Art History in the Making

Published May 5, 2016

The University Art Museum received $300,000 in grants from the Getty Foundation to conduct research and support the implementation of the first-ever monographic exhibition in the United States of artworks by Argentine-born artist David Lamelas, called  “A Life of their Own.”

Image
David Lamelas Rock Star (Character Appropriation), 1974 Gela
David Lamelas
Rock Star (Character Appropriation), 1974
Gelatin silver print
15 5/16 x 12 inches
Courtesy the artist, Jan Mot, Brussels / Mexico City and
Maccarone, New York
Copyright: David Lamelas

“We received two chunks of money – $100,000 for research and $200,000 for implementation,” said Kristina Newhouse, UAM curator. “For us to have $100,000 just to do research for our exhibition is incredible. Nobody gets that kind of funding for art research.”

The research grant allowed Newhouse to get in contact with some of the top scholars in their area who are knowledgeable about Lamelas’ practice. Those scholars were invited to come to Long Beach to discuss the project and examine the UAM galleries in person. It also permitted Newhouse to travel to Argentina in 2015 to gain better understanding of the context in which Lamelas began to make art as a youth.

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David Lamelas Situación de tiempo (Situation of Time),1967 1
David Lamelas
Situación de tiempo (Situation of Time),1967
17  cathode ray televisions and a text
Installation view, Instituto Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, 1967
Exhibition:, Experiencias 67, curated by Jorge Romero Brest
Copyright: David Lamelas

Newhouse said Lamelas’ art career is noteworthy, in part because he was successful at such a young age. For example, he was in his early twenties when he represented Argentina at the prestigious ninth São Paulo Biennial in 1967. 

“The Sao Paulo Biennial is an international juried exhibition,” Newhouse said. “There are pavilions from each country. Each country picks artists to participate in the biennial.” 

She added that his participation in the Venice Biennale the following year added to the fame he developed from the Sao Paulo Biennial.

Under the mentorship of influential Argentine curator Jorge Romero Brest, Newhouse said Lamelas had many opportunities, such as attending St. Martin's School of Art in London where he studied with the sculptor Anthony Caro. During his time at London, he became part of the conceptual art scene and was in many of the important early conceptual exhibitions that took place at that time.

Another milestone for Lamelas was his use of photos that resembled Hollywood film stills. Newhouse noted that Lamelas’ film-still technique in his series, “The Violent Tapes of 1975,” preceded those employed by New York artists, like photographer Cindy Sherman by a few years.

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David Lamelas and Hildegarde Duane The Dictator (1978) B/W p
David Lamelas and Hildegarde Duane
The Dictator (1978)
B/W photo still
Digital color video, with sound, 22 minutes
Copyright: David Lamelas and Hildegarde Duane

“Everyone assumes that Sherman was the first to do this, but in reality, David did this before her,” Newhouse said.

This exhibition is a part of the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time Initiative that aims to explore Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles. Pacific Standard Time is taking place at more than 60 cultural institutions in Southern California from Los Angeles to Palm Springs. 

Although the range of artwork is fairly broad – pre-Columbian work to the present moment – the majority of exhibitions will have an emphasis on modern and contemporary art by artists from across the Caribbean, Central and South America, and California. Newhouse encourages “everyone to look at all the different shows that are going on and at the things that they will reveal.” 

The first Pacific Standard Time took place in 2011, and it “focused on modern and contemporary art, but in a very general sense,” Newhouse said.

 

“In the art world, the narrative is inevitably about New York, and it’s never about L.A.” She observes, L.A. was perceived to be a place “people leave to go to New York,” and this was the way it was always posited. But with Pacific Standard Time, “you actually saw that there were artists coming from other places specifically to be in Los Angeles because of the light, because of the freedom, because of the more casual atmosphere and lifestyle that was possible here.”

“A Life of Their Own” – along with other Pacific Standard Time offerings from regional cultural institutions – will take place from September 2017 to January 2018. Lamelas’ exhibition will encompass many aspects of his practice, from post-minimalist sculpture and photography to video installations and films.

Learn more about the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time LA/LA Initiative. 

Written by Ruben Diaz