Home is Where the (He)art is It’s stylish! It’s new! It’s ESMoA!
Bernhard Zuenkeler, center, surveys the installation progress
GLORIA PLASCENCIA, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Everyone will garnish it a little differently, but the concept of home includes being able to kick off our shoes while turning up the music, and to leave clothes, dishes, or newspapers (New York Times, Easy Reader) scattered about – at least until the better half or the kids come through the door.
As usual, ESMoA (the El Segundo Museum of Art) is taking a familiar concept and running with it all the way to the goal line.
“Home” opens on Sunday, and once again the space and the floor plan have been completely altered.
The new exhibition, which is something of a cross between an art show and a whimsical design center or showroom, “plays with the idea of home and the identity of home,” says curator Bernhard Zuenkeler.
It’s actually a kind of ambulatory journey from the front door to the back wall, with a couple of enclosed rooms along the way. In addition to valuable artwork, some of them have furnishings and various household appliances. They make strange bedfellows, but why not?
“I think Bernhard’s got some ideas,” says Brian Sweeney – meaning wild ideas. “He wants to provoke people a little bit to look at the different ways you can furnish and display art in your home, and the flooring works with the rooms and everything else.”
Preparing for the opening of “Home” this Sunday in El Segundo
GLORIA PLASCENCIA, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
The flooring. Workmen are still hammering and sawing away during this initial visit, but Sweeney and Zuenkeler point out a selection of flooring material, including one with a limey-green, alligator skin patterning. It sits next to a pink roll that I think will be going up on the wall. “Not many people will use this combination of stuff in their home,” Zuenkeler concedes, but the materials are available for anyone with an open or active imagination.
On the other hand, Zuenkeler adds, the artwork will frame the decor just as the decor frames the art.
ESMoA employee Chelsea Hogan works with area schools and arranges for entire classrooms to come out and see the latest exhibitions. “We’re trying to show that art can really be integrated into your life,” she says. With luck, the kids will return, dragging their parents with them.
“I hope we encourage some people to say, well, I can do that in my home,” Zuenkeler says; “it’s not all that complicated.”
“There are a lot of design ideas going on with this show,” Sweeney says. “It has art and design and creativity.”
Post-war houses, Ruhrgebiet, Germany (1988), by Bernd and Hilla Becher
COURTESY ESMOA
Home sweet home?
Most of the artwork on view comes from the personal collection of Brian and Eva Sweeney, and includes the better-known – Bernd and Hilla Becher, Max Lieberman, Lyonel Feininger, Edouard Vuillard – and the lesser-known – David Gaehtgens, Ralph Goings, Fan Yang-Tsung. Among the younger, contemporary artists, are Flora Kao and Cole Sternberg. Sternberg’s work, in fact, nearly greets the viewer at the door.
One of the things that makes home “home” is a sense of security. Some of us have sentries and guard dogs, others have security cameras. Sternberg has taken – and altered – some shooting range targets. As Zuenkeler puts it, “the targets are not totally politically correct, and he has made artwork over it.”
The hallway leading into the interior of ESMoA resembles a foyer where one might leave one’s bicycle, skateboard, sporting equipment, etc., and in this case – reminiscent of of the motorcycle show at the Guggenheim some years back – a motorcycle. “We will have a Honda 750 from 1974,” Zuenkeler says, “which was the motorcycle that almost killed the American and British motorcycle industry.”
After we turn the corner, the contrasting rooms and open spaces begin to appear, apparently like a highbrow meets lowbrow funhouse. Refrigerators, stoves, and various old-style furnishings are being borrowed, and one should anticipate a delight for the senses.
One of the structures is set to resemble a homestead cabin, with authentic walls gathered from decaying dwellings in the desert. Right now, though, it’s just a frame made up of two-by-fours. “What I also like about California,” Zuenkeler points out, “basically every house is made of this. It’s not like Germany where everything is made out of stone. Here, everything looks like a big movie set.”
That may be closer to the truth than he realizes.
“Homestead,” by Flora Kao
COURTESY ESMOA
“The artwork,” Sweeney says, “will be from the 16th century to the present day; we’re really mixing it up.”
“We want to give the whole installation a very contemporary look,” Zuenkeler says, “and in this context even the pieces from the 16th century will look very nice… We just want to give some ideas about what you could do with your own home if you wanted.
“We will have pieces that are not crazily expensive,” he continues, “but are very cool, and if you really look for it in a smart way basically everybody can (find affordable art). Of course there are some works which are really priceless, but a lot of works are also from younger artists and can transform your home.” After all, not everyone can afford a Rembrandt over the mantel.
A room at the rear of the gallery space will highlight an Impressionist painting of Venice placed next to a video screen that also depicts an image of Venice. As Zuenkeler says, “it almost looks in the beginning like it’s a painting, but then suddenly the picture starts to move, with a big cruise ship coming into the harbor. And then you realize, oh, it’s actually a video and not a still life. I’m curious how people will respond to that.”
Chelsea Hogan is referring to students who visit ESMoA, but her words could apply to everyone:
“Our mission is to spread the spirit of creativity, and we work really hard to create educational programming that is imaginative and engaging. The experience itself is going to be really impactful for kids because they’re seeing what’s possible in a museum, or what’s possible in life.”
Well, one thing that’s possible is a warm green alligator-patterned flooring material that you can install in your kitchen, bathroom, washroom, or anywhere else you damn well please – because it’s your place, your castle, and it’s up to each one of us to grab the opportunity to make a personal statement about who we are and how we want to spend our time within the comfort of our own four walls.
“Most people,” Zuenkeler says, “totally underestimate the energy in your own home and what it gives you. Just by changing a few things you can make a big impact on your own life.”
Just open your eyes, and “Home” will show you how it’s done.
If you go:
What: “Home”
Where: ESMoA, 208 Main Street, El Segundo
When: Opening Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., introduction and curatorial remarks at 2 p.m. by Dr. Bernhard Zuenkeler. Through Feb. 1.
Call: 424-277-1020
Online: ESMoA.org