"Flock," 2005, mixed media, dimensions variable, by Michael Arata

For Immediate Release:  February 28, 2011

Beacon Arts Presents
Arataland!
A Mid-Career Survey of Artworks by Michael Arata
Curated by Doug Harvey
Saturday, March 26, 2011 – Sunday, May 22, 2011
– With Additional Exhibition Events on 4/10 & 4/30 –

LOS ANGELES, CA — Beacon Arts continues its Critics-as-Curators series with Arataland! A Mid-Career Survey of Artworks by Michael Arata curated by art critic Doug Harvey, opening Saturday, March 26, 2011. Arataland! will be the first museum-scale retrospective devoted exclusively to the work of this important Los Angeles artist, and the first monographic exhibit hosted by the Beacon Arts Building during its inaugural Critics-as-Curators series.  Drawing on three decades of sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, installation and performance work, Arataland! will transform the Beacon Arts Building into a theme park exploring the complex and idiosyncratic vision – darkly humorous, playfully erotic, conceptually quirky, and often confrontational – that animates Arata’s oeuvre. The exhibit will run for eight weeks closing on Sunday, May 22, 2011 with a Critics-as-Curators panel discussion from 1:00 to 4:00pm.  Beacon Arts is located at 808 N. La Brea Ave., Inglewood, CA 90302.  For additional information please call 310-621-5416 or visit http://www.beaconartsbuilding.com as well as http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inglewood-CA/Beacon-Arts-Building/129817703733091?v=info.

Arataland! A Mid-Career Survey of Artworks by Michael Arata will kick-off on March 26^th with an opening reception from 7:00 to 10:00pm.  Join the artist for the unveiling of a new mural on the side of the Beacon Arts Building – a large rendition of a piece from Arata’s Pet Spaces series.  Additional special events include “Deconstructing Arataland” an exhibition walkthrough and conversation with Michael Arata and Curator Doug Harvey on Sunday, April 10^th starting at 1:00pm.  At the end of the month on Saturday, April 30^th, or Walpurgisnacht (a Northern European pagan renewal ritual), join the gallery for “One Night Stand: Walpurgisnacht” from 7:00 to 10:00pm.  Like one of Arata’s famous One Night Stands – his series of one-night guerrilla exhibitions held in motel rooms dating to the late 1990s – the evening will center around a hot dog/drawing exchange, whereby guests can create a drawing in exchange for a hot dog in a bun branded with Arata’s signature.  A 60-page catalog, containing a map of Arataland! will also be published in conjunction with the exhibit and will be for sale at the gallery.  All Arataland! events are free.

Michael Arata –
A native of Northern California, Michael Arata has been active in the Los Angeles art scene since relocating here in the early 1980s. His restlessly creative mind has led him from prescient large-scale site-specific installations addressing ecological sustainability, through elaborate arrays of sculptural works detailing the biological life cycle of angels (including the “larval” stage) to elegiac paintings of the hairstyles of unidentified possible victims of an LA serial killer, and interactive game sculptures conflating minimalist formal aesthetics with the impregnation of flamenco dancers and lawn bowling.

With Duchampian wit and impressive formal chops, Arata has amassed a formidable body of work, consistently undermining the sweetness of his primary-hued entities with dark – but deeply humanistic – undertones; balancing confrontational statements on politics, religion, bestiality, and poop with an open, playful and unaffected relational agenda; and layering his always entertaining pop discourse between enigmatic, personal symbolic systems often deriving from scientific or historical sources. Entertainment being the key word – Arata’s work may alternate between endearing, outrageous, brain-tickling, and laugh-out-loud funny, but it is never, ever boring. – Doug Harvey

From the Pet Spaces series: "Victoria's Secret Catalog Pose" (2000), c-print, 40" X 30" by Michael Arata (Model: Michael Arata)

Doug Harvey, Critic-as-Curator –
Doug Harvey is an artist, critic, experimental musician, curator, and educator based in Los Angeles. His curatorial projects have ranged from many traditional gallery exhibitions (including the First [2005] and Third [2007/08] Annual LA Weekly Biennials at Track 16 Gallery in Los Angeles, Don Suggs: One Man Group Show at OTIS and Heart and Torch: Rick Griffin’s Transcendence at Laguna Art Museum [both 2007 and co-curated with Meg Linton and Greg Escalante, respectively], and the 2008’s Aspects of Mel’s Hole: Artists Respond to a Paranormal Land Event Occurring in Radiospace at Santa Ana’s Grand Central Art Center) to CD compilations of sound art, programs of found and experimental films, performance events, experimental radio, artist’s comic books and zines, and an LA solo gallery exhibit determined by raffle. He has also been part of the curatorial collective creating the exhibition content and design at the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City, CA. He maintains a blog at www.dougharvey.blogspot.com and a website at www.dougharvey.la.

Critics-as-Curators Series –
Critics-as-Curators is the inaugural art exhibition series at Beacon Arts.  In recognition of the gallery’s first year, esteemed art critics and writers — recognized locally, nationally and internationally — have been invited to conceive and curate shows of their choosing at the Beacon Arts Building in conjunction with discussions, lectures, catalogues, or other ways to reveal the thought process behind why exhibition works are chosen with insight into their importance to the curator. The individual expertise and personal taste developed by the curators’ world-view will be on exhibit throughout Beacon Arts’ first year. Critics-as-Curators strives to enrich appreciation of contemporary fine art by critically engaging in art. This series of shows provides a wonderful opportunity for artists and art audiences to learn what individual critics look for, how they think about the art they choose to focus on, and what catches their eye. The series kicked off in October 2010 with Ghost Stories: Happenings, Hauntings, & Curiosities curated by art writer Shana Nys Dambrot, followed by Peter Frank‘s exhibition, Densities: Line Becoming Shape, Shape Becoming Object in December/January.

2011 Critics-as-Curators Exhibition Schedule:

• 2/5/11 – 3/20/11 – Pieceable Kingdom curated by David Pagel
https://www.greengalactic.com/2010/beacon-arts-pieceable-kingdom

• 3/26/11 – 5/22/11 – Arataland! A Mid-Career Survey of Artworks by Michael Arata curated by Doug Harvey

• 5/28/11 – 7/3/11 – TEL-ART-PHONE curated by Mat Gleason

• Future BAB exhibitions TBD

Beacon Arts –
A brand-new, risk-taking fine arts enterprise, housed within the iconic Beacon Arts Building, the venture offers innovative art programming to enrich the cultural landscape of Los Angeles. Its primary directive is to provide and maintain the integrity of an exhibition space for contemporary art by Southern California artists working in all media, including painting, sculpture, installation, video, and performance art. Works by both emerging and established artists will be presented in an effort to provide a variety of ideas in different forms that both challenge and inspire. As a catalyst and advocate for new ideas, the endeavor enriches public understanding and appreciation of contemporary fine art by creating conversations through special events, lectures, symposia, and panel discussions with intellectual commentary on exhibitions. Exhibiting artists are encouraged to forge new relationships and learn from arts professionals through programming such as the gallery’s inaugural Critics-as-Curators series – consecutive shows conceived and curated by art writers and critics. This series runs through the first year of the space, from October 2010 to October 2011. Regular gallery hours are from 1:00 to 6:00pm Thursday through Saturday; Sundays 1:00 – 4:00pm.

Beacon Arts Building –
The 32,400-square-foot Beacon Arts Building is an iconic four-story, solid reinforced concrete structure located in the heart of the burgeoning Arts District in North Inglewood. Having stored inanimate items for close to sixty years, originally as the legendary Bekins Moving and Storage Company, this dramatic, 1951 edifice is now transforming into a springboard for artistic expression.  In addition to ground floor gallery and retail spaces, the building provides a gorgeous New York warehouse-style environment for professional artists, currently offering work studio spaces in various sizes up to 8,000 square feet with 11’6” ceilings.  It has a high rear loading facility, large freight elevator, WiFi availability, and sprinkler system throughout. Beacon Arts Building sits prominently on La Brea Avenue, located just 11 minutes south of the 10 Freeway (I-10).  Ample on-site parking is available as well as on the adjacent streets.  For further information about availabilities in the Beacon Arts Building, please contact Scott Lane at 310-576-3543 or scottlaneco@yahoo.com.

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For more information, images, and interviews please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.