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  3. Installation View, L.A. on Fire, curated by Michael Slenske, at Wilding Cran Gallery, Los Angeles
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Jan 15, 09:17 am

L.A. on Fire Catalogue available now

L.A. on Fire Catalogue available now through Wilding Cran Gallery
Curated by Michael Slenske

“Los Angeles has an amazing crisis on its hands—many of the palm trees that dot the landscape and have come to iconically symbolize Southern California are nearing the end of their natural lifespan and are literally dying or disappearing. Planted in the 1930s as part of the boosterism craze, these ornamental, non-native and disastrously water demanding trees, which neither provide shade nor fruit, will not be replanted once they finally go. Running at an unaffordable $20K a pop to replace, Los Angeles County will be planting the more affordable native oaks instead. Imagine the LA landscape not dotted by the ubiquitous palm tree?

For LA-LIKE: Prospecting Palm Fronds, I have mapped, collected and ultimately bronzed dozens of discarded palm fronds from all over Los Angeles, each titled for the intersection where it was collected. The 40-50 lb. bronzed fronds are specifically made with a lost wax process—which means that the original raw palm frond is covered in wax, then concrete, and then gets burned out/destroyed in the process and replaced with, in this case, bronze. In a photographic sense that is really exciting because the bronze actually becomes the palm frond.

In a term I’ve coined, the Imagiatic (as opposed to the Photographic), the medium doesn’t really matter—the imaginary, the image, all the intangible ideas that traditionally lived within photography as a representational medium, no longer need to be bound by them. It is inspired by a photographic impulse, a documentary impulse even, but it no longer needs to exist within a photographic realm.

Thus these bronzed palm fronds—these ephemeral objects that are disappearing almost overnight and cast in a material that lasts forever— solidly sit within my conceptual realm of misremembered mapping of the imaginary of Los Angeles, a sort of pre-archiving of the death of Los Angeles. It is informed by a documentary impulse, has a bizarre relation to the Real, but is no longer bound by the photographic. It’s beyond anything photographic, it’s basically what photography only ever wishes it could be in terms of archiving. No matter how close I photograph L.A., I can never get it this close. “

- Zoe Crosher

 
News & Events
  1. ARTFORUM REVIEW “The Swimmer” The FLAG Art Foundation by David Coleman, Oct 2024 Print Posted November 23, 2024
  2. Library Street Collective and the Shepherd, Detroit present GRACE UNDER FIRE - Oct 24, 2024 through Jan 11, 2025 Posted November 23, 2024
  3. "A Masterpiece of Fiction Inspires the Urge to Submerge in a Gallery Crawl In New York’s art show of the summer, paint and prose meet in “The Swimmer,” a psychoanalysis of John Cheever’s suburban nightmare of 1964." NY Times Critic's Pick by Walker Mimms Posted July  4, 2024
  4. The FLAG Art Foundation invites you to join us for the opening reception of The Swimmer, an expansive group exhibition inspired by John Cheever’s 1964 short story of the same name at The FLAG Art Foundation, on Thursday, June 6th, from 6-8pm. Posted June  5, 2024
  5. HOLLYWOOD DREAM BUBBLE: Ed Ruscha's Influence in Los Angeles and Beyond Opening Tonight in Los Angeles! Posted April 27, 2024
  6. THE ELEMENTAL invites you to join us Saturday March 2, 2024 from 6:30-10pm for the opening reception for the new iteration of our evolving exhibition: THE GAIA HYPOTHESIS Chapter Two 2.0: Palm Trees Also Die Posted February 29, 2024
  7. THE GAIA HYPOTHESIS CHAPTER TWO: PALM TREES ALSO DIE Friday, November 17th, 2023 Opening Reception 6pm - 10pm THE ELEMENTAL Palm Springs, California Posted November 16, 2023
  8. Recent Acquisitions Zoe Crosher California Museum of Photography November 18, 2023 to March 30, 2024 Posted November 16, 2023
  9. The way Eve Babitz wrote about art in Los Angeles was art in itself, LA Times, December 21, 2021 by Christina Catherine Martinez Posted December 21, 2021
  10. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University acquires Prospecting Palm Frond Posted July  1, 2021
  11. Silver Art Projects Inaugural Evening Expo Thursday, May 6, 2021 | World Trade Center | New York City, NY Posted May  3, 2021
  12. In Auction: moCa Cleveland: Benefit Auction 2021 Posted May  3, 2021
  13. Prospecting Palm Fronds on cover of publication of To Bough and To Bend, Los Angeles, CA Posted December  9, 2020
  14. Announcing Participation in the Inaugural Silver Art 2020 Cohort, WTC / NYC Posted July 28, 2020
  15. Peralta Projects 'Motel' exhibition, discussion examines 'home' in an unprecedented era Opens on July 13, 2020 Posted July 10, 2020
  16. After Quarantine / A Fundraiser for EFA Posted June 16, 2020
  17. Venice Family Clinic 50th Online Benefit Auction! May 3-19, 2020 on Artsy Posted May  5, 2020
  18. #PleaseSupportTheCause #ArtsyBenefitAuction Spring To Action! Posted April 16, 2020
  19. To Bough and To Bend, opening today at Bridge Projects in Los Angeles from 12-7pm, through April 25, 2020 Posted March 14, 2020
  20. VIP Studio Visits at The Elizabeth Foundation of the Arts, Saturday, March 7, 2020 / 2–4 PM Posted March  6, 2020
  21. Mae Wested from the Disappearing of Michelle duBois in the Monica King Contemporary Art Grotto, New York, NY Posted February  1, 2020
  22. L.A. on Fire Catalogue available now Posted January 15, 2020
  23. Reading for Slouching Towards Los Angeles this Saturday, December 14th at Wilding Cran Gallery from 2-4pm Posted December 13, 2019
  24. Five more Out the Window (LAX) images acquired by LACMA Posted December  7, 2019
  25. Going Beyond the Photo-Archive The Significance of Fantasy and Photo-Reflexivity in Zoe Crosher’s The Michelle duBois Project, by Yonit Aronowicz Posted November 30, 2019
  26. Opening Saturday night! L.A. on Fire, curated by Michael Slenske at Wilding Cran Gallery Posted November 14, 2019
  27. Starting Something New: Recent Contemporary Art Acquisitions and Gifts at Mead Art Museum, Amherst, MA, on view now through July 26, 2020 Posted October 18, 2019
  28. Inclusion in Conversations with Artists II, By Heidi Zuckerman Posted October 17, 2019
  29. On the occasion of @nyrbooks release of a new collection of essays by #EveBabitz this week... Posted October 11, 2019
  30. Zoe Crosher in The Watermill Auction, The Hamptons, July 27, 2019 Posted July 12, 2019
  31. Prospecting Palm Fronds published in new issue of Full Blede / Issue Seven: The Continuant January 2019 Posted January 18, 2019
  32. Please Support the 24th Annual Artwalk NY Coalition for the Homeless, Nov 27, 2018 Posted November 27, 2018
  33. Wildfires and Dead Palm Trees Haunt the L.A. Dream in Zoe Crosher’s New Show | Seen | New York Mag | Nov 17, 2018 Posted November 20, 2018
  34. An Artist Talk with Zoe Crosher this Saturday, November 10th at 2 p.m. at Patrick Painter, Inc. Posted November  7, 2018
  35. Zoe Crosher's "Sunlight as Spotlight" opens at Patrick Painter on October 19th Posted October 10, 2018
  36. Check out Zoe Crosher's Art Work | VoyageLA | August 13, 2018 Posted August 13, 2018
