Cauleen Smith: Stars in My Pocket and the Rent Is Due
Cauleen Smith: Stars in My Pocket and the Rent Is Due
Cauleen Smith works in the spirit of African American science fiction novelist Samuel R. Delany and other speculative writers, who use imaginations of the future to engage with conflicts and challenges of the present. The exhibition title is a variation on Delany’s Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand (1984). From the end of 2020 into 2021, Smith conducted virtual visits with Charles White Elementary School classes, inviting students to make videos and dioramas depicting a world they wanted to live in.
“They wanted space. They wanted fresh air and lots of water and animals. Stars and moons and bright sunshine. But mainly space. (And dinosaurs).”
Inspired by their resilience and imagination during a pandemic, Smith incorporated elements from their videos into a new installation and created embellished banners that reference astronomy, migration, and movement.
In conjunction with Cauleen Smith: Give It or Leave It at LACMA.
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
This exhibition is made possible in part by the Pasadena Art Alliance.
Exhibitions and education programs at the Charles White Elementary School Gallery are made possible through the Anna H. Bing Children’s Art Endowment Fund. Additional support is provided by The Winnick Family Foundation.
Image: Installation photograph, Cauleen Smith: Stars in My Pocket and the Rent Is Due, Los Angeles County Museum of Art at Charles White Elementary School Gallery, May 29–September 25, 2021, © Cauleen Smith, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
- Jul 10–Sep 18, 2021
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Charles White Elementary School
2401 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90057
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
This exhibition is made possible in part by the Pasadena Art Alliance.
Exhibitions and education programs at the Charles White Elementary School Gallery are made possible through the Anna H. Bing Children’s Art Endowment Fund. Additional support is provided by The Winnick Family Foundation.
Image: Installation photograph, Cauleen Smith: Stars in My Pocket and the Rent Is Due, Los Angeles County Museum of Art at Charles White Elementary School Gallery, May 29–September 25, 2021, © Cauleen Smith, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA