Shadow as Witness: In the shadow of History
The exhibition Shadow as Witness features over thirty artworks from twelve artists all converging within a single location; comprised of the works of Juan Logan, Alana Medina, Kelly Brumfield-Woods, Vicente Peris, Sharon Barnes, Stephanie Pryor, Lino Martinez, Alice Emmons, Edgar Kim, Stuart Fingerhut, Esteban Patiño, and Shabnam Yousefian. Juan Logan’s artworks highlighted in Shadow as Witness, historically anchors the topic being questioned by the exhibition, and opens the possibility to delve deeper into the reality that lies at the shadows of American History itself.
Juan Logan’s practice deeply delves into infinite quantities of media, just the same he is known for extremely complex sculptures made of steel, as for his painted canvases often rendered in puzzle pieces or glitter. His artwork either as intimate paintings, enormous murals, large-scale sculptures, ready-mades, found objects, or public art installations often made of concrete can be found today in many art museums.
He is not particularly known for his photographic work, thus making Ghost an exceptional moment of the artists’ own career. Ghost made in 2009, has allowed Logan to aesthetically challenge the past of this nation, by photographing slaves’ shackles, neck braces, and other restraints, photography has sanctioned an interrogation into an open wound that is rarely seen through the prism of beauty.
Included in the exhibition Shadow as Witness, Ghost which is made up of a series of six photographs serves as a subtle reminder of intricately and frightening realities in history which are often cast to the shadows of time. Within each of the photographs that make up the Ghost series, a different object is observed from within its own shadows, thus various readings surface from other spaces in time.
The photographs themselves, black and white, subtle, challenging, breath-taking, exquisite pieces on paper that almost all the time live a single life of intricate beauty, solely for the pleasure of the observer who often feels chills down his or her spine upon realizing the reality that lies in the shadows of the work itself.
Upon realizing the painful history that emerges from these shadows, the dialogue shifts, an object of true pleasure suddenly becomes painful, the authenticity of this particular shadow is devastating in the most aesthetically pleasing way. A unique agency found almost exclusively in artwork, that Logan taps into and uses as a tool to convey historical truths which plague the very core of our society.
Logan who currently lives and works out of Belmont North Carolina visits Los Angeles and for the first time speaks about his work on the West Coast. Join him and Kelly Brumfield-Woods as they discuss their art practices which converge in the exhibition Shadow as Witness, on April 14.
Shadow as Witness is on view until April 20th, 2018.
Santa Fe Building • Historic Core of Los Angeles • 560 S Main St (7th floor)., Los Angeles, CA. Gallery hours are Friday/Saturday from 12-5pm or by appt.
More on the exhibition at CuratorLove.