Exhibits rotate every few weeks<\/a>. This exhibition, \u201cGentle Giants,\u201d installed July 13 will be there through Oct. 2. It features suspended collage creatures made of torn pieces of magazines, wallpaper and a unique process where paint is applied to water and the scrap paper is immersed to create colors and texture.<\/p>\nThis is the second installation for Cohen-Bacry at the gas station. Born in Paris, she started as a painter but in the past eight years began doing 3-D collages mostly made out of recycled materials.<\/p>\n
Cohen-Bacry, 58, who was called by the New York Times one of five rising contemporary artists to watch, has had showings in galleries in Las Vegas, plus many in Southern California, including in Torrance, Chatsworth, Pomona, Cerritos College, Coastline College in Newport Beach, Irvine, Malibu and Santa Monica.<\/p>\n
Why show her work at an old gas station when the gallery invites are plentiful?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is interesting being in a space that wasn\u2019t meant for art. It wasn\u2019t built for that. And you have to make it work,\u201d she said during an interview on Friday, July 17 from her Los Angeles studio.<\/p>\n
The art is inside the station, where perhaps the cashier sat amidst the shelf of snacks and smokes. This time, it\u2019s where the artist\u2019s large figures hang, some propped up tall on stands, but all visible only behind the glass. Yet, these giant, colorful collages can be seen from all angles, by all people for free, even those who didn\u2019t come there to see art.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople don\u2019t have to make a conscious decision and say \u2018I will see art today.\u2019 They are saying: \u2018Oh, what is this?,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
During the installation, some parents with kids wandered by. She waved them into the gas station, inviting surprised faces. \u201cIt was great to see their reaction right away. There was this little girl, she was like mesmerized,\u201d she said. \u201cI love the dynamics here of kids with their parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zach Kash, sitting on a bench sipping a coffee, his dog beside him, said he enjoys the park and the art displays. He\u2019s on vacation from teaching high school government and economics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact we had this old gas station and they turned it into a park is lovely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He was still getting used to the big, somewhat scary figures hanging, looking out at him. Some surrounded by smaller birds to give scale.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not bad at all,\u201d he began. \u201cThe thing is, I just don\u2019t get the theme of it.\u201d After a long sip of his coffee, he turned to look closer at one of the larger, colorful \u201cgiants\u201d and added: \u201cIt might make a great album cover.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cohen-Bacry likens the collage giants to something in a fairy tale. Her exhibit is meant to show that people who look different than you can be scary at first, but they\u2019re really friendly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe giants also look at you,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope people see them as caretakers. They might look scary but they are paper tigers.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said her giants are interesting, like the ones encountered by Lemuel Gulliver in the 1726 satirical novel \u201cGulliver\u2019s Travels.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust like fairy tales you heard when you were a kid, they can be scary. And life can be scary but we can overcome and find beauty in people who don\u2019t look like you. I hope it helps people discern what is really scary and what might not be scary.\u201d<\/p>\n
One woman sat looking at the exhibit, sometimes turning away. \u201cI wish the art would be a little bit more positive. I am an artist. I wrote a children\u2019s book. But I would never want a child to see this,\u201d she said, declining to give her name.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot please everybody,\u201d said Cohen-Bacry. \u201cOtherwise you are not authentic.\u201d<\/p>\n
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