Gene Ogami photographs
Mark Henry Samuel
Swept Away: “The Center Will Not Hold” II
My work, “The Center Will Not Hold” was PERFORMED ON SITE AT THE ANNENBERG COMMUNITY BEACH HOUSE as part of: Swept Way: Love Letters to a Surrogate, organized by
Warren Neidich, Christina Mossaides Strassfield, Anuradha Vikram and Rene Petropoulos 2022-23
“Swept Away: Love Letter to a Surrogate/s” is a community oriented artistic project that aims to create a transcontinental heartbeat across America. It is hoped that through its combined gestures and performances, a sense of solidarity, so desperately missing today, will emerge with which to confront the ecological catastrophe at our doorstep.”
65 Los Angeles County artists presented live performances over Earth Day Weekend: April 22 and 23, 2023 at the Santa Monica State Beach near the Annenberg Community Beach House on the Pacific Ocean. “The Center Will Not Hold” was one of them.
Videos from “The Center Will Not Hold” tell our story: gathering the water, stitching the sand, healing the earth, even if The Center Does Not Hold.
Collaborators: Deborah Lynn Irmas and Frida Cano.
All Video Credits: Mick Lorusso April 2023
Our Work is Never Done on This Earth and in This Life
Swept Away: “The Center Will Not Hold” I
My work, “The Center Will Not Hold” was PERFORMED ON SITE AT THE ANNENBERG COMMUNITY BEACH HOUSE as part of: Swept Way: Love Letters to a Surrogate, organized by
Warren Neidich, Christina Mossaides Strassfield, Anuradha Vikram and Rene Petropoulos 2022-23
“Swept Away: Love Letter to a Surrogate/s” is a community oriented artistic project that aims to create a transcontinental heartbeat across America. It is hoped that through its combined gestures and performances, a sense of solidarity, so desperately missing today, will emerge with which to confront the ecological catastrophe at our doorstep.”
65 Los Angeles County artists presented live performances over Earth Day Weekend: April 22 and 23, 2023 at the Santa Monica State Beach near the Annenberg Community Beach House on the Pacific Ocean. “The Center Will Not Hold” was one of them.
Stills from “The Center Will Not Hold”: gathering the water, stitching the sand.
Collaborators: Deborah Lynn Irmas and Frida Cano.
Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023 Three Women Gather Water Working Silently Together
Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023 Carrying Water to the Blanket of the Four Directions
Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023 Making Their Way to the Blanket of the Fuur Directions Site
Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023 Water is Used to Dampen The Sand To Create Mounds
Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023 Needles Threaded With Hemp Cord Are Used To Stitch
Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023 Through the Sand Mounds Creating Lines of Connection
Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023 Hemp Cords Are Threaded Across the Open Circle
Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023 The Center Is Stitched as is the Sand Around the Blanket
Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023 The Work of Mending is Completed for the Moment
Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023 The Work is Never Done on This Earth and in This Life
More to come.
Walking Through “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do”
Photographer Gene Ogami documented my 2023 solo show, “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do” at ReflectSpace Gallery in the Glendale Central Library.
The ten images below provide a virtual walk-through of the exhibition, which was, as I shared with the curators, Ara and Anahid Oshagan, a dream come true that I did not even know I had.
Gratitude to them, to Gene, and to so many others who supported this realization.
Walking into the meditative gallery space from the main library.
Catching some of the larger pieces through the vitrine reflections.
Capturing exhibition signage, the “Concurrencies” artists’ book, the two Concurrencies hangings, and “Throes of the Body” in the vitrine.
A favorite corner of the Curators, Installers and myself!
“Three Sisters and Their Mother” on the wall, hanging over the titular work, “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do” on shelf.
“Finally, and Just For A Minute” suspended. Black on black on black is challenging to photograph.
A shot that manages to include over half the pieces in the show.
Gene was able to present me surrounded and supported by my works.
We were able to employ the hallway to present other works, and enlargements of the images featured in my artists’ book, “Concurrencies”, comparing the lives and works of artists Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse.
The Journey Continues.
In gratitude and appreciation.
DISMAN-tling “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do” at ReflectSpace Gallery!
It was with tenderness mixed with pride and appreciation that I DISMAN-tled my solo show, “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do ” which ran from late January to late March 2023, in the ReflectSpace Gallery in the Glendale Central Library, curated by the inimitable duo, Anahid and Ara Oshagan.
Thank you Tony, for your assistance, climbing those ladders, and using those tools!
A bit of fun with Tina Demirdjian of Poetry Consults.
Thank you Tina for the support on all fronts!
It takes a village…the completion of a job well done! With the incomparable Anahid Oshagan, co-curator of ReflectSpace, and Tina Demirdjian of Poetry Consults.
Posing with the Glendale Gals: Tina and Anahid…
and with the marvelous Maryl Fleisher, Marketing Program Supervisor at Glendale Library, Arts & Culture.
A dream I did not even know I had…fulfilled.
Thank you…appreciation, and gratitude.
“I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do Solo Show Opening At ReflectSpace Gallery!
I am thrilled to have a solo exhibition at ReflectSpace Gallery, part of Glendale Arts and Culture, which opened Saturday January 28th and is on view through March 19,2023.
The show, a dream come true that I did not even know I had, was curated by the wonderful Ara and Anahid Oshagan of The City of Glendale.
Beautiful show video by Jennifer Remenchick, artist, writer, videographer and exhibition installer.
The opening was warm, wonderful and wild!
Our ReflectSpace-published artist book: “Concurrencies Charlotte Salomon, and Eva Hesse Genius, Trauma and the Creative Imagination”.
I was moved and surprised by flowers sent by my family, and a certificate presented by Senator Anthony L. Portantino!
Stacie B. London, exhibition designer and installer extraordinaire…and esteemed colleague.
Artist colleagues Laurey Bennett Levy and Rebecca Youseff
The very colorful artist and animator Michelle Robinson
Beloved artist and curator friend, Frida Cano
Frida and Mick
Dear friend and actor extraordinaire, Suzanne Voss
Long-time no-see friend Rayne with Mark
Mark and I hanging with the beautiful Anahid Oshagan, curator and lawyer, and Glendale Mayor Ardy Kassakhian
I was honored to receive a City of Glendale Certificate of Recognition, presented by Senator Anthony L. Portantino!
Glendale Mayor Ardy Kassakhian and Senator Anthony L. Portantino!
Director of Glendale Library Arts and Culture Gary Shaffer, Mon Cher Mark, Curator Anahid Oshagan, and Glendale Mayor Ardy Kassakhian
