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october 3 - november 14, 2020
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Common Ground is an exhibition focused on the planet earth as an ever-shifting politicized landscape of borders, exclusions, and omissions as well as a shared terrain under pressing physical assault. Through paintings, photographs, sculptures and videos, this multi-cultural, multi-generational group of artists explore the reality of a single planet that is humanity’s most divided territory and damaged common ground.
PROGRAMS - JOIN THE CONVERSATION
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The exhibition can be viewed virtually by visiting www.1111acc.org or in person by appointment only. Contact: Gallery@1111acc.org
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All events are virtual.
Please RSVP at HERE You will be sent login information the day of the event. |
Sat, October 10 1-2:30pm
Artist & Curator Opening Conversation
Artist & Curator Opening Conversation
Wed, October 14 7-8:30pm
Why Artists Make Socio-Political Images
Why Artists Make Socio-Political Images
Sat, October 17 1-2:30pm
Making Art in An Unbalanced World
Making Art in An Unbalanced World
Wed, October 21, 7-8:30pm
Change Through Building Community
Change Through Building Community
Moderated by Sheila Pinkel. Community leaders including Ivette Ale from Justice LA & Dignity and Power Now, Henriette Brower from Los Angeles Poverty Department; Ben Caldwell from Kaos Network and Nancy Mintiest from Uncommon Good will share their imaginative solutions for building community and leadership for the future.
WoRkshop
Session 1 Wednesday, October 7 9:30–11:30 am
Session 2 Wednesday, November 11 9:30–11:30 am
Session 1 Wednesday, October 7 9:30–11:30 am
Session 2 Wednesday, November 11 9:30–11:30 am
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A free hands-on artmaking workshop to explore our relation to space and time beyond oneself. What is the space between you and beyond you? What is the space between you and the environment? What is the space between you and time? This workshop is for individuals who appreciate the journey as much as the destination. Partcipants must register in advance and commit to both sessions. Limited space available.
A free hands-on artmaking workshop to explore our relation to space and time beyond oneself. What is the space between you and beyond you? What is the space between you and the environment? What is the space between you and time? This workshop is for individuals who appreciate the journey as much as the destination. Partcipants must register in advance and commit to both sessions. Limited space available.
Artist Statements
Kim Abeles
The hundred+ sky photographs for Shared Skies were collected through my journeys, from artists who participated while traveling, and international acquaintances through social media. Each sky is identified with the location and the name of the person who took the photograph and represent all seven continents plus the Arctic. For participating, each photographer was given an archival print that included their sky with twelve others. As people look toward the sky each morning, through the day or each night, the “shared skies” speak to our connections. In a global sense, we can imagine an interrelatedness through a seamless sky and observe the effects of our environmental choices. From the Salt Flats of Bolivia to Grand Forks in the United States, and Maasai Mara, Kenya to Pine Ridge, Oglala Sioux Tribe, our skies portray the connected parts of our place on this earth. Legend for Shared Skies 56” x 16” archival ultrachrome prints Legend for Shared Skies 56” x 16” archival ultrachrome prints 
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Mariona Barkus
Earth is currently littered with more than a quarter million metric ton of highly radioactive waste. Over 90,000 metric tons are in the United States, stored at 121 sites in 35 states. “Monument For A Nuclear Dump” was inspired by Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository’s search for a system of surface markers to warn of its planned lethal underground cache for hundreds of thousands of years. A “toilet paper roll” encapsulating 32 years of newspaper clippings mimics the folly of this entombment while documenting ubiquitous nuclear waste proliferation. When I created this print in 1995, only the United States was planning an underground nuclear waste repository. Today, countries around the world subscribe to the “best practice” of isolating nuclear waste in deep geological repositories, which will be permanently sealed. But this “best practice” assumes a rather static geology instead of the living, breathing, shifting common ground that is our earth. Monument For A Nuclear Dump Digital print, holder and roll of nuclear waste toilet paper |
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Sharon Barnes
My suspended work Milkman’s Flight was inspired by Toni Morrison’s book, Song of Solomon. Morrison wove a story in which the conflicted Milkman would finally know his forefather’s names and the inherited magic to free one’s mind and fly. The slave trade severed the memories of countless lineages and displaced African peoples from an entire continent. My work explores connections to earth and memory that are vital to the restoration of peace within each individual and among all people, as we seek to connect with one another on common ground Milkman's Flight suspended sculpture approx. 72"x72"x3" variable Pilar Castillo
Designed as a ‘hyper-real’ counterfeit, the PASSPORT booklet mimics the structure and subverts the content of the official document. This counterfeit travel document aims to confront the institutional narrative, question its authenticity, and serve as a record of protest and indignation. This work is centered within the context of ‘decolonizing design,’ as a practice in redefining how we interpret government narratives, and to consider the formats in which land is claimed and people discarded. PASSPORT revisits the political systems imposed by the U.S. government to exploit immigrants based on denying them citizenship and basic human rights. This counter narrative recollects a history of exploitation against Black, Indigenous, and people of color, from cotton plantations to boarding schools and internment camps, to the current humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border Danielle Eubank
Common ground is the answer. In order to help mitigate climate change, which is what Antarctica Glacier II is about, we need to change the way we think about air, water, and earth to more fully embrace the understanding that we all share these elements, amongst all living things. Air, water, and earth are figuratively and literally our common ground. Antarctica Ice I reflects how I feel at times. It is floating in the benign yet destructive sea. There is only one sea, one common ocean amongst all continents, all people, all life. The sea is our common ground yet, when viewed from our individual angles, it is easy to lose sight of the larger perspective. That piece of ice, no matter how big or small, is unaware that it is part of a greater whole (left) Antartica Glacier III 30" x 20" photograph printed on metal (right) Antartica Ice I 30" x 20" photograph printed on metal Samantha Fields
In my current paintings, I use multiple sources to construct scenes that examine our current political situation and the death of the American Dream . . . itself a carefully constructed fiction. While half of our nation celebrates, the other half is mired in despair, this dissonance is present in all of my current work. The paintings in Common Ground depict man-man disasters: car bombs, acts of terrorism/war, & industrial explosions. In these paintings, I remove identifying information, only the explosions and smoke remain. These are painted against a background of confetti, which reads as both celebratory and destructive . . . the little bits of paper “flip”, becoming shards of debris and shrapnel. While most of my work deals with climate change as seen in the landscape itself, these works offer a corollary conversation surrounding the procurement of fossil fuels. Historically, landscape painting has been markedly political. In this sense, my work falls well within that tradition. (left) As Above, So Below, 30" x 22", Acrylic on paper (right) Elevations, 30" x 22", Acrylic on paper Eloise Guanloo
Haiyan 2.0 revisits the frustratingly pernicious issue of habitat and species loss in the age of the anthropocene. Its manifestation as a canoe underscores our own undoing, from the loss of a way of life and home for island dwellers due to the rise of sea waters, from the building of dams that wreak havoc on the wild salmon population, to the extraction of minerals for personal computers and phones, the colonization and exploitation of our home continues unabated. The life-sized canoe is cast in edible rice paper. Lightly block-printed on each canoe are images of trilobites, an extinct species that once dominated the planet. Dancing alongside the trilobites is the Covid-19 virus. The canoe serves as a double-edged reminder of the tenuous benefits and pitfalls of technological dependence and ecological alterations. Canoes once served as the lifeblood of island dwellers for expanded colonization to other islands and gathering of sustenance, but like fragile island homes, the rice paper canoe will disappear when inundated by water. Haiyan 2.0 96" x 18" x 18" Rice paper, ink Ann Isolde
My paintings address the ongoing threat of Climate Change. I’ll never forget the famous “blue marble” photo taken during the Apollo 17 trip to the moon in 1972. It changed how I view our planet. It looked so beautiful and alive. That was two years after the first Earth Day celebration, which was the birth of the modern environmental movement. This is when it first became clear to me that we are just one of many interrelated species that share this common ground called earth. Unfortunately, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, humans have become more and more addicted to fossil fuels, which are heating up the atmosphere and polluting the air and water. Now we must focus on “Climate Justice” and address environmental racism as we struggle to maintain a balance so all species on this planet can survive. This is the great challenge of our time. (left) Planet in Peril 11"x 14" Acrylic and paper on canvas board (right) The Greenhouse Effect 13" x 16" Acrylic on canvas board Sant Khalsa
