September 08, 2004
remember.september.tenth
LA lucks out once again. Transport Gallery has the first solo show of seminal punk rock photographer Edward Culver, showing work of his from the last 15 years including some large scale instillation/assemblage work that I was lucky enough to see at his studio a few years ago.
I first met Edward at a great downtown LA bar a few years ago that I used to get trashed in regularly (I had to drink enough to be able to work up the courage it took to walk the 4 blocks back to my house through crack dealers, crack heads, and hookers). I forget how we ended up talking but he happened to have some of his old picture books with him (I think he had just come back from a meeting with tashen people) and as he opened them up to be I was transported back in time to an era I was not old enough to have experienced. Just about every important LA based punk-rock and hardcore show from the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties was photographed by edward. From X to The Germs to Wasted Youth to Black Flag, edward was there - often moving on to do the covers of the bands recordings (which is how he makes his living now).
I was later able to visit (and help him move) his home and studio which was, in the most true sense of the term, a life-scaled art work. American flags draped over distressed, human scale wooden dioramas, old punk records and a museums worth of ancient medical equipment (not to mention a beautiful pool table over which I spent several hours). Down to the identical suits he wears every day, Mr. Culver is the real deal.
His art is both alive and dead, artifacts and contemporaneous moments at the same time, yet these binary oppositions I spell out can do nothing to capture the wholeness of the experiences his work creates. While the use of the phrase "the political and the personal" reeks of cliche, now more than ever in our current political climate, Culver's work truly does bridge the gap in that pieces that at first seem explicitly one or the other, upon further viewing often transgress back and forth, creating an unsettling debased feeling. I like it.
The fact that Culver has not had major press/museum exposure is probably due to the fact that he really just makes things for himself and is loath to show, loan, give away anything. Good for him but bad for the art world, this show presents a unique opportunity for all those on the west coast, and if I get a check or two soon I may try and jet blue out for a weekend just to see it.
In any case, the show opens this friday at Transport Gallery (full disclosure, they show my stuff) and is up until october 23rd. I genuinely hope that this show gets the coverage that it deserves. To that end fucking go.
Full Press Release:
Transport Gallery Presents
"Remember September 10th"
An Exhibition of Photography and Assemblage by
Edward Colver
Opening Reception Saturday, September 11, 2004
Los Angeles, CA - "Remember September 10th" will offer viewers a rare
opportunity to see the photography and assemblage works of the enigmatic and
elusive Edward Colver. Known widely as the photographer whose works both
documented and created the look of the original southern California punk
scene (1978-1983), Colver sets the stage in this show to hit viewers square
in the eye with the inimitable brand of social commentary, biting humor and
conceptual play that have defined his 25+ year career as an artist.
Transport Gallery in downtown LA is pleased to present this special exhibit,
which will run from Saturday, September 11, 2004 to Saturday, October 23,
2004. The opening night reception runs from 7:00pm - 11:00pm.
This is the first solo gallery show in over 10 years for Colver, who is
known as THE Southern California punk rock/hardcore photographer,
participating in and documenting the explosive 1978-1983 scene in and around
LA. By those in the know, he is widely credited with forging the image of
hardcore as we know it. His photography has appeared on upwards of 400
albums, including Black Flag, Circle Jerks, TSOL, Bad Religion, Wasted
Youth, Social Distortion, Christian Death, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ice Cube
and REM. He has contributed to approximately 10 books including "American
Hardcore", "Hardcore California," volumes on REM, Dead Kennedys, X and DOA,
and innumerable periodicals.
(continues below)
"He was visible at every punk show within a seventy-mile radius from
downtown LA to Riverside County, photographing six and seven nights a week.
He was trusted, so his photographs were a part of what was going on rather
than being the images of an outsider merely observing" - Cynthia Murphy in
Photographers Forum.
Colver is currently editing a 4-volume box set featuring a 25-year
retrospective of his career. It will offer a span of images from his
assemblage works, his early punk years, and other music and celebrity
photography including photos of luminaries such as Dr. Timothy Leary, Andy
Warhol, Tom Waits, and Nick Cave.
Transport Gallery is a new gallery in Downtown Los Angeles whose primary
focus is the exposureof challenging contemporary art by regional and international artists in all
disciplines. Gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday 12:00noon - 5:00pm
and by appointment. Please call 213-623-4099 or visit
www.transportgallery.com for gallery information. Transport Gallery is
located at 1308 Factory Place, Los Angeles, CA 90013 (just East of Alameda
and one block North of 6th Street).
# # #
For more information or to interview Edward Colver please contact Lynn Hasty
at Green Galactic at 323-466-5141 or lynn@greengalactic.com.