Friday, October 14, 2005

Ecstasy: in and about altered states


Yes, I'll say it, I've been to to the moca's new show, Ecstasy and did indeed feel a bit of "ecstasy" or something phenomological, maybe it was the moving benches, but I know I felt something. The show curated by Paul Schimmel, seeks to presents recent and specially commissioned works that challenge notions of interactivity while generating a heightened aural and visual experience for the individual. Essentially, this is a crowd pleasing show, I mean who doesn't like 20 ft. giant strippers with blinking eyes, spinning mushrooms, and far out light shows. Kudos to Schimmel and company because Ecstasy shows that contemporary art can be playful yet transcendent, difficult and amusing. And the key to the show's success is how it makes use of our senses to full capacity creating a varied show of exploration and wonder.

My highlights were two painters, British artist, Glenn brown who has super smooth surfaces with swirling concoctions of colors, and fred tomaselli who makes resin layered paintings with actual drugs imbedded in the work. I also enjoyed the conceptual stylings of tom friedman who uses ordinary objects and transforms them into art, and last but not least the creator of the "matrix" room, Edwin Redl. Check out his images of his led installation. They don't do the work justice, but you get a sense of how exciting and visceral the show is at times. Well, that's it and now I'm off to show my guests some more of LA...

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