SLANGUAGE at Engagement Party

WELCOMES SLANGUAGE TO ENGAGEMENT PARTY
Collective’s First Event will be Psychicinema Multiplex
Thursday, September 3, 2009, 7-10pm

250 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012

moca.org/party

The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), is pleased to announce Slanguage as the fourth participant in Engagement Party, the dynamic program of new artworks by innovative L.A.–based artist collectives at MOCA. Slanguage will be the resident artist group from September through November 2009, presenting a unique public intervention on the first Thursday evening of each month. Their first work, Psychicinema Multiplex, takes place at MOCA Grand Avenue on Thursday, September 3, 2009, from 7 to 10pm. Psychicinema Multiplex brings Slanguage’s ongoing series of film screenings to MOCA. For this iteration, the collective will debut videos made in response to the museum’s landmark 1992 exhibition Helter Skelter: LA Art in the 1990s. These works will seek to reexamine the dissonance and dark side of the psyche, Los Angeles, and the art world, pushing those ideas further by addressing Los Angeles’s polarization and presenting visions for its future. Psychicinema Multiplex will be presented in a “multiplex” format that will allow for simultaneous screenings of different films at various locations around the museum’s Grand Avenue campus. Viewers will be invited to discuss the films and their relationship with MOCA’s Helter Skelter exhibition both informally as a group and in formal conversations initiated by Slanguage. This event is FREE and open to the public. Cash bar. No reservations are required.

Slanguage
Founded in 2002 by Karla Diaz and Mario Ybarra, Jr., Slanguage is an art collective headquartered in Wilmington, California, a harbor area of Los Angeles County. A diverse group of 12 affiliate members at various points in their careers, Slanguage includes teenage budding artists, street artists, and established mid- to late career artists, the majority of whom live and work in the greater Los Angeles area, especially Wilmington.

Slanguage bases their practice on a three-pronged approach to art-making. Focusing on art education, the collective has organized numerous artist residencies in museums across the United States and abroad. Fostering dialog about the meaning and value of contemporary art, Slanguage has used their studio space and resources to cultivate relationships between diverse artists, students, communities, and organizations. And, creating artworks that have ranged from multimedia installations to performances, public events, and workshops, the collective has enriched, inspired, and provoked viewers’ imaginations through local, national, and international exhibitions.Slanguage’s recent projects include Sweeney Tate (2007) for the Tate Modern, London; The Peacock Doesn’t See Its Own Ass/Let’s Twitch Again: Operation Bird Watching in London (2006) for the Serpentine Gallery, London; and The Belmont Ruins (2006) for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 2009, the collective hosted workshops at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, as part of the Slanguage Teen Art Council.

Engagement Party
MOCA’s Engagement Party presents new artworks in the form of dynamic social events and performances by LA–based artist collectives. Engagement Party is made possible by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation.

Parking for MOCA Grand Avenue
Parking is recommended at the Walt Disney Concert Hall garage. Parking is also available in surrounding lots.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Lyn Winter
Tel 213/633-5390
lwinter@moca.org

Jessica Youn
Tel 213/633-5322
jyoun@moca.org