|
In the overall narrative there are artists who suggest and define L.A. by emphasising the specific light of California, while others relate to the entertainment industry. Some use the figure to suggest the behaviour of certain groups of people or social classes, the psychology of human existence and social issues, revealing symbolic and phantasmagorical visions, while others evoke the artificiality of Hollywood and images and narratives around the L.A. mythologies. Others address aesthetics, gender and identity, illusions and personal stories of friendship. The Afro-American community appears in naïve-style paintings of family members, sports and politics, or in references to the current manifestations of racism. There are images of empty houses, vandalism and violence, of sci-fi-inspired apocalyptic visions. There are concerns with systems and controls related to our everyday life, manipulated through fashion, cars, highways and colours. There are gender issues and homoeroticism; 3D still-lives, plants and lamps, middle-class interiors; landscapes, heatwaves, snakes and the struggle for survival; bedsheets, dirty mattresses collected from the streets; body parts, pain, teenagers’ faces; doors creating limits, frontiers, private and public spaces.
|