Currently on view at Steve Turner Contemporary in Los Angeles, is “See Also: Lai Fun, List of Pasta, Soba” an exhibition by Parker Ito and 4 collaborators, Artie Vierkant, Body by Body, Israel Lund and Skye Chamberlain. Parker Ito has presented works that function as props and backdrop using “flip-flop” paint, also known as chameleon paint, also known as super hyphy trilla paint for your scraper bike/car/chopper/etc. This paint is a step forward from his last explorations using 3M reflective material, which is the blinged out sections on fancy Nike running shoes with the marshmallow soles you see everyone wearing, like a contemporary version of Prestos (if you don’t know Prestos, they were epic in the late 90s, but short lived and forgotten). Trace is an element in to the work, seen in the overspray from the flip-flop paint used to paint sections of drywall which hang from the ceiling from chains. Ito invited 4 artists to collaborate with the suspended sheetrock bringing in outside perspectives and practices into the work which Ito explains, “exists as an artistic collaboration, an individual installation, and a dynamic sculpture by Parker Ito”.
See Also: Lai Fun, List of Pasta, Soba, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, February 2013. Courtesy of gallery.
See Also: Lai Fun, List of Pasta, Soba, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, February 2013. Courtesy of gallery.
Body by Body + Penerotic, Guardian Angel 2 (IKEA Afro Queen), 2013. Digital print on polyester round rug, 36 x 36 inches. Courtesy of gallery.
In the second room is an impressive installation using painting and sculptural elements which coexist within the space, using flip-flop paint as the recurring material in the works. The pieces are suspending in the space from chains like everything else in the exhibition. On the surface of the paintings is molding paste which is thickly applied to enhance the color changing qualities of the top surface of paint. The ceramic pieces have the same effect from the organic curves present in each object. They are all a little different from one another, but the viewer is challenged with the notion of original vs copy. Which one came first? Which one is genuine and which one isn’t. Ito explains that, “they were created simultaneously, each being the model for the other”.
See Also: Lai Fun, List of Pasta, Soba, Installation view, Steve Turner Contemporary, February 2013. Courtesy of gallery.
See Also: Lai Fun, List of Pasta, Soba, detail view, Steve Turner Contemporary, February 2013. Courtesy of gallery.
Peep the show if you’re in LA, it’s worth a visit. More images can be found at the link below.
http://www.steveturnercontemporary.com/artists/ito/2013/index.html
-Contributed by another Ito: Gregory Ito
