I know that there was a discussion here somewhere about that art gallery show where Johnny looks like an old woman. Sorry, I didn't understand what it was all about but I got a google alert about it coming to LA now.


(Voom HD Networks/Robert Wilson/Ace Gallery Los Angeles)


Museum Exhibitions Gallery Shows Lectures & Events



Art & Museums
Still lifes of the rich and famous


Diane Haithman, Times Staff Writer


MORE than a few defected at intermission, some even sooner — but audience members who lasted through the glacial pacing of Robert Wilson's "Black Rider" last April at the Ahmanson Theatre may appreciate the avant-garde stage director's foray into an art form that moves even more slowly: the Voom Portraits.

Even without the "va-va-va-," the syllable "voom" suggests speed. Instead, the Voom Portraits — which Wilson created as an artist-in-residence for Voom HD Networks — are high-definition videos that appear at first glance to be still portraits, but they come to life when the sitters perform a simple action such as blinking an eye or tapping a foot.



The exhibition, which opens Saturday at Ace Gallery Los Angeles, its second stop on a world tour, features celebrity subjects including Brad Pitt (who threatened to sue when the portrait, which showed him dripping wet in white boxers and holding a gun, appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair), Winona Ryder, Johnny Depp, Steve Buscemi and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

The collection also includes a champion sumo wrestler, an auto mechanic and various animals, among them a porcupine and a South American horned frog.

"I have been thinking about this project since the '70s, when I first worked in video," says Wilson via e-mail. "Much of what I wanted to do was simply impossible before HD. Once I saw what was possible in HD, I knew it was very much appropriate for my work. All my work, in all media, is carefully detailed and very precise."

"It is also interesting to realize the Voom Portraits with the time and space of TV in mind, which is very different from the time and space of theater. TV is about close-ups. The theater is more about distant images.

"These are images people can see in passing, not necessarily in a dark room. They are like paintings on the wall or a fire in a fireplace, a still life that becomes alive."

Wilson's high-definition videos will be available for viewing at the gallery, 5514 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, Feb. 24 through April 21. Information: (323) 935-4411 or www.acegallery.net.

Yes, there has been a discussion about this exhibit, but this is the first I've heard it coming to LA. Thanks for the article, hopefully with that time frame they gave I'll have time to check it out. This is the one where Johnny is dressed as Rose Selavy. I believe the original thread is in a different forum.

Donna I hope you can go and give us all a report. B)

Many thanks Deppsdarling for the update on the LA location. Yes we did talk about it here, I moved it out of the 24 Hour News area and info this forum. Here ya go:
http://johnnydeppreads.com/index.php?showtopic=1099

Anyone who can go should. I saw the exhibit in NY and it was spectacular. It's amazing how intimate and personal it is to look at an image and have it move ever so slightly and breathe, blink, look back. Johnny's portrait is lovely in its masculine sensuality, clothing and make-up aside. The getup actually accents his masculinity rather than bringing out his feminine side. His is one of the longer portraits. They range in length from 2 to 15 minutes although they constantly spool so it's impossible to tell where they truly start and stop. Each portrait was special, some very lovely, others quite disturbing. I only wish I'd had the time to watch each one through its entire cycle.

LA'ers, do go and don't stop at just Johnny's portrait. It's a fascinating look at an alternate but very viable artform. And it most definitely is art.

Thanks so much FantasticJD for telling us about the show. I can't even begin to imagine how moving the show must be in person! As always I appreciate your input!

:thanks for writing all that Fantasticjd but I still don't get the art in it. :huh:

Thanks FANtasticJd for the informative write up. Since it looks like it will be in LA for awhile, I should be able to make it. My weekends are booked up through February right now, but I'll try to go sometime in March. I checked the site out in LA and it shows some of Wilson's other work, too.

Deppsdarling I guess I can only say that "art is in the eye of the beholder." It definitely is a different type of contemporary art form. If you check out the Institute for Contemporary Art site below, you'll be amazed at other works that are considered "art" as well.

Click here to open link

Hmmm. If it's moving through the US maybe it will come to Chicago. :rolleyes:

Keeping my fingers crosssed.

Holly