Ours is a City of Writers

Organized by Suzanne Hudson, Simon Leung and James Nisbet
February 5 – March 26, 2017

New approaches to writing can be seen everywhere across the contemporary art world. In Los Angeles, as a city whose arts and writing communities often center around art schools, shared modes of critical engagement, discussion and inquiry are especially evident. These innovative writing practices in our city, from fiction and poetry to theory and criticism, each seems to find their corresponding forms in art, and vice versa. Ours is a city of writers who matter a great deal to artists; of artists who are also writers; of writers who are also musicians, dancers, performers or visual artists; and so many other incarnations besides.

We take this orientation as the basis for a project that engages non-traditional approaches to writing and representing. Through a version of the surrealist “exquisite corpse,” invited writers have selected artists to collaborate, and, likewise, invited artists have selected writers. The participants approached their collaborations in numerous ways. While in some cases writers produced new texts in response to their artist-collaborators’ work, in others, artists took on the function of writers, displaying materials not initially intended to be art objects. Each scenario results in a piece of writing, artwork, performance or lecture. As presented in the gallery or as part of the live programs, these new works tends to exist among and between the distinctions of language, object and event.

Taken together, the personal connections exhibited in these works trace threads of belonging in Los Angeles, communities that preexist and survive the project, and allegiances that have come to fuller form within it.

An online catalog and companion to the exhibition, containing short texts and more information, is located at: oursisacityofwriters.net.

Organized by Suzanne Hudson, Simon Leung and James Nisbet

Featured artists include: Kelly Akashi, Scott Benzel, Andrew Berardini, Dan Bustillo, Dori Carter, Kabir Carter, Sylvia Chivaratanond, Neha Choksi, Srijon Chowdhury, Ginny Cook, Karon Davis, Antonio Trecel Diaz, Travis Diehl, Michelle Dizon, David Evans Frantz, Adam Feldmeth, Patricia Fernandez, Kathryn Garcia, Ramón García, Amy Gerstler, Natalie Graham, Katie Grinnan, Raquel Gutiérrez, Michael Ned Holte, Douglas Kearney, Gelare Khoshgozaran, Kristina Kite, Alex Klein, Nick Kramer, Young, Joon Kwak. Viet Le, Sarah, Lehrer-Graiwer, Robin Coste Lewis, Candice Lin, Lauren Mackler, Stacie Martinez, Dylan Mira, Sharon Mizota, Sohrab Mohebbi, Kavior Moon, Fred Moten, Alison O’Daniel, Michael O’Malley, Susanna Newbury, Gina Osterloh, Hannah Sanghee Park, Anthony Pearson, Litia Perta, Vanessa Place, Selene Preciado, Claire Rifelj, Miller Robinson, Judith Rodenbeck, Kim Schoen, Nizan Shaked, David Shook, Susan Silton, Virginia Solomon, Jenni Sorkin, Jacob Stewart-Halevy, John Tain, Anuradha Vikram, Terry Wolverton, Suné Woods, and Kim Ye.