FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COUTURIER GALLERY
166 N. LA BREA AVENUE
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90036
323-933-5557 FAX: 323-933-2357
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EXHIBITION: Gaza Bowen: Bibliotheca Memoria
DATES: September 9 - October 16, 1999
OPENING: Thursday, September 9, 7-9pm
GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday - Saturday, 11am - 5pm
Gaza Bowen returns to Couturier Gallery for her third solo Los Angeles exhibition with a major installation work “Bibliotheca Memoria.” The premise behind “Bibliotheca Memoria” is that of a futuristic library whose contents reflect a time in which the scarcity of resources has made valuable those materials which we so easily find expendable today. A future in which the written word has been forsaken.
For “Bibliotheca Memoria,” Gaza Bowen transforms the entire gallery into a library/reading room, a space in which to view and interact with 25 books constructed of salvaged metals and assorted material scavenged by the artist: “…I have taken to visiting the local landfill to scavenge and salvage what I can of the detritus of my culture. I bring it to my studio, clean and sort the materials and reuse them in a new context, to tell stories, to recall memories, to reflect a culture gone haywire, whose very demise is found in its success; in its ability to over-produce an abundance of unrespected, undervalued items, to create and destroy compulsively.”
The installation is complete with bookshelves, reading areas with tables, chairs, lamps and, naturally, books. These books, made of scarred and aged detritus, speak in nonverbal terms- images remain open ended, abstract, able to reference objective ideas as well as intimate stories. They beg the question of just where these pages have been, what they once may have been, challenging the viewer to recall her/his own experiences.
Fully functional lighting fixtures, desks, chairs and tables reflect age and decay, as well as respect and order. The choice of materials, lighting , placement of furniture and the content of the books creates an atmosphere evocative of time and memory, decay and restoration, disregard and reverence. It evokes Proust’s “A la recherche du temps perdu” without words or madeleine. Only the “temps perdu” is now.
Bowen’s previous solo shows at Couturier Gallery, “The Shoe Show” (1992) and “Reflections" (1996) included sculptures investigating gender related and autobiographical issues (respectively) made from found objects and materials. “Bibliotheca Memoria” continues her use of containers as repositories of message and her exploration of how materials in and of themselves evoke meaning. Unlike the previous two shows, Bowen's current work refers not to visual identifiers in the form of figurative images, but focuses instead on evoking meaning from the abstract decay of aged metal.
Gaza Bowen’s work has been exhibited at numerous museum, most recently at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; Vancouver Museum, Vancouver, B.C.; Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA; M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA; Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia; San Francisco State University Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Her work may be found in public collections including: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia; American Craft Museum, New York, NY; Bruce Peel Special Collections Library, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AL; Deutsches Schuhmuseum, Offenbach am Main, Germany; The Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, Santa Monica, CA; M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA; Northampton Shoe Museum, Northampton, England; The Norton Family Foundation, Santa Monica, CA; Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA; University of California Library, McHenry Library Special Collections, Santa Cruz, CA.
For further information or photographs, please contact the gallery.
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