My artwork derives from mindful inquiry into environmental and societal issues impacting the shared natural resources essential to sustain all live. Growing Air focuses on hundreds of ponderosa pine trees I planted during Spring 1992 as part of the reforestation of Holcomb Valley in the San Bernardino National Forest to improve air and water quality and restore a fragile and vital ecosystem. The valley located north of Big Bear Lake was decimated by mining, clearcutting and cattle crazing during the 1860s gold rush. I returned to the site of the seedling plantings in 2017, twenty-five years later, to find an extraordinarily beautiful and thriving forest. I am fascinated with both what is visible and the hidden mysteries we seek to understand about trees and their communal lives. I am spending time in the forest, developing a meaningful connection and producing works that respond to this unique and complex environment. (top) Holcomb Valley (Ponderosa pines planted in 1992) from “Growing Air” 2017 18.5" x 24" Archival pigment print (bottom) Holcomb Valley (Remains from 1860s gold rush and Ponderosa pines planted in 1992) from “Growing Air” 2017 18.5" x 24" Archival pigment print Meg Madison
After my mother died, I bought a small house in the California High Desert; I am the third owner from the original 1957 recipient of the Homesteader Act. I began making cyanotype photograms of all the native plants on the five acres. I cataloged each print with the date, time, plant’s name, location, and day’s weather condition. Holding the piece of coated paper next to daggers of yucca, and spines of cactus as the sun exposed the paper brought me in direct contact with the plant, the earth and this land. “No 179 Yucca Schidigera” was made August 7, 2017, 9:19 am, a sunny hot day in 4 minutes and 45 seconds. The left and bottom of the composition are flanked by bayonet-like plant stems, while the middle is an expanse of deep blue space; much like the expanse of the desert, and also a personal searching for grounding. No 179 Mojave Yucca from “Jemez Homestead /Stolen Land” project 30” x 22" Cyanotype photogram of Yucca plant on grey Rives BFK paper Kaoru Mansour
My landscape series started while I was traveling. To South America, Asia, Europe and U.S. I observed elements of different landscapes. For my art making process, all these landscapes are the communal ground for the inspiration of my work. (top) Foothill #103 "10" x 20" Inkjet print and acrylic on canvas (bottom) Portland #102 "10"" x 20" inkjet print and acrylic on canvas Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza
Global is a consequence of a longing for identity and place through the stereotypical colonial fantasy of "island life." Although the piece looks very inviting, for me it addresses the loss, extraction, and subjugation of island cultural life that is hidden in the popularization of the exotic and perpetuated by the colonized mind. Global 42" x 42" Aloha shirts, filler Sandra Mueller
In Morning Chores two birds — who might be permanent residents or winter visitors to this once royal Indian forest — share the pictorial frame and colorful palette with a temple sweeper. Their stance is one of calm repose that brings our attention to earth most precious resource, water. They each are quietly at work to sustain their/our physical and spiritual presence on this planet. Morning Chores 16" x 39" Archival acrylic print Naida Osline
We humans often create geographic, cultural, economic, racial, age and gender borders that prevent us from seeing our common ground. GRINGOTOPIA began in the summer of 2015, when I rented an apartment off the malecón in Chapala, Mexico, a magnet for expatriates. I interviewed 25 citizens from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada—retirees, businesspeople, drifters, veterans, artists, and workers who left the U.S. for Mexico in search of a better quality of life. The results were twelve, ten-minute video chapters, featuring interwoven interviews, paced like a social conversation. I have a heightened awareness of the cultural divisions that are tearing this country and friendships apart. Political rhetoric does not represent the subtlety of human experience. Rather, relationships follow a more organic path in real life. GRINGOTOPIA offers a look at individuals who voice intimate and often humorous observations about their life-changing move across more than just a geographic border. Gringotopia Video Pamela J. Peters
Legacy of Exiled NDNZ © 2014 series discusses the historical U.S. policy of the relocation of Indians to urban establishment in the 1950s through the 1960s, and the legacy it has created through today. It provides a narrative of seven native adults currently living in Los Angeles, shot in a neorealist visual aesthetic reminiscent of Kent Mackenzie’s 1961 film, The Exiles. This photo was taken at Los Angeles Union Station. Welcome to Los Angeles 22"x18" Black and white photograph Sheila Pinkel
The work “Transformative Justice” reflects a way of understanding every person as a whole person and a process of solving problems between people instead of calling the police. In this approach to problem solving, people having problems are called to a meeting with a facilitator and members of their families and the community. The facilitator helps them discuss their conflict with the goal of creating understanding of the positions of both people. Ultimately, the person who has been wronged communicates what he/she feels will be adequate restitution. If the person who has committed the problem cannot afford the restitution, then a member of his/her family steps up to help. The community then discusses what it can do to help people having these kinds of problems in the future so that a person does not have to commit a crime. This is the indigenous way of adjudicating problems in their community. Transformative Justice, 24" x 24" Digital print Sinan Leong Revell