  37. LA Times Review: As planes take flight at LAX, two photographers find a darker reality below in 'Grounded' at ESMoA, Aug 3, 2018 Posted August  3, 2018
  38. Paradise Lost: Zoe Crosher, Bernt & Hilla Becher, Joshua Hagler at Patrick Painter Gallery Posted July 27, 2018
  39. The Philip Johnson Glass House 2018 Auction, June 9 LA-LIKE: Escaped Exotics (set of 5) Posted June  8, 2018
  40. GROUNDED, John Divola and Zoe Crosher Approach LAX from Different Directions, opening at ESMoA on June 2nd, 2018 Posted May 24, 2018
  41. An Artist Memorializes The Disappearing Palm Trees of Los Angeles - JStor Daily April 24, 2018 Posted April 24, 2018
  42. Inaugural Los Angeles My Kid Could Do That Benefit, April 6-8, 2018 Posted April  4, 2018
  43. Art Matters: Heidi Zuckerman in Conversation with Zoe Crosher Posted March 13, 2018
  44. CURIO exhibition and Fainting Club, curated and presented by Yasmine M. Zodeh and Sandi Turner Posted March  8, 2018
  45. Wanderlust: Actions, Traces, Journeys 1967-2017 opens at The Des Moines Art Center Posted February 19, 2018
  46. Zoe Crosher to judge 2018 Golden Pear Award, designed to raise interest & awareness for independent & artisan perfumers ~ London, April 2018 Posted February  1, 2018
  47. Publication of Wanderlust: ACTIONS, TRACES, JOURNEYS 1967-2017 Catalogue ~ Essay by Melanie Flood Posted February  1, 2018
  48. Zoe Crosher, The Imagiatic ~ UCLA Lecture & Studio Visits, January 26, 2018 Posted December 23, 2017
  49. Zoe Crosher at the Aspen Art Museum, Opening December 15th, 2017 ~ Prospecting Palm Fronds Posted December 11, 2017
  50. Virago at Hilde Gallery, Los Angeles / Opening reception: Saturday, November 11 / 6 – 9pm Posted December 10, 2017
  51. WANDERLUST: ACTIONS, TRACES, JOURNEYS 1967-2017 Opens September 7th at UB Art Galleries Posted September 14, 2017
  52. Two Truths & A Lie, August 24th - September 30th, 2017. Artist Talk: Zoe Crosher Thursday, August 24 | 5:30 p.m. Posted August 18, 2017
  53. ArtCrush Auction 2017, August 2–4, 2017 Aspen, CO Posted July 30, 2017
  54. Zoe Crosher listed as Cultural Influencer and Innovator in Summer 2017 Issue LAC Magazine Posted June 21, 2017
  55. Zoe Crosher is Artist-in-Residence at Marble House Project in Dorset, VT Posted June 20, 2017
  56. Art Seed Artist Talk at the Marble House Project Posted June 20, 2017
  57. Deconstruction, the 11th Los Angeles Fainting Club Posted June 14, 2017
  58. Steve Turner L.A. is pleased to present All the Small Things, an exhibition of Los Angeles-based artists featuring works that do not exceed six inches in any dimension. Posted June  1, 2017
  59. Zoe Crosher in Residence for 2017 at the Wende Museum, a collections-based research and education institute that preserves Cold War artifacts and history. Posted May 11, 2017
  60. Zoe Crosher in LACE BENEFIT ART AUCTION | Wednesday May 10, 2017 7-9 PM Posted May  2, 2017
  61. Zoe Crosher & Catherine Wagley at DFLAT Residency, Mexico City, March 18-28, 2016 Posted March 26, 2017
  62. The Fainting Club in Palm Springs inspired by the current exhibition at The Palm Springs Art Museum: Women in Abstract Expressionism Posted March  1, 2017
  63. Joanie 4 Jackie, Zoe Crosher brings Miranda July and Astria Suparak to CalArts during their Pacific Coast Tour, November 13, 2000. Posted February 17, 2017
  64. SUPERNATURE, Organized by Zoe Crosher & Emma Gray at Five Car Garage Los Angeles, CA, January 2018 Posted February 16, 2017
  65. Panel Discussion / Art in the Age of Donald Trump at Art Los Angeles Contemporary Posted January 24, 2017
  66. Amplify Compassion: An Art Sale to Benefit the ACLU at 356 S.Mission / Los Angeles, CA Posted January 19, 2017
