Barnsdall Park Mural
LOS ANGELES _10/12/2011
A project of Ismael Iglesias, Aitor Lajarin and Fermin Moreno
THE BASQUE PAINTHERS
Barnsdall Park Mural
LOS ANGELES _10/12/2011
A project of Ismael Iglesias, Aitor Lajarin and Fermin Moreno
THE BASQUE PAINTHERS
New Development of Barnsdall_Metro Arts Corridor LOS ANGELES (Dec. 6, 2011) — With the unveiling of a huge new mural near the intersection of Sunset Blvd. and Vermont Ave. on Saturday, December 10, 3 p.m. Artwalk Inc inaugurates a campaign to make Barnsdall Art Park’s more accessible to pedestrians, Metro riders, East Hollywood resident and nearby hospital patients and staff. The Arts Corridor will extend from the Vermont/Sunset Metro Red Line station to the southeast entrance to the Barnsdall Art Park near the corner of Vermont Ave. and Maubert Ave. The district is home to several large institutions, including Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Kaiser Permanente, Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, and Ronald McDonald House. These institutions and surrounding businesses bring thousands of employees and visitors to the area each day. The aesthetic makeover is made possible with a Clean and Connected Communities grant from the office of Los Angeles City Council Member Eric Garcetti with additional support from Kaiser Permanente, Artwalk Inc., Barnsdall Foundation and the Etxepare Institute, Basque Government. Artwalk Inc. Executive Director Roberta Morris explains, “We believe the best way make the park more visible and welcoming for locals and visitors is to add monumental works of art such as this new mural as well as improved signage in key areas. The elevator at the south entrance is now open as well, making the park more accessible.” Measuring 125 by 21 feet (38 by 6.5 meters), the horizontal mural incorporates colors, figures, and geometric shapes inspired by the surrounding park and, in particular, the Hollyhock House that is one of the park’s most prominent features. The landmark structure was designed and built between 1919 and 1921 by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. “By incorporating visual elements from the park and Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic structure, we are attempting to extend the identity of the park to the street and urban space below,” said Aitor Lajarin, one of three muralists from Spain’s Basque region who are collaborating on the project. “Our goal is to offer an aesthetic experience to the many employees and visitors who come to this area, and to create a more inviting entrance to Barnsdall Art Park.” Aitor Lajarin’s fellow artists are Ismael Igelesias and Fermin Moreno from the Basque Etxepare Institut. According to Morris, other elements of the Arts Corridor include improved signage and sidewalk stenciling to point people to the entryway to Barnsdall Art Park from the nearby Metro Red Line Stop and Metro bus stops; a new vertical sign near the park stairway and elevator entrance; an artistic bike rack at the top of the park stairwell; a children’s art wall; and other installations to be announced. In addition, Artwalk Inc. will work to collaborate more closely with nearby hospital pediatric units to foster their involvement with the Junior Arts Center at Barnsdall Park. “We are excited to be unveiling our first big installment in the new Arts Corridor,” said Morris. “We believe the residents, employees, patients, families, and visitors to this area all deserve a welcoming space filled with beauty and creative inspiration.” Artwalk Inc.
BARNSDALL ART PARK
4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Located at the crest of Olive Hill overlooking the city of Los Angeles, Barnsdall Art Park had its beginning in the early 1900’s when Aline Barnsdall came West with plans to develop a theatre company. When Aline Barnsdall donated the Park and its Frank Lloyd Wright designed structures to the City of Los Angeles to the City of Los Angeles in 1927, she wished to provide an accessible arts center, incorporating and preserving the famous Hollyhock House as a vital component. The spirit of Barnsdall’s intention was to maintain an active arts center for the community was assured longevity. Programs and exhibits became a part of the mission of the Park, programs that are used by thousands of Los Angeles community members as well as visitors from throughout the world. The Community Arts Division of the Cultural Affairs Department manages the Park. For more information regarding the Cultural Affairs Department see their web site at www.culturela.org. Programs include the adult and youth art classes at the Barnsdall Art Center and the Junior Arts Center, the Barnsdall Art Center and the Hollyhock House; museum education and tours programs at the Municipal Art Gallery, the Junior Arts Center Gallery and the Hollyhock House; theatre programs at the Gallery Theatre; and , numerous festivals during the year that celebrate the cultural diversity of the community. Barnsdall Art Park has hosted local and international art exhibits for decades within its main facility, the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. This unique park, which offers breathtaking views of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Sign, is also home to the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, Junior Arts Center and the famous Hollyhock House that was designed in the 1920’s by the internationally acclaimed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Barnsdall Art Park officially reopened on June 4, 2003, after a 3-year remodel, with brand new visual and design art exhibits.
