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Destruction and renewal are among the themes explored by international artists Laurie Litowitz, Manfred Müller and Marta Palau.
Collectively titled “Human Conditions,” the exhibition was not conceived as a group show, said gallery director Selma Holo.
“Each of the works was created independently of the others,” Holo said. “But as we installed them in our three exhibition rooms, it became apparent that together they opened a window on some of the extreme states of the human condition.”
Laurie Litowitz began work on “Peace Spaces” shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Litowitz, who has lived in Mexico for the last 20 years but was born in New York, said she found herself needing “to see, almost touch” peace. She began by looking for the word “peace” in other languages. The 200-plus words she has gathered are central to her evolving three-part installation.
At the center of Manfred Müller’s "DEMO: The Body Shop” is an overturned and bandaged SUV. Surrounded by plaster replicas of human and automotive parts, it lies in what appears to be a pristine garage.
Müller grew up in the post-World War II Rhine-Ruhr region of Germany. Since 1989, he has divided his time between his native Düsseldorf and Los Angeles. His work meditates on the destructive tendencies of memory and industrialization. His piece also alludes to the auto culture of his adopted home.
Spanish-born Marta Palau examines the ubiquity of war in her installation “Todas las Guerras.”
A resident of Mexico since 1940, Palau works in a characteristic style that reflects her interest in Pre-Columbian mythology, the cave paintings of Baja California, and the rituals of indigenous peoples.
Her USC Fisher Gallery installation features the fallen warrior of prehistory alongside the first wars of the 21st century.
“Human Conditions” is curated by Jeanette La Vere (Litowitz), Max Schulz (Müller) and Ariadni Liokatis (Palau).
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