  67. Floral Patterns ~ An Essay About Flowers And Art (with a blooming addendum.) by Andrew Berardini for Mousse Magazine Posted October  9, 2016
  68. The Very 1st Cambridge, Massachusetts Fainting Club Dinner, hosted by Alison Nordström & Lucy Soutter Posted October  2, 2016
  69. Zoe Crosher in Human Condition, curated by John Wolf, at the recently abandoned Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center Posted September 30, 2016
  70. Zoe Crosher at SFAI The Visiting Artists and Scholars Lecture Series Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, 7:00PM - 9:00PM Posted September 14, 2016
  71. In conversation with artist Zoe Crosher, Howard Rodman, and Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, Matthew Specktor discusses and signs Eve Babitz’s Slow Days Fast Company: The World, the Flesh, and L.A. Posted August 29, 2016
  72. Madames Electric at The Pit for Carla l.a. | Snap Reviews by Aaron Horst, July 16, 2016 Posted July 21, 2016
  73. Invitation for The Very First Paris Fainting Club, Weds 29 June - 8pm ! Posted June 29, 2016
  74. Zoe Crosher "The New LA-LIKE" at Mayeur Projects, Las Vegas, New Mexico, Opening Night June 23rd Posted June  9, 2016
  75. "Madame Electrics," curated by Shana Lutker, at The Pit, Los Angeles, June 12th Posted June  5, 2016
  76. LA-LIKE: Transgressing the Pacific, by Kate Sutton for Bookforum Posted June  1, 2016
  77. Zoe Crosher reading // The Institute for Art and Olfaction launch scent zine of 'Now Past Later,' May 26th, Los Angeles Posted May 21, 2016
  78. The Fainting Club Summer Supper in London, May 24th, hosted by Lucy Soutter & Susan Hyland Posted May 21, 2016
  79. Hesse Press at Offprint London 2016 at the Tate Modern - Book Signing this Saturday 1-2pm Posted May 16, 2016
  80. Hammer Museum present AIX Scent Fair, May 6-8, Los Angeles, "The Elevator Series Scent - HW 8:13pm" Posted May  2, 2016
  81. Imperceptibly and Slowly Opening at Vox Populi, May 6th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Posted May  2, 2016
  82. Catalogue Launch For Staging Los Angeles: Reality, Fantasy, and the Space Between, USC, Los Angeles, April 26th Posted April 16, 2016
  83. Mae Wested no. 1 to become part of Pérez Art Museum Collection, Miami, Florida Posted April 14, 2016
  84. Memory Theater, Directed by Srijon Chowdhury, Presented by Upfor, opening April 13th, Portland, Oregon Posted April 10, 2016
  85. MTV RE:DEFINE 2016, Presented by The Joule, Dallas, Texas, April 8th with the Michael Goss Foundation Posted April  4, 2016
  86. Shades of Gray by Andrew Berardini, reading at Human Resources, Los Angeles, April 1st Posted March 29, 2016
  87. NeueHouse Presents: The Fainting Club 'The Dust Dinner' with Zoe Crosher, March 23rd, Los Angeles Posted March 20, 2016
  88. LA IN THE AUGHTS: Art Auction and Party to Benefit X-TRA and Project X in Los Angeles, March 13th Posted March 12, 2016
  89. Zoe Crosher Joins the Advisory Council for the Arts at Cedars-Sinai Posted March  1, 2016
  90. Mayeur Projects Inaugural Artist-In-Residency Zoe Crosher, Las Vegas, NM, March 17 - May 14th Posted February 16, 2016
  91. LeSwim announces LeSwim x Zoe Crosher at Rob Pruitt's Flea Market, Presented by LAND Posted February 11, 2016
  92. Book Release for LA-LIKE: Transgressing The Pacific at LA Art Book Fair, MOCA Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles, February 12th Posted February  8, 2016
  93. Artist: Zoe Crosher, by Caroline Ryder for Distinct Daily Posted February  3, 2016
  94. LA-LIKE: Transgressing The Pacific, published by Hesse Press, 2016 now available Posted February  1, 2016
