Alex Israel at the Huntington

the long version

Deeply entwined with his hometown, the art of Alex Israel (born 1982) explores the iconography of Los Angeles and Hollywood and the cult of celebrity. It posits LA as central to an understanding of American culture and the American dream. This book places 16 of Israel's paintings and sculptures plus two site-specific murals among the works in the historic Huntington Art Gallery. The gallery once served as the residence of Gilded Age collectors Henry and Arabella Huntington and since 1928 has been the home for a celebrated European Art Collection. Intended to spark a dialogue between the new and the old, this intervention of Israel's work within the gallery creates a discourse on place and identity, two things fundamental to understanding Henry Huntington's own love of Southern California. Exhibition: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, USA (12.12.15-11.07.2016).