Uprising Los Angeles
A walk through Los Angeles in the aftermath of the 1992 Riots
Photo collages by Christine Burrill
Exhibition on view: Thursday, October 11–Saturday, December 1, 2012
Opening reception with the artist: Thursday, October 11, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Open house and tea: Saturday, October 13, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
151ArtsBrownstone is pleased to present the exhibition Uprising Los Angeles by Christine Burrill. The exhibition features large-scale color photo collage panels and black & white photographs of a city and its people following the violence of the Los Angeles Riots in 1992. On display in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the riots, this is the first time the work will be shown in New York.
On April 29th, 1992, following the acquittal of the police officers that beat Rodney King, large sections of Los Angeles erupted into five days of violence. On the second day of the riots, Burrill entered damaged and dangerous areas with her camera, setting out to document the people and aftermath of the historic tragedy. Burrill elegantly arranges images of the people and places devastated by the riots.
Burrill began working with photo collage after she read an article on David Hockney in The New Yorker in 1983. She was taken with his methods and set out to replicate what he called “separate glimpses” of the same subject. Burrill’s impressive photo collages are made up of over a hundred 4×6 images that have been layered digitally then printed as a single image on archival paper. The exhibition presents a range of subject matter: would-be gang girls flashing victory signs, empty shells of stores, elegant African-American churchgoers displaying resolve after Sunday service, a Korean family sweeping up the remains of their store, and a dismayed Latino cop standing quietly among by wreckage. The images feel remarkably current, invoking the pathos, and lurking potential, for violence in communities plagued by injustice.
Christine Burrill was born in Long Beach, California and is currently based between Los Angeles and Rensselaerville, New York. Burrill received her B.A. at the University of Southern California and later studied cinematography at USC’s film school. She has spent over thirty years looking at the world through the camera lens. She is an award winning filmmaker, cinematographer and still photographer. Her photographs have been exhibited in the United States, Europe and Latin America. She has traveled around the world and worked on many documentary films for HBO, BBC and PBS. One of her main passions has been the Brazilian Amazon, where she has spent twelve years working in various capacities—photographically and cinematically.
151ArtsBrownstone is a private arts space in the heart of Harlem. The gallery occupies the garden level of a historic brownstone at 151 West 120th Street. Founded by Los Angeles based screenwriter & producer Roderick Spencer in 2011, the gallery seeks to highlight work made by artists who find their subjects by putting themselves in places where they may not belong. Invested in showing work made by emerging and underrepresented artists 151ArtsBrownstone’s exhibitions highlight the outsider in all of us.
Related events and gallery hours
The exhibition will be on view Thursday, October 11–Saturday, December 1, 2012
Opening reception with the artist: Thursday, October 11, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Open house and tea with the artist: Saturday, October 13, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
Limited gallery hours: Tuesday, October 16–Saturday, October 20, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
All other times the gallery is open by appointment only, contact Erdene Greene at 646.246.4481 to schedule an appointment
Directions
2/3 to 116th Street or A/B/C/D trains to 125th Street
Press contact: For additional information and to see images please contact Kate Greenberg/Stamp Collaborations, kategreenberg@gmail.com; 646.405.5987.
