Immaculate Heart of Margaritaville, A Group Exhibition Curated by Devendra Banhart @ Nicodim Los Angeles

Curated by Devendra Banhart, “A prayer for my four-to-six nuclear families, for my ever-expanding universe of friends and lovers, for consciousnesses that may or may not exist beyond our postmodern El Dorados and Shangri-Las where dead dreams go to die twice:

May this sea moss gel cool the fire within in me that burns with unfiltered desire for epiphany in a pornographic desert;

May we all find a Six Flags for our unmet oral and spiritual needs;

May we all discover a Cartier diamond bracelet in the Bloomin’ Onion we snuck into the hot yoga session at the Cheesecake Factory;

May we all find comfort within our own place in Margaritaville—that sacred temple, that archetype for a freedom that exists somewhere between legitimacy and artifice that urges us to leave behind the very sacred temple that is selling us the dream to leave it all behind;

May we all attend the vernissage for Immaculate Heart of Margaritaville and bask in the ordinary magic, this orgy of authenticity buried in the most profane of structures.”

–Adapted from Out of Body: The Bortz Metzger Memoirs, R. Driblette, editor. Penguin Books Ltd, 2002

Immaculate Heart of Margaritaville is the top floor of the romantic wing of the capitalist nightmare, a fever dream manifested during a midday nap on a bed of ashwagandha-tipped nails with an ecstatic, honest, and truthful international coterie of artists, many of whom have never shown in the United States before.

In celebration of the closing, noted, lubricated, hole-istic tantric gurus Devendra Banhart and Ben Lee Ritchie Handler will lead the gallery in a guided meditation. Please bring a yoga mat and a clear head. The event will double as release party for a limited-edition t-shirt for the exhibition. July 29 from 3–6. Space is limited, please arrive a bit early.

Immaculate Heart of Margaritaville is on view through July 29th at Nicodim, 1700 S Santa Fe Avenue, #160, Los Angeles, CA 90021

Hyperstitious Garments: A Treatise On Sartorial Immortality

 

earring: Tétier Bijoux

 

photography by Verity Smiley Jones
styling by
Lea Wilbrand
art direction by
Katharina Uhe
makeup by
Alice Dodds
hair by
Moe Mukai
casting by
Oliwia Jancerowicz
set design by
Jonquil Lawrence
production by
Alina Kolomiichenko
modeling by
Aworo Mayowa & India Grove @ Wilhelmina Models London
art by
Elena Hoskyns-Abrahall, Lucy Page, Janina Frye & Sophie Cunningham
text by
Julia Deutsch

photography assistance by
Grete Tuberik
styling assistance by
Katie Bishop
production assistance & on set production by
Sarah De Larue

full look: MONCLER

earrings: Panconesi x KNWLS
necklace: Matilda Little Jewellery
vest: Mainline:RUS/Fr.CA/DE

earrings: Laruicci
top: Mainline:RUS/Fr.CA/DE
trousers: Mainline:RUS/Fr.CA/DE
shoes: IOANNES
rings: Matilda Little Jewellery

earrings: Panconesi
top: Mainline:RUS/Fr.CA/DE

artwork: Lucy Page

artwork: Janina Frye

dress: Dipetsa
armcuff: Laruicci

full look: MONCLER

dress: Olivier Theyskens

artwork: El Hoskyns-Abrahal




earrings: Tétier Bijoux

earrings: Panconesi, Matilda Little Jewellery
longsleeve: Pronounce

earrings: Tétier Bijoux
sunglasses: Gentle Monster x Coperni
dress: Goomheo

earrings: Panconesi, Matilda Little Jewellery

artwork: Sophie Cunningham

earrings: Panconesi
vest: Mainline:RUS/Fr.CA/DE
skirt: MYNOK
shoes: IOANNES
belt: Mainline:RUS/Fr.CA/DE

sunglasses: Gentle Monster x Marine Serre
dress: Laruicci
dress: MYNOK
boots: Nii HAi
bag: Sophia Webster

earrings: Panconesi, Matilda Little Jewellery
longsleeve: Pronounce

earrings: Tétier Bijoux
jumper: John Lawrence Sullivan
skirt: DIESEL
bag: DIESEL
shoes: Nii HAi

dress: Luis de Javier

What would happen if a black cat crossed your path? Would your superstitious mind calculate the time that you have left before bad fortune derails your life? Or would you walk away untouched by the symbolic doom, rather, dreaming about a salary raise that’s due, or a possible new sofa that you saw on Architectural Digest? Black cats, spilt salt, and their metaphysical implications might be ideas that never come to fruition. The impending salary raise, though, may already be around the corner. It’s manifesting itself in this very moment — that is what hyperstition does for you.

