UTA Artist Space Presents Emergency On PLANET EARTH: IN A TIME CLOSE TO NOW 

UTA Artist Space presents Emergency On Planet Earth: In A Time Close To Now featuring Parker and Clayton Calvert, Manny Castro, Todd DiCiurcio, Daniel Fuller, Iva Gueorguieva, Heather Haynes, Jamiroquai, Glenn Kaino, Jason Nichols and Felipe Griebel, Ellen Page, Rob Reynolds, Toni Scott, Ai Weiwei, and Nathan Wong. Including video, sculpture, painting, and photography, this multi-sensory exhibition will address both the environmental and human impact of our current times.

Over the centuries, we have found that nature has a way of reminding us of what is most important: clean air, water, and soil to grow the bare necessities of our existence. These are fragile times and each morning our purpose grows more urgent - our world is not recognizable - and what we now view as normal, would shake the foundations of those who came before us. This year we were served a warning that our mission is far from complete as we watched the world stop. The year 2020 will be marked as one that changed the tone of how we survive - it is forcing us to question our very purpose and requires that we be mindful of our impact.

The title of the exhibition was inspired by Jamiroquai's 1993 song titled "Emergency on Planet Earth," which focuses on social and environmental issues. Jay Kay, the lead singer of the GRAMMY Award-winning funk jazz band Jamiroquai, has produced an exclusive soundtrack titled Emergency 2020 for the show with long term musical collaborator Matt Johnson, which will be played throughout the exhibition. This track will make its debut as part of the exhibition.

Glenn Kaino transforms conventional materials and forms through a process of mobilizing and synthesizing the languages, logics, and economies of other creative disciplines as raw elements in artistic production. Power, To Overcome, The Police, We Shall, Make Love, Over Profits, 2020 is a new work in which Kaino uses discarded wood from protest signs and water vapor from the tears of protesters to create the illusion of fire.

The Word for Weather is Knowledge, by Rob Reynolds, is a visual exploration of climate change focusing on the contours of the Jakobshavn Glacier during their hottest summer in 2019, where billions of gallons of meltwater flow into the ocean from the Greenland ice sheet. Earthrise, 2020 (inspired by the NASA image AS808-14-2383 credited to astronaut William Anders/ NASA during the Apollo 8 mission) is a direct provocation to revisit and rethink the way we live.

Toni Scott's installation weaves together powerful stories presented through painting and sculpture refencing fraught histories. Eve, 2018 is a striking sculpture serving as a reminder of the power and majesty of Black Woman.

Ai Weiwei measures our existence in relation to economic, political, natural and social forces, uniting craftsmanship with conceptual creativity. In response to the hysteria surrounding the toilet paper shortage during Covid-19, Weiwei continues to highlight his engagement with and mastery of the medium of marble but in the form of Toilet Paper, 2020.

These artists along with Parker and Clayton Calvert, Manny Castro, Todd DiCiurcio, Daniel Fuller, Jason Nichols and Felipe Griebel, Iva Gueorguieva, Heather Haynes, Ellen Page, and Nathan Wong weave together a tapestry of our times. Their works urge us toward reconciliation that our hopes are not diminished and this urgent call to save our humanity should not and cannot be ignored. We are sending out an SOS, we have an Emergency on Planet Earth.

A Collection of Voices is a multimedia experience within the exhibition highlighting humanity's commitment to causes around social justice, human rights, and climate change. In partnership with Lyft, UTA Foundation, and Wide Awakes, videos include: Ellen Page's documentary There's Something in the Water; A compilation of videos from Wide Awakes; War & Grace narrated and produced by Sienna Miller; OutRight Action International: 30 Years of Fighting for LGBTIQ Human Rights; and Good Morning narrated by Maya Angelou, produced by Lyft.

As part of an exclusive print collaboration with Absolut Art, new limited edition prints from Rob Reynolds and Glenn Kaino that relate to their works in the exhibition are now available on AbsolutArt.com.

Visiting the Artist Space is by appointment only, with a four-guest maximum at any time. All visitors will have to acknowledge via the online appointment system both the health and safety guidelines and their health status before they visit. All visitors will have to wear mask at all times in the artist space. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available on site for guest usage. All guests will have a 30-minute window for viewing the gallery. Guests will not be permitted to the gallery before or after their viewing time. If they arrive earlier, they will be asked to wait in their car until their appointment time. Guests must practice social distancing. There is ample signage throughout the space including arrows on the floor that tell guests which way foot traffic is flowing. Restrooms will be closed to guests and the Artist Space will be deep cleaned on a regular schedule following the close of business each day.

To post a comment, you must register and login.