30 Oct 2010 to 18 Dec 2010
Gallery hours
Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 - 5:00
The Kopeikin Gallery
2766 La Cienega Blvd
CA. 90034
Los Angeles, CA
California
North America
p: +1 310-385-5894
m:
f: +1 310 385-7964
w: www.kopeikingallery.com
Deanna Templeton "Scratch my name on your arm" October 30th - December 18th
"Deanna manages to create images that are non-voyeristic, based on a comraderie with her subjects."
- Aaron Rose
Deanna Templeton's photographs are steeped in the style of Southern California. She has long been among a collective group of artists known for their original aesthetics influenced by the worlds of skateboarding, graffiti and music. These artists include Thomas Campbell, Shepard Fairey, Harmony Korine, Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen, Aaron Rose and Ed Templeton, Deanna's husband
"She elegantly focus her lens on a rarely-seen side of femininity, and executes it with a unique sense of being one of the girls."
- Aaron Rose
"Scratch My Name on your Arm" explores an evolving trend among todays youth infused with celebrity worship, the Body Autograph. Being around the southern California surfing and skating scene most of her life Deanna noticed that the classic dynamic of asking for an autograph has been changing from collecting a cherished keepsake into some sort of public theater, a small interaction with a marginally famous person, usually a professional surfer or skateboarder. It's not uncommon for a boy or girl to ask for an autograph on the bare skin instead of the traditional piece of paper, an ephemeral souvenir that only lasts until the next shower.
Deanna has spent the last five years exploring this phenomenon at skateboard demos, surf competitions, and other athletic events. She captures the glaring want of acceptance in the girls who seem to be trying to embody the party girl idea by getting 'tagged' exclusively on their erogenous zones, and the debauchery of the boys who upon asking to be signed get festooned with moustaches, swastikas, or worse. They obviously didn't want the autograph as a memento if they asked for it on their face or cleavage, but rather for the interplay and the public spectacle.
Lara Jo Regan "Drive-Thru" October 30th - December 18th
The Kopeikin Gallery is proud to present Drive-Thru, a new photographic installation by
Los Angeles based artist Lara Jo Regan. The exhibition opens October 30th and runs through December 18th. There will be a reception with the artist on Saturday, October 30th from 6:00 - 8:00. It is free and open to the public.
Drive-Thru is a large scale environmental installation made up of portraits of anonymous fast food workers at night framed through their service portals. Each portrait approximates the actual size of a drive thru window and is connected to the next window by black expanse simulating the darkness of night. Influenced by film frames and cinematic narratives, the viewer gets the sense of navigating an endless nocturnal drive thru possessing comic, haunting beauty.
"There is something illicit-feeling about a drive-thru transaction, especially at night," says Regan, "as if buying illegal drugs."
The fast food drive-thru is one of the most ubiquitous and recognizable symbols of bottom-line corporate culture. The food served at these venues has proven to contribute significantly to the national obesity epidemic and to global environmental destruction. The rapidly growing fast food industry now exceeds an annual value of over 100 billion dollar and a volume of 80.3 billion transactions, but the annual wages of a full-time fast food service worker still falls below the poverty line.
Amplifying the corporatization of the authentic and natural environment is a central theme in Regan's recent work. Drive-Thru represents Regan's interest in reinvigorating the meditative and provocative nature of documentary images by pushing the tradition into new abstracted,conceptual realms, while still preserving its essential function of inciting meaningful alternative contemplation of the real world. As an award-winning photojournalist, fine art photographer and filmmaker, Regan has been documenting the human and cultural landscape of Southern California for over two decades.
