PAUL SANTOLERI GALLERY-WIDE INSTALLATION OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Opens April 11th, 2013, 4PM-1AM
– admission free to all ages before 10PM
Runs April 11th-28th, 2013
– http://thinktankgallery.org
Think Tank Gallery, 939 Maple Ave, Second Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90015
Check our full interview with the artist here.
From April 11th, Think Tank Gallery invites you to visit a large-scale line drawing by internationally celebrated installation artist Paul Santoleri. Santoleri is publically presenting his first work ever in LA, and visiting the city for the first time in decades after traveling the world creating large installations across many countries.
He has been painting the gallery’s floors, ceiling, walls, and columns with a huge line drawing since March 24th, and will unveil this installation alongside some prints of his smaller works at the event’s opening. His piece will reflect the discoveries of his travels, and will recall memories of his first visit to Los Angeles as well as his recent experiences in Brazil.
Think Tank Gallery is a 6.5k sq ft industrial warehouse space hidden above the historic Santee Alley in Downtown Los Angeles, a specific part of the city that has remained largely the same despite its surrounding area changing faster than arguably any part of state, much different than it was when Santoleri visited last. Santoleri comments on situations like this in his work, taking thick, black ink and spreading it from corner to corner alongside various materials purchased in the shopping district, following his own memories and experiences while allowing viewers to walk inside of them. The artist will also have multiple prints on display in our project/stage room, recalling back across his journeys of the last few years and illustrating experiences from places around the world.
For further information or to request high-resolution images please contact:
Jacob Patterson | thinktankgallery@gmail.com | 916.670.3801
LIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCE AFTER PARTY
The gallery will come alive with its 12’ white walls bearing sharply contrasted drawings of heavy black, emphasized with splashes of color and sculptures jutting freely out of the walls and columns. The opening reception will be lit and presented as a standard gallery opening, with free refreshments and light music alongside the presence of the artist and gallery representatives from 4PM until just past 9PM. Afterward, the drawing-covered gallery will be lit with colorful, psychedelic oil projections provided by collaborator Thief Presents, and musical performances will end the night in style. For more details on this portion of the night, visit the Think Tank Gallery Facebook page or contact gallery rep Jacob Patterson (above).
NOTES TO EDITORS – ARTIST PAUL SANTOLERI
Artist Paul Santoleri on his work, and the opportunity to travel between two mural capitals of the country, during the current public art climate in Los Angeles:
“I think line is the unifying source. It’s been the basis for my work since my early drawings of ball point birds and imagined architecture on the margins of my notes in school; I start with a similar basis now – a line drawing in a black book where I imagine the space in 2d.
“I start with an idea, and I try to fit it into the space, wall drawings are often responsive to the environment, they might have a relationship to the world outside the gallery or museum, my wanderings while I am creating the piece often create new tertiary directions, hidden narratives that have relevance as they are developed. The Ink drawings are like an exercise of being in the moment, while reflecting on the moments that brought me to arrive there.”
“I generally follow opportunities to continue my work, for work is what I want to do. So, I was psyched to hear of this opportunity & now I’m psyched to do it. Think Tank seems like a great chance to make a piece for a city like LA with its long history of wall paintings, but I’m not so involved with numbers or thrones, really just quality, and that’s why I try to travel all over to see work in context, stand in front of it and experience it instead of seeing it on the web or in a photo, because the physical experience is really why we do these things, at least in my opinion, and they are forever changing, and that’s what’s very cool about the movement now.”
NOTES TO EDITORS – THINK TANK GALLERY
Think Tank Gallery, Los Angeles is an urban art gallery in a city that is realizing its post-street art potential. The gallery focuses on integration and progression with each show, and serves as a place to inspire with each event and exhibition shared within the historic part of Downtown LA it inhabits.