Los Angeles Art Association proudly presents Second Skin: a powerful one-night only performance art event with Kayla Cloonan, Rob Grad, Ibuki Kuramochi, MissArtWorld and Elizabeth Tobias with Jennifer Korsen.
Date: Saturday, January 26, 2019, 6 to 9p
Admission: Free
Where: Gallery 825, 825 N. La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90069
In DE-Compartmentalization, Kayla Cloonan will create a visual 'mind-mapping' across the walls of the gallery space, exploring memory through an accumulation of journals pages, sketchbooks, photographs, personal objects and bits of finished and unfinished paintings. Synchronously, the artist will be shedding off layers of clothing symbolizing personal roles in life and representations of the self. Ending with only undergarments, the artist will continue the ideas of mapping using her body as a canvas.
Rob Grad will perform a live musical set called Allez which chronicles his struggle with knowing that a chapter of his life needed to close, and not being able to find the door to the next one. This performance will consist of 25 minutes of music played live with a guitar and vocals accompanied by pre-recorded tracks. Part video installation, part acoustic rock, part etheric atmospheric tones created with a reverb unit, the 5 song set will chronicle an internal journey beginning with the beautiful rush of a new idea, followed by disillusionment as "reality" sets in, ultimately culminating in resolve to continue. Rob Grad will perform at 7:00pm and 8:00pm.
Ibuki Kuramochi's performance SPIRITUS PELLIS fuses the beauty and craft oflive painting with the soul and rhythm of contemporary Japanese Butoh dance. The term "choreography" is problematic for Butoh. Choreography in the West implies a set sequence of movements. Butoh is very different - timing and movements are improvised. To further complement the cultural authenticity of the performance, Ibuki intentionally uses Japanese sumi ink with white paper or fabric for its contrast of black and white colors to signify death and life. Ibuki will perform at 6:00pm, 7:30pm and 8:30pm.
MissArtWorld ambitiously explores her experiences with addiction in her performance Icarus Complex, critiquing the blinding ambition for beauty. Mythological Icarus lacked the consciousness of his limitations necessary to survive, falling to his death after flying too close to the sun, which melted his wax wings. "Icarus Complex", is an ugly reality in society, which exhibits elitism fueled by rating people based on their beauty accomplishments. This causes detachment from reality finding belief and depression in a carefully curated world where fakeness gets you farther then authenticity. This performance challenges the willingness to change your body, to achieve the perfect secondskin, knowing it may result in destruction.
Elizabeth Tobias and Jennifer Korsen present Survivor! It Happened to Me Too in advance of Tobias' performance at the LA Art Show on January 27. Survivor! Share Your 98 Second Story is an immersive, socially engaged performance project that was created in response to the unconscionable statistic that a sexual assault occurs every 98 seconds. Yet, sexual assault remains the most underreported crime in the US. Those victimized by violence often lack the support and resources needed to come forward. For artists who have been impacted by the trauma of sexualized assault, rarely, if ever, are there adequate opportunities to create work that addresses their stories within and beyond the larger art community. For Second Skin, Artist and Trauma-Informed Expressive Arts Therapist, Elizabeth Tobias is collaborating with Artist Jennifer Korsen to present a participatory art experience entitled, "Survivor! It Happened to Me Too." which has become a ubiquitous phrase for sharing an assault or rape story with a trusted friend or loved one. Together, Tobias and Korsen share the collective vision of ending sexual violence. They invite you to make your mark on this effort by sharing your experiences and becoming part of the collective voice of change.