The mecca, California

Eastern Star Gallery in partnership with The LODGE
March 17–April 7, 2018
Los Angeles

From The LODGE announcement:

The Eastern Star Gallery and The LODGE are pleased to present The mecca, California, an installation exploring the relationship between enlightenment, spirituality, and humanism in Southern California.

For years, dreamers have traveled west to Southern California in search of its magic. California promises direction, empowerment, and great spiritual illumination: those who journey here embrace the beauty of the now and the opportunity to find, or lose, themselves. California’s free spirited essence creates the sense that anything is possible and that limitless hope drives us to pursue new horizons. The sun is at the forefront of life in California, shining brilliantly and reawakening the collective Californian spirit. Waves of change have propelled California’s history forward through vast and visionary ideas. Although Los Angeles is always moving through the environments of beach, freeway and desert, it was a sleepy town in the 1960s and 70s. California comes alive through the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, and artists have been moved in varying modes and degrees by all four over time.

The mecca, California includes the work of Chad Attie, Alexandra Grant, Shane Guffogg, Tim Hawkinson, Bettina Hubby, Soo Kim, Alice Könitz, Friedrich Kunath, Johnston Marklee, Fawn Rogers, Ed Ruscha, Allison Schulnik, Samantha Thomas, Richard Louderback, and Eric Yahnker, prominent Los Angeles based artists whose work reflects the expansive imagination unique to the illuminative allure of California.

Hubby on her work in the exhibition:

The virtual reality installation EnlightenUp surrounds the viewer with spirit animals and elevated humans. If we can see ourselves with them and in them, we are connecting ourselves with the truth, that we are as miraculous. Some of my tools for this aim are via humor, giving David Bowie a corgi, and ending the experience with Dalai Lama’s wink. We need a panacea or two in these times, and connecting with ourselves, our nature and with each other is vital to assuage our anxieties and help us strengthen our mental resilience on the path of our own evolution.

In addition to EnlightenUp, part of the ongoing Virtual Reality projects by Hubby, the exhibition featured a series of mirror collages. The collages integrate elements that reflect the viewer literally: in disco ball mirrors, which are surrounded by the gaze of majestic and adorable animals, part of her With Animals series.

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