Black Earth

Former Artist-in-Residence Andreas Fogarasi works in tandem with L.A. artist Oscar Tuazon on an original installation, Black Earth.

Whereas some Garage Exchange projects represent direct collaborations, “Black Earth” offers an instance where the relationship between the work of the two artists is derived through the various meanings and functions of the Garage Top space itself-an exhibition space balanced atop housing for cars adjacent to a domestic environment.

Oscar Tuazon connects the Garage Top to its role as a support building of the Mackey Apartments. In his practice, he consistently makes sculpture from architectural elements, creating new conceptual spaces and focusing attention on the spaces we inhabit daily but generally overlook. Working in wood, metal, concrete and stone, Tuazon references recent art history, including the work of Carl Andre, Richard Serra, Bruce Nauman, Robert Smithson and Gordon Matta-Clark. For the exhibition, Tuazon recreates elements of an apartment – cabinets, countertops – in a sculpture that will both accentuate the gallery space and point out its connection to the adjacent domestic spaces.

Andreas Fogarasi uses forms of display that are reminiscent of minimalism and conceptual art to explore questions of space and representation. In his practice, he analyses the aesthetization and economization of urban space and the role of architecture and the cultural field in contemporary society. For “Black Earth”, he taps into the Garage Top’s dual role as a gallery and garage with North American International Auto Show. The installation features an array of mirrored, freestanding V-shaped structures each bearing a photograph depicting the dismantling of the massive trade fair in Detroit. Capturing aspects of the process only, the images form an intricate network of associations, serving as a metaphor for the collapse of the auto industry, while also holding out hope for its renewal.

until February 28, 2015
Andreas Fogarasi and Oscar Tuazon
Black Earth
Mackey Apartments Garage Top
MAK Center for Art and Architecture
supported by The Austrian Federal Chancellery
and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission