WAR
Press Release
November 11, 2001
CONTACT: Gloria Westcott
(818) 246-9082 or (310) 586-1733
"WAR" The Cancelled Exhibition
at the Watts Towers Arts Center
by the L.A. City Cultural Affairs Department
To Open at Bergamot Station, Santa Monica
December 1st 2001
Los Angeles, CA – The Los Angeles City Cultural Affairs Department (LACAD) has cancelled the new exhibition "WAR " by renowned Latino L.A.-based artist Alex Donis, which was due to open Sunday, September 23, 2001 at the Watts Towers Arts Center scheduled for two months as part of the official re-opening festivities for the newly-refurbished Watts Towers. The show, which is comprised of a painting series of fictionalized pairings of LAPD officers and gang members in same-sex dancing poses, was threatened with protest and possible violent action by members of the Watts community, prompting Cultural Affairs Department General Manager, Margie Reese, to cancel the exhibition, which was also due to feature companion wall text from renowned African-American poet and performance artist, Keith Antar Mason. During the re-opening ceremony for the Watts Towers on Friday, September 28, 2001 a photographic exhibit depicting the Watts Towers replaced Donis’ exhibition.
"I’m in disbelief that this exhibition that’s taken so much time and collaborative effort is being censored and shut down, and that this message of actual peace and tolerance is getting lost in reactionary attitudes towards the paintings," says Donis.
The Watts Towers Community Action Council, as well as other community based organizations led the charge against the exhibition. Members of these organizations have voiced their opposition and antagonism towards the work and even threatened to worsen relations between the Watts Towers Arts Center and the Watts community unless the work came down immediately. The Watts Towers Arts Center Director, Mark Greenfield, who curated the show, as well as LACAD General Manager Margie Reese, came to an agreement to dismantle the exhibition four days prior to the artists reception without informing Donis. A press conference was held in lieu of the scheduled opening with angry guests in dialog with Greenfield, Reese and Donis.
Donis continues, "My work for many years has been to understand hatred in society and how, as an artist, to dissolve it by bridging vast social divides. This is something I thought I had succeeded at via this exhibition. Now with this censorship, my rights and my freedom of expression are under attack."
The National Coalition Against Censorship believes that the WTAC "would be better served if elders in the Community Action Council bring violent impulses under control and advocate dialog rather than using the threat of violence as a way to intimidate it’s arts center," says Svetlana Mintcheva, Arts Advocacy Project Coordinator.
The exhibition re-titled "War: The Last Dance Reinstated" will open on December 1st, 2001 – January 12, 2002 at the frumkin-duval gallery located at Bergamot Station T-1, 2525 Michigan Avenue, Santa Monica (310.453.1850). The opening reception will be held on Saturday, December 1st , ironically coinciding with the national "Day Without Art".
Alex Donis has exhibited his paintings and installation works internationally in Mexico City, Syndey, Australia, Paris, France, Pretoria, South Africa and galleries and museums throughout the U.S. His work was recently included in the landmark exhibition, "Made in California: Art, Image and Identity, 1900-2000," at the LA County Museum. Donis has been featured in Flash Art International, Art Scene, Artweek, the L.A. Times, and the Chicago Tribune among others. The exhibition "WAR" recently received the Durfee Foundation ARC Award. Donis is an Artist-in-Residence at 18th Street Arts Complex in Santa Monica and an arts educator at Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences. He has also taught at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Watts Towers Arts Center.
For more information, images of the paintings, or artist interview,
please contact Gloria Westcott at (818) 246-9082 or (310) 586-1733.
Press Release
November 11, 2001
CONTACT: Gloria Westcott
(818) 246-9082 or (310) 586-1733
"WAR" The Cancelled Exhibition
at the Watts Towers Arts Center
by the L.A. City Cultural Affairs Department
To Open at Bergamot Station, Santa Monica
December 1st 2001
Los Angeles, CA – The Los Angeles City Cultural Affairs Department (LACAD) has cancelled the new exhibition "WAR " by renowned Latino L.A.-based artist Alex Donis, which was due to open Sunday, September 23, 2001 at the Watts Towers Arts Center scheduled for two months as part of the official re-opening festivities for the newly-refurbished Watts Towers. The show, which is comprised of a painting series of fictionalized pairings of LAPD officers and gang members in same-sex dancing poses, was threatened with protest and possible violent action by members of the Watts community, prompting Cultural Affairs Department General Manager, Margie Reese, to cancel the exhibition, which was also due to feature companion wall text from renowned African-American poet and performance artist, Keith Antar Mason. During the re-opening ceremony for the Watts Towers on Friday, September 28, 2001 a photographic exhibit depicting the Watts Towers replaced Donis’ exhibition.
"I’m in disbelief that this exhibition that’s taken so much time and collaborative effort is being censored and shut down, and that this message of actual peace and tolerance is getting lost in reactionary attitudes towards the paintings," says Donis.
The Watts Towers Community Action Council, as well as other community based organizations led the charge against the exhibition. Members of these organizations have voiced their opposition and antagonism towards the work and even threatened to worsen relations between the Watts Towers Arts Center and the Watts community unless the work came down immediately. The Watts Towers Arts Center Director, Mark Greenfield, who curated the show, as well as LACAD General Manager Margie Reese, came to an agreement to dismantle the exhibition four days prior to the artists reception without informing Donis. A press conference was held in lieu of the scheduled opening with angry guests in dialog with Greenfield, Reese and Donis.
Donis continues, "My work for many years has been to understand hatred in society and how, as an artist, to dissolve it by bridging vast social divides. This is something I thought I had succeeded at via this exhibition. Now with this censorship, my rights and my freedom of expression are under attack."
The National Coalition Against Censorship believes that the WTAC "would be better served if elders in the Community Action Council bring violent impulses under control and advocate dialog rather than using the threat of violence as a way to intimidate it’s arts center," says Svetlana Mintcheva, Arts Advocacy Project Coordinator.
The exhibition re-titled "War: The Last Dance Reinstated" will open on December 1st, 2001 – January 12, 2002 at the frumkin-duval gallery located at Bergamot Station T-1, 2525 Michigan Avenue, Santa Monica (310.453.1850). The opening reception will be held on Saturday, December 1st , ironically coinciding with the national "Day Without Art".
Alex Donis has exhibited his paintings and installation works internationally in Mexico City, Syndey, Australia, Paris, France, Pretoria, South Africa and galleries and museums throughout the U.S. His work was recently included in the landmark exhibition, "Made in California: Art, Image and Identity, 1900-2000," at the LA County Museum. Donis has been featured in Flash Art International, Art Scene, Artweek, the L.A. Times, and the Chicago Tribune among others. The exhibition "WAR" recently received the Durfee Foundation ARC Award. Donis is an Artist-in-Residence at 18th Street Arts Complex in Santa Monica and an arts educator at Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences. He has also taught at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Watts Towers Arts Center.
For more information, images of the paintings, or artist interview,
please contact Gloria Westcott at (818) 246-9082 or (310) 586-1733.
press release