Dirty Talk: Art / Environment / Action

October 28 - November 20, 2016
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 27, 2016, 6pm-9pm
Closing Event: Sunday, November 20, 2016, 2pm-4pm

Gayle and Ed Roski MFA Gallery
Graduate Fine Arts Building
3001 S. Flower Street
Los Angeles, CA 90007

Gallery hours: Wednesdays - Saturdays 12 - 6pm

USC Roski School of Art and Design and the 2017 MA Curatorial Practices and the Public Sphere program present Dirty Talk: Art / Environment / Action, a group exhibition that explores how art can stimulate public awareness of urgent ecological issues such as soil regeneration, land use, and green space in Los Angeles.

Dirty Talk: Art / Environment / Action presents documentation of historical environmental art projects from the 1970s and 1980s in dialogue with contemporary works by artists from Los Angeles. Each of these L.A.-based artists uses a pedagogical approach intended for audiences to learn about specific environmental challenges in the city and to encourage them to participate in an action related to a particular ecological problem.

Featuring work by Mel Chin, Commonstudio, Encyclopedia Inc., Fallen Fruit, Jenny Kane, Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison, Bonnie Sherk, and Joel Tauber, participating artists will display projects with diverse responses to feelings of disenfranchisement, and perhaps resultant helplessness in the face of specific environmental concerns in Los Angeles. Each of these projects incorporate either intellectual, pedagogical, or physical tools that viewers can engage with to promote positive community action within a sprawling urban environment.   

Curated by Karen Hinchcliffe, Rachel Keller, and Carly Warhaft, 2017 MA Candidates, Curatorial Practices and the Public Sphere program.