Enter LIBBY BLACK: TIMELESS SEPTEMBER 12 - OCTOBER 17, 2009 CHARLIE JAMES GALLERY CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES
Charlie James Gallery is proud to present Libby Black in a solo show at the gallery from September 12 to October 17, 2009. Ms Black is an established star on the Bay Area art scene; she gained significant notoriety in 2005 for her installation of a Kate Spade store at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, replete with shoes, shoeboxes, handbags and presentation shelves all composed of paper, acrylic paint, and hot glue. Since then she has been a perennial fixture in art fairs and in solo and group shows at Marx and Zavettero in San Francisco, and around the country. For her LA solo debut, Ms Black brings us Timeless, an ambitious combination of painting, drawing, and sculpture that uses the iconography of the fashion world to explore intersecting themes of desire v. ownership and access v. exclusion. Surveying the work in the show, it is possible to detect a conversation of sorts going on amongst the work. Her Louis Vuitton and Hermes luggage sculptures made of paper, glue and acrylic assert the folly of the acquisitive impulse, with the outsized, empty containers beckoning us forward only to subvert our expectations on closer inspection. Her paintings, both oil on canvas and gouache on paper, convey a hesitant yet rapt longing for inclusion as they deconstruct the impressions made by fashion and celebrity on the mind of the artist. In the paintings and sculptures, the fantasy created by the fashion world takes on recognizable features and dimensions. Black s images conjure a similar mode of desire to that evoked by the products themselves, but hers is a desire made with the gears of manipulation on the outside, illuminating how and why the allure of fashion functions as it does. However, it s important to note that the paintings are neither derisive nor judgmental; there is recognizable love and fascination in them. If anything the paintings can be said to be studying the mechanics of desire. Examined through the lens of our current economic collapse, Ms Black offers a means for viewers to stand back a bit, and in that distance examine more closely the objects and lifestyle so often coveted in contemporary culture. In Timeless, Ms Black expands to take on a new landscape of desire, that of fame, access, and the cult of personality. Four drawings take on the mechanics of mythmaking and success, in styles reminiscent of Vanity Fair one page portraits. In these pieces, artworld superstars from Warhol and Basquiat to Dali and Avedon discuss topics ranging from mentorship and success to the importance of a world-class hotel. And, serving as an important thematic key to the exhibition, Black s painting of Andy Warhol s Paintbrush unites all threads. Warhol used his art for many ends - riches and fame certainly, but primarily for access to worlds otherwise closed to him. In effect Warhol and his metaphorical paintbrush created the worlds of glamour he so coveted in his youth and adult life. In fact, Ms Black may be saying ultimately, like Andy did, if you want it and can t have it, just make it and take it. LIBBY BLACK: TIMELESS SEPTEMBER 12 - OCTOBER 17, 2009 CHARLIE JAMES GALLERY CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES
+ + SF Louis Vuitton Store, 2009 Oil on canvas 8 x 10 inches + + SF Goyard Store, 2009 Oil on canvas 8 x 10 inches Wherever You Go, There You Are, 2009 54 x 22 x 17 inches You Never Call, You Never Write, 2008 60 x 21 x 20 inches LIBBY BLACK: TIMELESS SEPTEMBER 12 - OCTOBER 17, 2009 CHARLIE JAMES GALLERY CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES
+ + + Vogue Fashion in Living, 2009 Gouache on paper 8 x 10 inches Vogue Blue Sapphire, 2009 Gouache on paper 7 x 9 inches Vogue Beauty Issue, 2009 Gouache on paper 5.25 x 7 inches Vogue 1940, 2009 Gouache on paper 11 x 8.5 inches + LIBBY BLACK: TIMELESS SEPTEMBER 12 - OCTOBER 17, 2009 CHARLIE JAMES GALLERY CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES
+ + + + Mentorship, 2009 Pencil on paper 9 x 12 inches Perfect Hotel, 2009 Pencil on paper 9 x 12 inches The Man We Miss, 2009 Pencil on paper 9 x 12 inches The Girls, 2009 Pencil on paper 9 x 12 inches LIBBY BLACK: TIMELESS SEPTEMBER 12 - OCTOBER 17, 2009 CHARLIE JAMES GALLERY CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES
+ + + + Balenciaga Ad II, 2009 Oil on canvas 48 x 36 inches Watching You, 2008 Oil on canvas 48 x 36 inches Andy WarhoL s Paintbrush II, 2009 Oil on canvas 40 x 30 inches Just Right, Right Now, 2009 Oil on canvas 60 x 48 inches LIBBY BLACK: TIMELESS SEPTEMBER 12 - OCTOBER 17, 2009 CHARLIE JAMES GALLERY CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES
+ + + + Pamela and Vivenne, 2009 7.75 x 11 inches Pencil on Paper Marc Daisy, 2009 Oil on canvas 6 x 8 inches Goyard Recyclable, 2009 6.75 x 8.5 inches Gouache on paper Balenciaga Ad, 2009 Oil On Canvas 8 x 10 inches + + Kim, 2008 Pencil on paper 19.5 x 30 inches LIBBY BLACK: TIMELESS SEPTEMBER 12 - OCTOBER 17, 2009 CHARLIE JAMES GALLERY CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES Goyard s ABCs, 2009 8 x 8 inches Gouache on paper
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the artist and author, except for brief quotations used in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. Images courtesy of Libby Black and Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles. CHARLIE JAMES GALLERY CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES 975 CHUNG KING ROAD LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 PH: 213.687.0844 FAX: 213.687.8815 www.cjamesgallery.com