Acclaimed Los Angeles–based artist Ry Rocklen will discuss his art practice, with particular attention to the work in his book Believe You Me.  In addition, he will be discussing his art installation for Los Angeles's first biennial, Made in L.A., at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Art Park.

As a child growing up in Los Angeles, Ry Rocklen was particularly interested in the overlooked and unseen, the lost and the abandoned. This interest has persisted and developed into the foundation of his artistic practice. Rocklen’s current work consists of the reclamation and exaltation of found objects and materials. Through simple alteration and addition the abandoned and discarded are given a second life as sculpture. Through these alterations Rocklen seeks to intensify the poetics, pathos, and mystery embedded in ordinary things.

Rocklen attended the California Institute of the Arts and University of California-Los Angeles for his undergraduate degree and received his MFA from the University of Southern California. His work has been exhibited in Greece, Belgium, Switzerland, New York, and Los Angeles. Along with a string of solo shows, Rocklen’s work was included in the 2008 Whitney Biennial, the 2009 Athens Biennial in Greece, Second Nature at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and Made in L.A. 2012 at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery.  Visit his website at www.ryrocklen.com.

Soft Cover A to Z
2011
Found phonebook, copper and nickel plating
9.6 x 18.5 x 3 inches
24.4 x 47 x 7.6 cm