Hyperstition does not only affect individuals but also organizations and whole systems (comprised of individuals, naturally). Capitalist economics are especially sensitive to this modus operandi. It seems that the most cut-throat, radical players manifest wealth with ease. Their confidence is the magic ingredient in a recipe accompanied by rational thought and acute action that act together to shape our future. This, however, stands in stark contrast with the dominant Western belief system of Judeo-Christian morality, which is predicated on obligation and duty. Capitalism sells us the future, or at least produces the very future it has presented, for example, in the form of garments. Frederic Jameson states in his writings on postmodernism and the cultural logic of late capitalism that “it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. We can now revise that and witness the attempt to imagine capitalism by way of imagining the end of the world.”

Imagining the future today, we see dystopian visions. They come in many forms and shapes but many would claim that envisioning utopia is inappropriate in times of doom. Not flying cars or nutritious meals in capsules, but rather, the colors of purgatory and the depths of the abyss. Are we collectively manifesting this through recursive thoughts? What we leave behind in an apocalypse are the products we used, garments we wore, and the knowledge we documented. William S. Burroughs argued that “You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative.” Time as a concept implies that we are always at the beginning and always at the end, every second that is. Therefore, the present is not only informed by the past but also by the future. The future hunts humanity in a sense, as Nick Land puts it: “The future is a better key to the present than the past.” But then, what is real in this moment besides the knowing that we must move forward?

The apprehension of the real is conceptually organized. This editorial we call “Hyperstitious Garments” derives from the question: What happens if clothes contain an emotional and affective capacity of their own? By relaying the perspective away from death, decay and documentation — garments have the ability to outlive the human body as the host and thereby change and overcome temporalities. Clothes are imbued with their own agency, therefore they emotionally unfold over time, and possibly live an infinite life. Also, the objects shown are not dependent on a body but exist untethered. Visual spatiality is created through the play with proportions, figurative and organic shapes — e.g. a static torso that wears a moving garment, or hair that behaves like sculpture. But the hyperstitious discourse does not end there, it also lives in how this very shoot was conceived, brought to fruition through production and is now accessible online through domain. It manifests itself as often as it is approached (clicked) and unfolds in front of our very eyes to be explored…


Elena Hoskyns-Abrahall (b. 1998, Edinburgh, Scotland) is a non-binary artist who lives and works in London. Elena's practice spans a wide variety of ideas and methods, however, they work predominantly in sculpture and performance, looking at themes relating to gender, identity politics and queer theory. Looking at the world through the lens of abjection, Elena uses this as a tool for exploring their human experience. Whether it be through objects or performance, the bodily and the repulsive become excellent tools for exploring the dysphoric nature of the human condition.

Janina Frye (b. 1987, Neuwied, Germany) lives and works in Amsterdam and Leiden. Frye studied at AKV St. Joost in 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands and the Royal College of Art in London. In 2020, she was a participant at the EKWC (European Ceramic Workshop Center) in Oisterwijk, NL. Her work has been exhibited at Arti et Amicitae, Amsterdam, among others; First Site, Colchester; Old Operation Theater Museum, London; Onomatopee, Eindhoven; P/////ACT, Amsterdam; Stedelijk Museum, 's-Hertogenbosch; Saatchi Gallery, London and South London Gallery, London. On the 17th of September, her upcoming solo show is opening at Kunstverein Friedrichshafen, Germany. Janina Frye’s sculptures and installations present a concept of the human – a transformative system with connections, overlaps, and entanglements linking the body to the outside world. Through the lens of new materialistic and systemic theories and personal observations, she posits that the human skin is not a border, but an interface with the outside world. Moreover, Frye is interested in 'the invisible,' where immaterial and imaginary entities, fictions, phantoms, and emergent processes influence our bodily cognitions and perceptions.

Sophie Cunningham (b. 1992, West Midlands, UK) is a London-based artist. Her work is an exploration of the irrational psychology behind the expediency and disposability of Western shopping habits. She creates sculptural arrangements using fast-fashion ordered online, which last the duration of the retailer's return policy. When the sculpture ends, she sends the clothes back with a photographic reminder of the sculpture placed in the return parcel to push her artwork directly into the supply-chain. She tries to communicate with the brands with an ‘irrational’ consumer response to start a dialogue. Often, works are not acknowledged by brands – for instance, in her video work ‘Papier-mâché Boots’ she swaps returned products for Papier-mâché versions and still receives a full refund. These absurd activities aim to raise questions about the impact of over-consumption. Recent exhibitions and talks include her ‘Systems at the Seams’ showcase at Goldsmiths MFA Fine Art Degree Show (2022) and being a guest speaker for the V&A Museum series ‘Live Conversations: Designed to Make a Difference’ (2021).

