VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston presents the exhibition Perspectives 171: Jennifer West.  Opening reception: Thursday, July 15, 6:30-9pm; Gallery walk-through and performance by the artist at 6:30pm. On view through September 26, 2010.

Working in film and film installation, Jennifer West makes exciting and visually arresting works that blend filmmaking, painting, and performance art. She treats the celluloid as both a medium to record actions and a surface to be manipulated--often with unconventional and disparate substances. Responding to the specific architecture of the venues where she exhibits her work, West projects her films--sometimes as singular painterly entities and other times as multichannel projections--filling the space and giving it shape through a cacophony of color and movement. Perspectives 171: Jennifer West is the first solo museum exhibition for this Los Angeles-based artist and is curated by Valerie Cassel Oliver, CAMH curator.

West's work is reminiscent of that created by early pioneers of American avant-garde film in the 1960s like Stan Brakhage, Stan VanDerBeek, and Nathaniel Dorsky, who emphasized abstraction and visual experimentation over more traditional documentary and narrative modes. Her works may be psychotropic and hallucinatory, but they are carefully constructed. They rely on both her own painterly skills and the alchemical effects of the substances she employs to transform the film. Usually created without sound, her experimental works reference iconic moments in film, music, and art history.

West uses footage showing performers portraying iconic moments in the history of music and art as well as reenacting classic film scenes. She then obscures the recorded images by having the same performers--often close friends or relatives--physically interact with the film using materials like candy, Kool-Aid, fruit juice, Lysol, perfume, energy drinks, makeup, or skateboard wheels. The original image is often obscured beyond recognition, leaving only rich, pulsating hues. At CAMH, West will feature five film projections created between 2008 and 2010, one of which has been created specifically for this occasion. A limited edition zine, created by the artist, will also accompany the exhibition.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jennifer West lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. She has exhibited widely, including solo exhibitions at Vilma Gold, London, and White Columns, New York, both in 2007, and at Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, MARC FOXX Gallery, Los Angeles, and Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, all in 2008. Her work has also been featured in numerous museums and galleries throughout the United States and abroad, including an installation at Tate St Ives, Cornwall, England (2007), which traveled to CAPC musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux in France; an installation at Henry Art Gallery, Seattle (2008); and presentations at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) (2007); ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany (2007); The Drawing Center, New York (2008); and the Aspen Art Museum (2010). West's work is currently on view in Kurt, Seattle Art Museum, which explores the influence of Nirvana's music on visual artists.

PUBLICATION
Perspectives 171: Jennifer West is accompanied by a catalogue, featuring an essay by Valerie Cassel Oliver, color reproductions of exhibited work, and the artist's biography.

Perspectives catalogues are made possible by a grant from The Brown Foundation, Inc.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS
All events are free and open to the public, and take place at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston unless otherwise noted. For complete listings and current information, please check www.camh.org.

Gallery Walk-Through and Opening Reception
Thursday, July 15, 6:30-9pm
Celebrate the opening of Perspectives 171: Jennifer West. The artist will lead a gallery walk-through at 6:30pm.

Artists/Scholars Talk: Peter Lucas
Thursday, August 12, 6:30pm
Join us for a talk by Peter Lucas, Education Associate, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and former curator, Northwest Film Forum, Seattle.

EXHIBITION SUPPORT
The PerspectivesSeries is made possible by major grants from Fayez Sarofim; The Studio, the young professionals group of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; and by donors to the Museum's Perspectives Fund: Anonymous, Anonymous Fund at the Community Foundation of Abilene, Bright Star Productions Inc., Heidi and David Gerger, Leslie and Mark Hull, Anne and David Kirkland, Karol Kreymer and Robert J. Card, M.D., Kerry Inman and Denby Auble, Belinda Phelps and Randy Howard, Lauren Rottet, Leslie and Shannon Sasser in Honor of Lynn Herbert, Sara Dodd-Spickelmier and Keith Spickelmier, William F. Stern, 20K Group, LLC, and Laura and Rob Walls.

EDUCATION SUPPORT
The Museum receives support for its education programs from: Anonymous, Baker Botts L.L.P., Baker Hughes Foundation, Ruth Dreessen, Louise D. Jamail, John P. McGovern Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. I.H. Kempner III, Kinder Morgan Foundation, M.D. Anderson Foundation, Marian and Speros Martel Foundation Endowment, and 20K Group, LLC.

Teen Council is supported by Ms. Louisa Stude Sarofim with additional support from Baker Hughes Foundation.

GENERAL SUPPORT
The Museum's operations and programs are made possible through the generosity of the Museum's trustees, patrons, members and donors. The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston receives partial operating support from the Houston Endowment, Inc., the City of Houston through the Houston Museum District Association, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

Continental Airlines is the official airline of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

CAMH MISSION
The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is an idea and a place shaped by the present moment. The Museum exemplifies the dynamic relationship between contemporary art and contemporary society through its exhibitions, public and educational programs, and publications. The CAMH provides the physical and intellectual framework essential to the presentation, interpretation, and advancement of contemporary art; it is a vibrant forum for artists and all audiences, and for critical, scholarly, and public discourse.
ALWAYS FRESH, ALWAYS FREE

GENERAL INFORMATION
The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is located at 5216 Montrose Boulevard, at the corner of Montrose and Bissonnet, in the heart of Houston's Museum District. Hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, Thursdays to 9pm, and Sundays noon to 5pm. Admission is always free. For more information, visit www.camh.org  or call 713 284 8250. 

Pictured:  Jennifer West, detail Smoke, Darts and Mirrors Film, 2010.  (35mm film leader painted with candle smoke, taped to a dart board and hit with darts dipped in habanero sauce, taped with mirrored and opalescent mylar - throwing darts performed by Lucrecia Roa, Mateo Tannatt, Lesley Moon, Jen Collins, Patrick Cates, Mariah Csepanyi, Blake Bailey and Jwest). 39 seconds. Courtesy the artist, MARC FOXX, Los Angeles, and Vilma Gold, London. Generously supported and commissioned by the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.