The global pandemic shows how people need to unite to save the planet, to repair the earth. Rival tribes and nations clash over land, resources and beliefs, driven by greed, privation. The “DoppelgANGER “self portraits illustrate how we can be victim or aggressor, creator or destroyer. After my family fled China for Australia, I could have been one of the nameless millions caught in Chinaʼs struggle. After moving to LA in 1991, I saw the tumult of Rodney King /LA riots, the Iraq War etc.. “Border Patrol” depicts an immigrant held at gunpoint by a vigilante and “World News” shows a reporter in a war torn landscape with a disfigured native victim — anywhere, any war, any time . I put myself in the picture as every person to show our possibility for good and bad. Our common ground ,both physically and metaphorically is up for grabs-to be polluted or preserved. (left) Doppleganger—Border Patrol 29" x 19" x 2" Digital print on metal (right) Doppleganger—World News, 29" x 18" x 2" igital print on metal She Speaks / Bonnie J. Smith
“She Votes” is a community art project created in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Sponsored by the Southern California Women’s Caucus for Art, this collaborative volume features more than 110 artworks created by 69 WCA members from across the country. Each 4” x 6” image underscores the continued import of voting rights to women. Works were made in varied media from painting, photography to drawing and collage. The resultant small works that were placed inside this book (of the same name) make visible our varied, yet common ground. The works themselves are even more poignant given their creation during this period of Covid and intense uncertainty around the upcoming 2020 election. She Votes! 7" x 14" x 7" Artist book with 113 original artworks by 69 artists Stitch in Time / Suvan Geer
This collaborative quilt project was planned in celebration of the 100th anniversary year of women’s suffrage and the 50th anniversary of earth day. We’d planned to meet in galleries and homes. Then Covid-19 hit. To date, our monthly sewing bees have been via Zoom. This quilt is the tangible residue of time spent working alone and together during quarantine. Each piece records a fragment of thought or emotion in response to the events of 2020 – this year that is the common ground we share. As of mid-August, there are 22 women contributors. The project continues. The quilt is still under construction. Participants: Ruth Ann Anderson, Margaret Adachi Janet I. Adams, Dawn Arrowsmith, Polly Chu, Allison Cosmos, Jill D’Agnenica, Kathy Draper, Karen Feuer-Schwager, Cameron Flanders, Anne Gauldin, Jan Johnson, Sandy Johnson, Stefanie Holzman, Vicki Lopez, Meg Madison, Darlene Martin, Yoshi Makino, Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza, Jessica Ruvalcaba, Christina Sansone, Nancy Spiller. Stitch in Time 6' x 7' Mixed media participant panels Linda Vallejo
The Brown Dot Project (2015-2020) are data-pictographs where hand-painted brown dots on gridded paper depict facts about US Latino health, education, and occupations, as well as their contribution to the US history and economy. The Brown Dot Adobes (2019) are data-based works that use images of historic California adobes. Today these structures represent the Mexican American/Chicano and “The Dreamers” ancestral home in California. The images in this exhibition represent data surrounding US Latino and DACA home ownership, country of origin, and home-community to illuminate the ever-shifting politicized landscape of borders, migrations, exclusions, and omissions in today’s political climate. These images beg the questions; Does ancestry predicate home or place? Does history of place predict inclusion or exclusion? (upper left) 15.7% of Los Angeles’ Westside Community is Latino, 2019 8.5"x 11" Colored pencil, archival marker, pigment print of repurposed photograph, paper (upper right) 16% of California DACA Recipients Own Their Homes, 2019 8.5"x 11" Colored pencil, archival marker, pigment print of repurposed photograph, paper (lower left) 38% of Latinos in LA County Own Their Own Home, 2019 8.5"x 11" Colored pencil, archival marker, pigment print of repurposed photograph, paper (lower right) 94% of current DACA Recipients Were Born in Mexico, Central or South America (2017), 2019 8.5"x 11" Colored pencil, archival marker, pigment print of repurposed photograph, paper Gail Werner
I am part Cupeño, Luiseño, and Kumeyaay (three Native American tribes located in San Diego County.) I think about my connection to the land through my ancestors who have called this area home for thousands of years. I think about how we are connected to the land through our stories and songs. My work is a reflection on the Southern California desert and mountain landscapes, as well as the creation stories and traditional songs called “bird songs” that are sung throughout this area. In these stories and songs, plants and animals are the characters and are considered to be people. The stories and songs tell about how the world came to be and how the people came to be where they are. Some of the “bird songs” tell about what the people see on their journey, a journey which is said to parallel the migration of the birds. (top left) Bird Dreams XXX, 14" x 11" (top right) Rock Wren III 14" x 11" (lower left) Smoke Thorn 36"" x 24'" |
