims of AIDS. Her live performance will be based on her writings done at the time of the installation. Skip Arnold uses his nude body as material and displays himself as art. Ephemera from his “The Axis Powers Tour” through Europe (Nov. 1,1993-Dec 22,1993) –where he was shipped and crated as an art object - is displayed. Arnold will perform at the gallery, without announcement, during the exhibition.

Kim Light Gallery early 90s
Kurator Carole Ann Klonarides

mit Skip Arnold, Keith Boadwee, Karin Davie, Kim Dingle, Jason Fox, Karen Finley, Anya Gallaccio, Gregory Green, Monica Majoli, Dani Tull, Chris Wilder, Bruce Yonemoto / Norman Yonemoto