More Information About Hold Your Mud, L.A.

Description

Highways Artistic Director Leo Garcia presents Barbara T. Smith’s Hold Your Mud, L.A. Smith and her cohorts have gathered to perform a symphony based on a score made of black and white photographs of palm trees and power lines taken from a moving car by Smith in the 1970’s.

Literally structured by the images, the musicians in Hold Your Mud, L.A. will play a piece which cannot be imagined until you hear and see it, while Mike Mollett as the spirit of L.A., gropes and plays in the mud. The musicians include Kate Johnson, Michael Masucci, Susan Rawcliff, Michel Intrierre, Peter Kirby, The Dark Bob, Linda Albertano, Jan Williamson, Jack Haer, Josie Roth, Ken Luey, Ann Perich.

Barbara T. Smith began body-oriented performance art in the 1960s and continues to this day. Her work is basically uncollectible. She feared she would become a posthumously famous artist. To her surprise there has been a recent flourish of shows and articles about her work. It has recently been exhibited in L.A., New York, Oslo, Frankfurt and Canada, with articles in the NY Times, Artforum, spike, n.paradoxa and frieze. These days she has been archiving her 40 years of artworks and preparing for the 20th anniversary show opening on Sept 19 at the Armory in Pasadena. Her work will be seen in 2011/12 at various Southern California venues for the Getty extravaganza called Pacific Standard Time and at an upcoming solo show at the Box gallery in Chinatown in the late fall. Hold Your Mud, L.A. is a redo of a performance Smith did at the Stedlijk museum in Amsterdam in 1982.

About the Ticket Supplier: Highways Performance Space

Highways Performance Space is Southern California's boldest center for new performance. Founded in 1989, Highways continues to be an important alternative cultural center in Los Angeles that encourages fierce new artists from diverse communities to develop and present innovative works.

Highways promotes the development of contemporary socially involved artists and art forms. Our mission is implemented through four programs (the performance space, workshop/university program and two galleries). Annually, Highways co-presents approximately 250 performances by solo dramatic artists, small theater groups, dance companies and spoken word artists; curates and exhibits approximately 12 contemporary visual art exhibits per year with work that explores the boundaries between performing and visual art forms; commissions and premieres new work by outstanding performing artists; organize special events, curate festival, offer residency and educational programs that engage community members in the arts while providing access to professionally-directed instruction.