BARNSDALL MURAL Concept and sketches
Basque artists Ismael Iglesias, Aitor Lajarin and Fermin Moreno have developed a project to create a mural on the wall adjacent to Barnsdall Park after a deep investigation into the history and identity of the park, the area and the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. The mural evokes the primitive Aztec designs that inspired Wright, as well as the building itself and the natural beauty of the park. The collaborating artists have chosen the mural’s colors, figures and abstract geometries to be in harmony with the park and the surrounding environment, thus adding interest to that corner and beautifying the neighborhood. The mural extends the identity of the park (one of the cultural icons of the area) to the street and urban space, offering locals and visitors a different aesthetic experience and inviting them to reconceptualize urban spaces. Our goal is to add aesthetic value to our neighborhood. We want to create a cultural landmark in the area. We believe better aesthetic experiences make for better lives. We believe art can change the perceptions we hold about our street and urban surroundings, helping us connect to the places we live. Aitor Lajarin, a Basque artist residing in the area, brought in two more partners from his homeland with the idea of creating a international dialogue and exchange between artists, countries and places. This project will be promoted in local media and in Spanish publications and will open the door for American artists to develop projects in Spain. A documentary of the process is going to be shot and will be donated to the organizations involved in the creation of the mural. The artists that will develop the mural are very experienced in this type of project. All three of them have international careers, and they are very excited by the prospect of doing a project for this neighborhood in Los Angeles, a city with one of the biggest mural scenes in the world. It is an opportunity to create, to exchange experiences, to learn and to build strong relationships between people and institutions from different countries and cultures.
450B-6 Formal Garden
160C-3 Rose Silk
680B-5 Strwaberry Freeze
490B-7 Mermaid Harbor
Two Gallons
S-G-330 Instant Delight
One Gallon 410F-6 Grape Vine
More than two Gallons Black
510B-5 Jamaican Sea
740B-6 Windsor
S-G-560 Jazz Blue
White
PROJECT
WORK IN PROGRESS
VIEW FROM BARNSDALL AVE. LOS ANGELES
BIOS Ismael Iglesias. 1974. Durango (Bizkaia). Lives and Works in Bilbao (Basque Country). Iglesias participated in the Espacio Abisal project and resided in the Delfina Fundation in London. He is a multidisciplinary artist who has known how to build a plural work with his own style. His proposals, halfway between painting and installation have been shown in several group and solo exhibitions in Bilbao, Barcelona, Madrid or London. His artwork, highly effective on a visual level, derives from the systematic search within the newest technology. The intention is not so much to capture images in order to canvas them, but to comprehend and accept their articulation speed. This paradigmatic search for the essentials and for the memento in its various stages, allows the artist to blend the achievements of traditional pictorial avant-gardism with the computer screens opaque luminescence by means of systematic fragmentation. www.ismaeliglesias.com Aitor Lajarin, artist born in Basque Country ,Spain 1977, recently moved to L.A. He works in different media as painting, installation, sculpture or video. He has shown in different institutions as, Artium, CAB, MACUF, La Casa Encendida in Spain, Avoa Ars Museum Finland, Santa Monica Art Museum and Torrance Art Museum CA, Metropolitan Museum NY, galleries as Parra-Romero, Trayecto or Luis Adelantado in Spain. His work has been shown and sold in differente art fairs as the Armory Show, ARCO, ArtChicago, ViennaArt, Art Mami, Art Dc Washington. His work is represented in public and private collections from Spain and other places as L.A, San Francisco, Washington, NY, Miami, London, Paris. www.aitorlajarin.com Fermín Moreno Martín, born in Bilbao, Spain 1970. Actually he Lives and Works in Bilbao. He works in different media as painting, installation or video. Moreno is one of the founders of Espacio Abisal art Space in Bilbao. He has shown in different institutions as, Sala Rekalde Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, Circulo de Bellas Artes Madrid, Academia de España in Roma, Städtische Galerie im Buntentor Bremen, Cordoeria Nacional Lisboa, École Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts Paris, The Gabarron Foundation Nueva York, galleries as Fernado Pradilla, BilKin, Espacio Marzana,Trayecto in Spain or Jakop Karpio Gallery in Miami. His work has been shown in differente art fairs as the Armory Show, ARCO, Art Bruselas, ART-Frankfurt, Arte Santander, Art Salamanca . His work is represented in public and private collections from Spain and other places as USA and France. www.ferminmoreno.com
thebasquepainthers@gmail.com
The Basque Painthers are Ismael Iglesias, Aitor Lajarin And Fermin Moreno.
Edited by:
Locura People (Los Angeles). December 2011
The mural is made possible with a Clean and Connected Communities grant from the office of Los Angeles City Council Member Eric Garcetti with additional support from Kaiser Permanente Hospital, Artwalk Inc., Barnsdall Foundation and the Etxepare Institute, Basque Government.