Joe Sola: I found some Bic pens by the railroad tracks January 9th through February 13, 2010 Opening Reception: Saturday, January 9th, 6 – 8pm Performance: Saturday, January 30th, 7:30 pm
The Happy Lion is very pleased to present an exhibition with Los Angeles based artist Joe Sola featuring the debut of a new video work, A Short Film About Looking. With his signature dry wit Sola’s latest work is a meditation on looking, as positioned by his characters: the artist, the patron and the gallery. A parallel narrative unfolds as we follow the morning of the two males: the first a scruffy artist type, the second a wealthy consumer. They pause to gaze—at seemingly random but formally chosen objects, shapes, colors. The differences in the lifestyles of these men are clear, and Sola builds this opposition with each edit. Narrative anticipation is fully and hysterically satisfied in a gallery—the obvious authority on looking, as “artist” meets “collector” and is arbitrated by “gallerist”. With an unparalleled ease of economy, Sola deftly dissects the politics of looking.
In addition to the video the exhibition will include several works on paper and a special one-night performance. Lush yet minimal, Sola’s recent watercolors convey humorous self-reference, as in the piece titled a painting of a book of ridiculous paintings and another me’n Kippenberger, and refer also to image production as in Industrial film. Sola’s highly physical performances use slapstick, live music, and Dada-ist abstraction to hilarious results. His newest piece, in collaboration with musician Michael Webster, will premiere on January 30th.
The Happy Lion is located at 963 Chung King Road in Los Angeles. Gallery hours are Weds through Saturday, 12-6 and by appointment. For additional information or visuals, please contact the gallery at 213.625.1360 or happylion@pacbell.net.
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