The Coffin Show: Between Life & Death
October 8th through November 2nd, 2005
Opening Reception: October 8, 2005
Black Maria Gallery announced the opening of a new exhibition, entitled “The Coffin Show: Between Life and Death” featuring the works of 16 Los Angeles-area artists. The exhibition opened on October 8 and will remain open until Wednesday, November 2.
According to gallery owner Zara Zeitountsian, each of the participating artists was given an actual coffin and asked to transform it into a work of art and a personal statement.
“Given the diverse stylistic and cultural backgrounds of the artists, their individual points of view, I think we’ll have a quite a collection of creative approaches to the theme,” said Zeitountsian. “In terms of pure functionality, a coffin is certainly one of the most somber, unsightly objects imaginable, meant to be forever buried or tucked away following a funeral service. But redefine it as a work of art and it springs to life in all sorts of unexpected ways.”
Sam Saghatelian (Saga), curator of Black Maria Gallery, continued: “In Western culture and many other cultures around the world, the funeral, and more specifically the coffin, can be viewed as a halfway point between the enigma of life and the mystery of death. As a receptacle for the dead, a coffin is perhaps the only concrete, tactile punctuation mark between the two realms. The works shown in our exhibition represent the artists’ personal take on death – and, as importantly, life – through the prism of the funerary object.”
Participants of “The Coffin Show” comprise both established and emerging local artists, who have used various media for their exhibited works.
Black Maria Gallery also announced that a portion of the proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to the “Caravan of Hope” project, launched by KPFK and Veterans for Peace Chapter 110 Orange County, CA for victims of the recent hurricane that devastated The Gulf Coast.
“The Coffin Show” opened Saturday, October 8 and will remain open until Wednesday, November 2. Black Maria is located at 3137 Glendale Boulevard in Los Angeles. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday 12 to 6 PM. For more information, call 818.613.9090.