The Los Angeles Project Star Waggons, 2014

In a critical examination of one of the most important art centers in the Western world, UCCA will dedicate its entire exhibition space to an anthology of seven shows of contemporary artists living and working in Los Angeles. They are Kathryn Andrews, Aaron Curry, Alex Israel, Matthew Monahan, Sterling Ruby, Ryan Trecartin, and Kaari Upson.

These seven artists represent a generation of creative practitioners drawn to a global nexus, one whose rich cultural legacy and robust network of art schools, galleries, and institutions act as a magnet for top talents in the field of contemporary art. Outside of Hollywood, specific cultural connections between Los Angeles and Beijing have been lacking despite their imagined proximity as Pacific Rim cities. Los Angeles has long been imagined as a “city of the future” in much the same way that urban development in China has unfolded against the backdrop of an implicit utopianism. As China’s creative scene matures into a multipolar terrain of geographies, contexts, and subjectivities, Los Angeles and its cultural topography become especially relevant to Beijing and its current position as the mainland’s creative capital.

Curated by UCCA Director Philip Tinari and UCCA Chief Curator Paula Tsai, “The Los Angeles Project” is not a thematic group show but rather a group of exhibitions that uses the Center’s wide range of spaces to juxtapose a set of positions with highest regard for the individual character of each artist’s practice. In keeping with this anthological character, the exhibition is accompanied not by a single catalogue but by a collection of seven distinct artist books. Co-published with Koenig Books and supported by Artron Art Group, these books are supported by project editors Karen Marta and Brian Roettinger.

A wide range of public programs will complement the exhibition. Apart from a series of talks by the participating artists, UCCA will host a festival dedicated to film in Los Angeles, curated by UCCA Director of Public Programs Meng Xie. The program will begin on the opening weekend with the Asia premiere of a new, remastered version of the essay film Los Angeles Plays Itself with writer and director Thom Andersen in attendance and a lecture by Glenn Phillips, acting head of the Department of Architecture & Contemporary Art at the Getty Museum and curator of the landmark exhibition “California Video” (2008). This will be followed by an extensive screening series that explores the depiction of L.A. in film by both local and outsider directors, spanning mainstream Hollywood productions, independent features, and experimental films.

In a critical examination of one of the most important art centers in the Western world, UCCA will dedicate its entire exhibition space to an anthology of seven shows of contemporary artists living and working in Los Angeles. They are Kathryn Andrews, Aaron Curry, Alex Israel, Matthew Monahan, Sterling Ruby, Ryan Trecartin, and Kaari Upson.

These seven artists represent a generation of creative practitioners drawn to a global nexus, one whose rich cultural legacy and robust network of art schools, galleries, and institutions act as a magnet for top talents in the field of contemporary art. Outside of Hollywood, specific cultural connections between Los Angeles and Beijing have been lacking despite their imagined proximity as Pacific Rim cities. Los Angeles has long been imagined as a “city of the future” in much the same way that urban development in China has unfolded against the backdrop of an implicit utopianism. As China’s creative scene matures into a multipolar terrain of geographies, contexts, and subjectivities, Los Angeles and its cultural topography become especially relevant to Beijing and its current position as the mainland’s creative capital.

Curated by UCCA Director Philip Tinari and UCCA Chief Curator Paula Tsai, “The Los Angeles Project” is not a thematic group show but rather a group of exhibitions that uses the Center’s wide range of spaces to juxtapose a set of positions with highest regard for the individual character of each artist’s practice. In keeping with this anthological character, the exhibition is accompanied not by a single catalogue but by a collection of seven distinct artist books. Co-published with Koenig Books and supported by Artron Art Group, these books are supported by project editors Karen Marta and Brian Roettinger.

A wide range of public programs will complement the exhibition. Apart from a series of talks by the participating artists, UCCA will host a festival dedicated to film in Los Angeles, curated by UCCA Director of Public Programs Meng Xie. The program will begin on the opening weekend with the Asia premiere of a new, remastered version of the essay film Los Angeles Plays Itself with writer and director Thom Andersen in attendance and a lecture by Glenn Phillips, acting head of the Department of Architecture & Contemporary Art at the Getty Museum and curator of the landmark exhibition “California Video” (2008). This will be followed by an extensive screening series that explores the depiction of L.A. in film by both local and outsider directors, spanning mainstream Hollywood productions, independent features, and experimental films.

In a critical examination of one of the most important art centers in the Western world, UCCA will dedicate its entire exhibition space to an anthology of seven shows of contemporary artists living and working in Los Angeles. They are Kathryn Andrews, Aaron Curry, Alex Israel, Matthew Monahan, Sterling Ruby, Ryan Trecartin, and Kaari Upson.

These seven artists represent a generation of creative practitioners drawn to a global nexus, one whose rich cultural legacy and robust network of art schools, galleries, and institutions act as a magnet for top talents in the field of contemporary art. Outside of Hollywood, specific cultural connections between Los Angeles and Beijing have been lacking despite their imagined proximity as Pacific Rim cities. Los Angeles has long been imagined as a “city of the future” in much the same way that urban development in China has unfolded against the backdrop of an implicit utopianism. As China’s creative scene matures into a multipolar terrain of geographies, contexts, and subjectivities, Los Angeles and its cultural topography become especially relevant to Beijing and its current position as the mainland’s creative capital.

Curated by UCCA Director Philip Tinari and UCCA Chief Curator Paula Tsai, “The Los Angeles Project” is not a thematic group show but rather a group of exhibitions that uses the Center’s wide range of spaces to juxtapose a set of positions with highest regard for the individual character of each artist’s practice. In keeping with this anthological character, the exhibition is accompanied not by a single catalogue but by a collection of seven distinct artist books. Co-published with Koenig Books and supported by Artron Art Group, these books are supported by project editors Karen Marta and Brian Roettinger.

A wide range of public programs will complement the exhibition. Apart from a series of talks by the participating artists, UCCA will host a festival dedicated to film in Los Angeles, curated by UCCA Director of Public Programs Meng Xie. The program will begin on the opening weekend with the Asia premiere of a new, remastered version of the essay film Los Angeles Plays Itself with writer and director Thom Andersen in attendance and a lecture by Glenn Phillips, acting head of the Department of Architecture & Contemporary Art at the Getty Museum and curator of the landmark exhibition “California Video” (2008). This will be followed by an extensive screening series that explores the depiction of L.A. in film by both local and outsider directors, spanning mainstream Hollywood productions, independent features, and experimental films.