Lucy Page (b. 1995, London, England) studied Fine Art & History of Art at Goldsmiths University, and she is now developing her own sculpture practice from her studio in London. Lucy is interested in the ways that we inhabit the domestic space, from small daily gestures and routines to the motion of our bodies within this environment. Her work is bodily, exploring our use of this space. Lucy’s work centers around freezing movement and moments into tactile objects, bringing them into the home and transforming the domestic into purposeful design. In this way, the sculptor’s work bridges the gap between design and function; either meant to be kept as a piece of art, used to hold other objects, or sit on the wall. Lucy makes every piece by hand, using traditional casting and mold-making techniques. The process is very physical and each piece is unique. She works with a range of materials to create different designs including food, body parts, and clay.

Liu Shiyuan Presents For Jord @ Tanya Bonakdar Gallery In Los Angeles

For Jord, Liu Shiyuan’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, is comprised of photography, video and drawings, that revolve around a fictional character named Jord. In Danish, the word jord translates to ‘earth’ or ‘dirt’, and as a name, it means ‘divine being’ or ‘peace’. In Liu’s work, this character is not human, not from the past or the future, and has no race or gender. They are the amorphous, symbolic protagonist who binds the work across ideological and formal narratives.

In her photography practice, Liu uses personal iPhone videos and Google image searches as primary sources for her work. By searching words and phrases online, Liu identifies images with multiple meanings that can be attributed to the same word, offering a diversity of perspectives and interpretations. At her studio in Copenhagen, Liu searched the word “Jord” on Google images, resulting in images of dirt. Interestingly, many of the thumbnails featured two hands holding soil - giving the dirt a border, a containment and a sense of belonging. As a country, a culture, or any community with boundaries, the character Jord represents our connected and shared nature. For Liu Shiyuan, a Chinese national living in Denmark, this common ground of all humans is an important aspect of our livelihood.

Liu’s new film, For the Photos I Didn’t Take, For the Stories I Didn’t Read, is inspired by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen’s book The Little Match Seller. The story portrays a penniless young girl on New Year’s Eve trying to sell matches to make money for her family. From the cold and snowy street, she peers into other homes, imagining a better life. As she fantasizes, she peacefully passed away in the dawn of the new year, an abrupt and tragic end to the tale. In 1920, The Little Match Seller was translated to Chinese and included in educational books throughout the country. The story was used by the Chinese government during the Cultural Revolution as a way of explaining how the communist party was saving China from the problems of Western capitalism.

Liu reintroduces the audience to The Little Match Seller with a stream of images the artist found online by individually searching every word in the entire text. By recontextualizing the narrative, the viewer simultaneously reads both stories: the written version from 1845 and a parallel story created by today’s imagery. Every time the word “SHE” or “HER” appears in the text, Liu uses portraits of young girls from around the world - girls from poor families and wealthy families, from refugee camps and of different ethnicities. The result is surprisingly complex and unified. From one perspective it is clear to see the shadow of post-war society; from another, there is no change at all.

Set softly behind the rolling text and images, otherworldly environments create an atmosphere of the unknown, as if the viewer is looking onto earth from another universe. The idea of being a foreigner, an outsider or an alien is a frequent theme in Liu’s practice. Having lived in many different countries: growing up in China, studying in the United States and now living in Denmark — the same country as Hans Christian Andersen — Liu has a unique perspective on the cultural and political differences in these countries. For the Photos I Didn’t Take, For the Stories I Didn’t Read contemplates and questions larger issues of communism, socialism, capitalism and the affects on the individual — especially during the holiday season when indulgence and extravagance are celebrated, disparity and inequality become more pronounced. By bringing up these questions, Liu leaves the viewer to observe our differences, consider alternative perspectives and most importantly, understand our shared connection as humans.

For Jord is on view through January 30 @ Tanya Bonakdar Gallery 1010 N Highland Ave Los Angeles, CA 90038.

The 2015 Venice Biennale Central Exhibition 'All the World’s Futures' At The Giardini

Jeremy Deller's jukebox plays nothing but 7-inch records, which emit factory machine noise. 

Curated by Nigerian curator and the director of the Haus der Kunst in Munich Okwui Enwezor, 'All the World's Futures' is the central exhibition held at the Giardini during the 2015 Venice Biennale, which opens to the public tomorrow. Over 140 artists have been asked to be a part of this exhibition - from Oscar Murrilo to Glenn Ligon. The exhibition is a brutal statement exploring violence and pain, global catastrophe and mass anxieties, and the psychic and physical destruction caused by global capitalism. All the World's Future's will be on view from May 9 to November 22, 2015 at the 2015 Venice Biennale.