DRIVE-BY-ART Los Angeles

Organized by Warren Neidich, Renee Petropoulos, Michael Slenske and Anuradha Vikram

Two locations will be divided East and West of Western Avenue over two weekends.

EAST of Western: MAY 23rd-25th East of Western Avenue including Altadena, Pasadena, South Pasadena, Frogtown, Glassell Park, Mount Washington, Highland Park, Chinatown (Cypress Park and Elysian Park), Glendale, Sunland, Tujunga, Eagle Rock, Atwater, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Koreatown, MacArthur Park, Rampart Village, Historic Filipinotown, Little Armenia, Los Feliz, East Hollywood, Downtown LA and University Park.
Times: 12-6pm + night viewings at select locations Saturday, May 23rd, 8pm-midnight

WEST of Western: MAY 30th-31st West of Western Avenue including Crenshaw, Leimert Park, Baldwin Hills, West Adams, Culver City, Inglewood, Mid City, Mid-Wilshire, Venice, Mar Vista, Marina Del Rey, Palms, Santa Monica, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Westwood, Beverly Glen, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Beverly Wood and Century City.
Times: 12-6pm + night viewings at select locations Saturday, May 30th, 8pm-midnight

WHAT IS DRIVE-BY-ART?

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted cultural networks bringing many galleries and museums to a halt and moving visual arts experiences online. Meanwhile, drive-by baby showers and birthdays have become the norm for celebrating special events during this time of social distancing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Enter Drive-By-Art, an outdoor public art exhibition that is experienced from the safety and intimacy of one’s own automobile. Not only does Drive-By-Art create a sense of needed solidarity within the artistic and cultural communities now entrenched in the Los Angeles basin, but it also offers an experience that is otherwise severely limited by our current social distancing practices: interacting with tangible objects in the real world. 

Like the first rendition which took place on the South Fork of Long Island’s East End (May 9-10), Drive-By-Art in Los Angeles is similar to other drive-by exhibitions that have become commonplace in the new reality of the Covid-19 pandemic. As it was recently reported in the New York Times Art and Design section (May 10, 2020), Drive-By-Art is a response to a generalized feeling permeating the networks of artists and cultural producers sequestered in their homes and studios dealing with depressed income, isolation and the fears that precarious futures produce. 

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS!

Drive-By-Art is an attempt to bring back a sense of solidarity to the artistic and cultural community in Los Angeles during these dark times. Drive-By-Art offers a novel presentation and art viewing approach by taking advantage of the city’s pre-existing car culture and the intimacy and safety of the automobile. This public art experience is a call to action in a moment of economic, social, political and spiritual catatonia, and an attempt to envision a different kind of cultural institution.

Taking advantage of the rich, artistic heritage of the Los Angeles basin, artists currently living and working there will install and display artworks related to this moment of social distancing on their properties or in their neighborhoods. For instance, sculptures made inside may be installed in driveways or as lawn objects. Tree trunks can be sites for paintings or textile work, rooftops and building facades can host projections or light sculptures visible from the road, as well as from the sky. Sides of houses might become surfaces for video projections and picture windows as stages for shadow puppet performances while musicians and sound poets might give live performances at the edge of properties. Artists east of Western Avenue will participate over Memorial Day Weekend (May 23-25) and artists west of Western Avenue will participate the following weekend (May 30-31). 

Around 120 painters, sculptors, photographers, performance artists, film and video makers, poets, and musicians of varying age, cultural background and gender are involved. All artists, their addresses, and maps of neighborhoods where their works will be available on this website. We will also be conducting real time interviews with some of the artists on Instagram and Facebook