Aitor Lajarin, Crickets
February 17- April 9, 2017
In Aitor Lajarin’s first US museum exhibition, Crickets showcased new sculptures, paintings, videos and performances. These works are inspired by walks, observations and digressions in the urban surroundings near Heritage Square Museum that articulate ruminations around our conditions of contemporary urban life.
As patrons experience the buildings that comprise Heritage Square Museum through a historically guided tour, Lajarin’s objects were scattered throughout. A collection of small paintings of living rooms from homes in Heritage Square Museum’s neighborhood of Montecito Heights and adjacent neighborhoods were displayed in the Palms Depot. These Plein Air paintings are indexical to this time and place: simultaneously in tandem and in contrast to the historical houses.
Certain objects demand attention, placing the viewer into a formal negotiation of the past and present. Installed in the Ford House, Fence playfully recreates a fence in which peepholes assist in the desire to view what is on the other side. Other objects live in harmony with the houses, only to be realized with a keen eye. Lajarin’s works became part of the environment at Heritage Square Museum, an additional layer of staged objects that question what belongs and the reasons behind these accepted aesthetics.
As patrons experience the buildings that comprise Heritage Square Museum through a historically guided tour, Lajarin’s objects were scattered throughout. A collection of small paintings of living rooms from homes in Heritage Square Museum’s neighborhood of Montecito Heights and adjacent neighborhoods were displayed in the Palms Depot. These Plein Air paintings are indexical to this time and place: simultaneously in tandem and in contrast to the historical houses.
Certain objects demand attention, placing the viewer into a formal negotiation of the past and present. Installed in the Ford House, Fence playfully recreates a fence in which peepholes assist in the desire to view what is on the other side. Other objects live in harmony with the houses, only to be realized with a keen eye. Lajarin’s works became part of the environment at Heritage Square Museum, an additional layer of staged objects that question what belongs and the reasons behind these accepted aesthetics.
Crickets was a two part exhibition, with the complementary half occurring at VACANCY from February 25 – April 1, 2017. VACANCY is located at 2524 1/2 James M Wood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90006.
Aitor Lajarin is an artist whose work explores the poetic impressions of the environments we live in. His paintings and videos portray unexpected situations where common objects are placed in conflicting familiar places. Lajarin was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. He received his BFA from the University of Basque Country in Bilbao and his MFA from University of California in San Diego. His work has been exhibited in galleries and institutions in the US, Latin America and Europe. He is also co-founder and co-director of the artist run space DXIX Projects in Venice, CA.