Opening Reception: Here Today: Posters from 1301PE, Los Angeles
The Department of Art and Art History presents Here Today: Posters from 1301PE, Los Angeles, curated by Jennie Waldow and Jon Davies, PhD candidates in art history, and initiated and facilitated by D. Vanessa Kam, Head of the Bowes Art & Architecture Library of the Stanford Libraries.
This exhibition showcases twenty-five years of exhibition posters from 1301PE, the celebrated contemporary art gallery that has enjoyed a prominent place in the thriving Los Angeles scene since its inception in 1992.
1301PE (PE referring to Projects + Editions), currently located on Wilshire Boulevard’s Miracle Mile, has historically featured the work of significant international artists, as well as Los Angeles-based artists who have gone on to be recognized internationally and to enjoy a substantial following among fellow artists, curators, critics, and scholars. Artists and artist groups who have shown at 1301PE over the years include Fiona Banner, Uta Barth, Kirsten Everberg, General Idea, Jorge Pardo, Jason Rhoades, Jessica Stockholder, SUPERFLEX, Diana Thater, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Kerry Tribe, and Pae White, among many others. While these artists’ practices are formally and conceptually diverse, themes that emerge include the intertwining of art, design, and pop culture, as well as leisure and lifestyle.
Since its first exhibition in 1992, the gallery has produced unique exhibition posters as part of its curatorial and promotional strategy under the creative leadership of Brian D. Butler, who is not only the gallery’s founder but also an enthusiastic proponent of artists’ editions and multiples. The posters on view were either designed solely by the artists or in collaboration with Butler. While these posters can be considered as important pieces of exhibition ephemera and as extensions of the artists’ varied practices, they are first and foremost visually engaging works of graphic art and visual communication. As a transitory medium, the poster format allows for a high degree of freedom for visual experimentation. Sometimes a poster will relate directly to the visual tropes of the exhibition at hand, while in other instances it acts as an autonomous work of art. Taken as a whole, the posters document the exhibition history of a groundbreaking Los Angeles gallery as well as the character and development of the city’s art scene at large.
See the exhibition listing here.
Image: Sarah Seagar, Experimental Poster, 1994.
Free and open to the publicExhibition on view: Tuesday–Sunday, 12–6 pm
VISITOR INFORMATION: Stanford Art Gallery is located at 419 Lasuen Mall, off Palm Drive. Visitor parking is free all day on weekends and after 4 pm on weekdays, except by the Oval. Alternatively, take the Caltrain to Palo Alto Transit Center and ride the free Stanford Marguerite Shuttle.