Group Exhibition: Street Cred: Graffiti Art from Concrete to Canvas; Pasadena Museum of California Art

kd-pmcapiece.jpg

Dark Side of the Triangulations No. 1 [2010]

5 x 7 x 2 1/2

Acrylic & spray-paint on canvas.

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Street Cred: Graffiti Art from Concrete to Canvas 

May 15, 2011 – September 4, 2011

Pasadena Museum of California Art (PMCA)

490 E. Union Street

Pasadena CA 91101

OPENING RECEPTION

Saturday, May 14, 2011

7:00 – 10:00 pm

$5 admission

Free for PMCA Members

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PASADENA, CA – The Pasadena Museum of California Art (PMCA) announces the first museum exhibition that joins the work created by Los Angeles graffiti artists for a fine art context with their graffiti art made in the streets. Internationally renowned as one of the most fertile grounds for graffiti art, the City of Angels has its own idiosyncratic graffiti styles created from the innovative New York “wildstyle” that heralded the birth of graffiti as it is seen today, filtered through local influences such as gang writing styles that greatly predate the modern movement. 

The artists for the exhibition have been consistently making influential public work, but their practice has expanded into work that is viewed in galleries and museums. Street Cred was first conceived in 2008 by PMCA Exhibition Manager Shirlae Cheng-Lifshin, who subsequently brought on Los Angeles graffiti historian Steve Grody as co-curator. Grody, who is the author of Graffiti LA, has been documenting high-quality work in the streets of Los Angeles since 1990. The exhibition will include his photographs from the crucial years of the graffiti scene, providing key insights into the visual “language” of graffiti, its development in Los Angeles, and the ways in which the street work informs the canvas work in the exhibition. 

Ironically, the fine art production of these artists are meant for wider audiences than their graffiti works, so the artists incorporate a more universal pictorial language than the specialized typography evident in graffiti in situ, usually readable only to other graffiti artists. Yet the artistic skill and dialogue with modernism displayed by many of these artists demonstrates that their place in the continuum of art history is well deserved. Works in the exhibition will also be grouped according to style, further underscoring both the breadth and depth of this contemporary art movement. Taken as a whole, Street Cred will show how a genre born on concrete translates into canvas, and how the two worlds interact. 

Artists featured in the exhibition include Michael Alvarez, ANGST, AXIS, Chaz Bojórquez, CODAK, CRAOLA, DASH 2000, Ekundayo, EYEONE, HASTE, Paul SKEPT Kanemitsu, Alex Kizu, KOFIE ONE, MAN ONE, MEAR ONE, Juan Carlos Muñoz Hernandez, Jose Lopez, Erick Montenegro, Nicnak, PUSH, RISK, Jeff Soto, Evan Skrederstu, RETNA, REVOK, SABER, SHANDU, Jesse Simon, SINER, and ZES.

Made possible in part by the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission and the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division.

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About the PMCA: 

The Pasadena Museum of California Art (PMCA) is dedicated to the exhibition of California art, architecture, and design from 1850 to the present. Informed by the state’s rich mixture of cultures and inspired by its impressive geography, California art has long been defined by a spirit of freedom and experimentation. PMCA exhibitions and educational programs explore the cultural dynamics and influences unique to California that have shaped and defined art in all media.

Hours: 

Wednesday – Sunday, 12:00 – 5:00 pm. The Museum is closed July 4th, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Admission:

$7 for Adults, $5 for Seniors (65+) and Students with valid ID; free to PMCA Members and children under 12. Access for people with disabilities is provided.

Location/Parking: 

The Museum is located at 490 East Union Street. From the 210 Freeway, take the Lake Avenue exit. Go south and take a right on Union Street. From the 110 Freeway/Downtown Los Angeles, follow the freeway until its end, then take Arroyo Parkway and turn right at Colorado, then left at Oakland to get to Union Street. Parking is available at the Museum.

PMCA Information: 

For information, the please call 626-568-3665

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