Popular Choice
MingYan Helen Gu with Art.com
May 25- June 16, 2019
Opening reception: Saturday, May 25, 6- 9 pm
Gallery Hours: Sundays 1- 5, or by appointment
Actual Size Los Angeles is pleased to present Popular Choice, an exhibition by MingYan Helen Gu with Art.com. The exhibition presents a gallery within the existent gallery space of Actual Size Los Angeles. Behind the frosted windows, the gallery is furnished with a receptionist desk and chair, a storage system that holds books and archives, and a bench, all custom made by Gu for the site. The installation borrows from the conventions of the commercial white cube gallery, however, the office and exhibition space are compressed into the small footprint of Actual Size. Though the storage system and bench allude to iconic designer furniture, they are constructed from reference images with the techniques and materials of paper craft. With their original functional role displaced, these objects continue to function as decorative and aesthetic forms that signify a specific social class and taste. Each detail of the installation addresses the aesthetic of prominent commercial galleries, including the paper used for the exhibition’s press release and checklist as well as the gallerist’s attire.
The gallery presents a consumer curated selection of Art.com’s most popular giclée prints of historically well-known works by well-known artists. Art.com is a direct to consumer wall décor website. The works displayed are reproductions of digital files taken from photographs of a work on canvas or other surface. As a result of this process of reproduction, the images lose details in each step of the process. This further emphasizes the exhibited prints’ uniqueness from their source. While they resemble their originals, they simultaneously comply to a uniform mass-produced standard.
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Open Sunday 1:00- 5:00 and by appointment
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741 New High St. Los Angeles, CA 90012
1.213.290.5458