  95. Art House at Soho House Hollywood, curated by Sharón Zoldan, February 1st Posted January 28, 2016
  96. photo l.a. panel discussion, January 22nd, 2016 at The REEF/LA Mart, Los Angeles Posted January 18, 2016
  97. Announcing the publication of LA-LIKE: Transgressing The Pacific, published by Hesse Press, 2016 Posted January  8, 2016
  98. Mayeur Projects Announces Inaugural Artist in Residence - Zoe Crosher, March 2016, Las Vegas, New Mexico Posted December 14, 2015
  99. The Fainting Club Holiday Party in Los Angeles, December 11th Posted December 11, 2015
  100. Los Angeles County Museum Of Art to acquire work from Out The Window (LAX) Series Posted November 29, 2015
Projects
  • The New LA-LIKE
    1. LA-LIKE: Sunlight As Spotlight
    2. LA-LIKE: Prospecting Palm Fronds
    3. LA-LIKE: Escaped Exotics
    4. LA-LIKE: Transgressing the Pacific
    5. LA-LIKE: LA Imaginary As Unlit Lightboxes
    6. LA-LIKE: Fools Gold Dust (Mimic) Paintings
    7. LA-LIKE: Day For Night (or Sunlight As Spotlight)
    8. The Manifest Destiny Billboard Project, in conjunction with LAND
    9. LA-LIKE: Mirage
    10. Shangri-LA'd & Expanded Shangri-LA'd
    11. LA-LIKE: Composition I-10, Desert Center
    12. The Manifest Destiny Billboard Perfume
    13. LA Disappearing Frond-Like
    14. LA-LIKE: Transgressing the Pacific, Dessert Concepts & Recipes
    15. For An Evening with Eve Babitz, at the Chateau Marmont
    16. Tear Sheet Posters
    17. LA-LIKE (LOST)
    18. LA-LIKE: LAXART Billboard
    19. The Pools I Shot
    20. LA-LIKE
  • The Michelle duBois Project
    1. The Uniqued Series
    2. The Additive Dust Series
    3. Mae Wested
    4. The Disbanding of Michelle duBois
    5. The Vanishing of Michelle duBois
    6. The Disappearing of Michelle duBois
    7. The Other Disappeared Nurse
    8. Silhouetted
    9. All Her Shadows
    10. Blackened Last Four Days & Nights in Tokyo
    11. Almost the Same
    12. The Unveiling of Michelle duBois
    13. The Unraveling of Michelle duBois
    14. Posed Postcards
    15. Polaroided
    16. The Reconsidered Archive of Michelle duBois
    17. Obfuscated
  • The Santa Cruz Kids
  • Out The Window (LAX)
  • The Fainting Club
    1. The Fainting Club (London)
    2. The Fainting Club (New York)
    3. The Fainting Club (Los Angeles)
    4. The Fainting Club (More Cities)
    5. The Fainting Club (About)
  • –
  • Publications
    1. LA-LIKE: Escaped Exotics / The Bronzed Blossoms of Madame, published by X Artists' Books
    2. The Good & The Glamorous, A Memoir of Misremembering & The Cold War
    3. LA-LIKE: Transgressing the Pacific, Published by Hesse Presse, Los Angeles, CA - Spring 2016 (Sold Out)
    4. Both Sides of Sunset: Photographing Los Angeles (May 2015) Published by Metropolis Books
    5. Forthcoming: The Re-duBois Book
    6. Returning to Berlin / Publication curated by Kim Schoen - Motto, Berlin (August 2013)
    7. Why Art Photography? by Lucy Soutter (2013) Published by Routelage
    8. Volume 4: The Disappearance of Michelle duBois, aka *Mitchi* (Fall 2012) Published by Aperture Ideas
    9. Volume 3: The Unveiling of Michelle duBois, aka *Cricket* (Spring 2012) Published by Aperture Ideas
    10. Volume 2: The Unraveling of Michelle duBois, aka *Alice Johnson* (Fall 2011) Published by Aperture Ideas
    11. Volume 1: The Reconsidered Archive of Michelle duBois, aka *Kathy* (Spring 2011) Published by Aperture Ideas
    12. Out the Window (LAX) with essays by Norman Klein, Pico Iyer, & Julian Meyers (2007)
    13. NTNTNT (2004)
    14. L.A. Now: Volume One, Published by Art Center College of Design, August 2002