Sam Durant – “Pigs and Gold” – art exhibition opening at the Eastern Star Gallery at Archer – Los Angeles art report

The Eastern Star Gallery, a unique art exhibition space located on the Brentwood campus of The Archer School for Girls, an independent middle and high school in Los Angeles, will be the venue for “Pigs and Gold”, an exhibition of original work by multimedia artist Sam Durant. “Pigs and Gold” will be on view at The Eastern Star Gallery from February 6 through March 18, 2014. The exhibition is free to the public. The gallery will host a reception for Durant on Thursday, February 6, at 6:30p.m., followed by an artist talk and Q&A at 7:30 p.m.

Art exhibitions at The Archer School for Girls are conceived, planned and executed entirely by students as part of the school’s unique gallery management program. This leadership-building program offers students hands-on experience in exhibit organization and design, curation of work, coordination with artists and other arts institutions, promotion and publicity, and other key aspects of gallery and museum business management.

“We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to exhibit the work of Sam Durant at the Eastern Star Gallery. He uses art to portray different historical time periods, which is very educational, especially since the show is taking place in a learning environment,” says Carina Oriel, student and Director of Communications at The Eastern Star Gallery.

About the Artist:

Sam Durant is a multimedia artist whose works engage a variety of social, political, and cultural issues. Often referencing American history, his work explores the varying relationships between culture and politics, engaging subjects as diverse as the civil rights movement, southern rock music, and modernism. His work has been widely exhibited internationally and in the United States. He has had solo museum exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Dusseldorf, S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Zealand. His work has been included in the Panamá, Sydney, Venice and Whitney Biennales. Durant shows with several galleries including Blum and Poe in Los Angeles, Paula Cooper Gallery in New York, Praz-Delavallade in Paris and Sadie Coles Gallery in London. His work has been extensively documented, including seven monographic catalogs and books. In 2006 he compiled and edited a comprehensive monograph of Black Panther artist Emory Douglas’ work. His recent curatorial credits include Eat the Market at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Black Panther: the Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the New Museum in New York. He has co-organized numerous group shows and artists benefits and is a co-founder of Transforma, a cultural rebuilding collective project that began in New Orleans. He was a finalist for the 2008 Hugo Boss Prize and has received a United States Artists Broad Fellowship and a City of Los Angeles Individual Artist Grant. His work can be found in many public collections including The Art Gallery of Western Australia in Perth, Tate Modern in London, Project Row Houses in Houston and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Durant teaches art at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California.

To see images of prior exhibits of the artist’s work, please visit his website.

“The Archer students have impressed me tremendously with their preparation and knowledge of my work. The class has selected, curated and installed one of my best installations by taking into consideration the characteristics of the gallery space and, importantly, its educational setting.  I am honored and proud to have collaborated with such an intelligent and energetic group,” comments Durant.

The Archer School for Girls

11725 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90049.

Opening reception for the artist:

February 6, 2014 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.

Q&A with the artist at 7:30 p.m.

To see images of prior exhibits of the artist’s work, please visit his official site here.

About The Archer School for Girls:

Founded in 1995, The Archer School for Girls is an independent school that provides a 21^st-century college preparatory program for students in grades 6 through 12 in an environment that explores and refines the ways girls learn best. Cultivating a strong sense of individuality, personal identity, independence, a sense of global engagement, and an array of leadership opportunities define each student’s experience. For more information, please visit their website here or call 310-873-7000.

About The Gallery – its MISSION:

To engage gallery visitors in the collaborative journey of the artist’s creative process, and to build an expansive community around the shared experience of contemporary art, within The Archer School for Girls community and beyond. The exhibitions also serve to provide students with a real-life business model for gallery operation and art business management. Proceeds from art sales support Archer’s financial aid program.

ABOUT THE GALLERY:

The Eastern Star Gallery at Archer is more than a unique space to view contemporary artwork: it is the center of a vital dialogue between artists, students, teachers, collectors, gallery directors, curators and other art-lovers who are drawn to the Archer campus. Students with an interest in curation, exhibition planning, and museum and gallery management receive an introduction to the business aspects of fine arts through off-campus excursions and visiting guest lectures and panels of experts.

HISTORY:

By definition, the Eastern Star Gallery at Archer is a place of transformation. The space originally served as a chapel in the 1930s, offering residents a place of worship for more than six decades. During its subsequent metamorphosis, the 300-square-foot room served as a classroom and theater staging area before assuming its current life as an art gallery in 2006. Since then, this space has housed some of the most prestigious contemporary art in Southern California. In 2013, students renamed The Gallery at The Archer School for Girls as the Eastern Star Gallery at Archer, honoring the building’s historic roots as the Eastern Star Home for Women.

 

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