Do Art Foundation proudly presented a public art exhibition in Los Angeles by Scottish artist Robert Montgomery, entitled: Art Above The Streets. The city-wide exhibit of 10 works of art showcased on billboards throughout Los Angeles was a great cultural achievement for Do Art and Los Angeles as it was the largest public exhibit of Montgomery's work to date.
Do Art Foundation
This internationally acclaimed artist is both conceptual, thought provoking and highly recognizable, and alongside sponsors such as Clear Channel and partners such as Art Share in this project, Do Art showcased his site specific poems on large public billboards. The unveiling was held June 28th, 2014 and the exhibition was held in its entirety for over a month and due to the popularity of his work. Certian poems are still being displayed such as La Cienega Blvd and Jefferson with the work entitled "Tarka Gordell & Jesse Hanbury". Robert Montgomery follows a tradition of conceptual art and is distinguished for his drawing from examples of public interventionist strategy, whilst bringing a poetic voice to the discourse of text-based art. Montgomery draws significantly from examples of mass communication & public interventionist strategy, to create powerful, achingly melancholic works, within the post-situationist & conceptual art traditions.Often monochromatic, his billboard compositions encompass fragments of memory & nostalgia, narrative & conjecture, dream & love, journey & revelation, yearning, & imagining. Considered works of welcomed intimacy & collective enquiry, Montgomery has held major exhibitions across Europe & Asia of his billboard poems, light installations, woodcuts, & watercolors.
Robert Montgomery_Above The Streets Project by Robert Montgomery, Do Art Foundation, and 2014Do Art Foundation
Scottie Pippin
KOBE BRYANT AND WE'RE TIRED WHAT WITH ALL THE ARISTOCRATS TO
HUMOR THEN STEAL BACK FROM AND THE COURTESANS, AND THAT
PARADE OF HELMUT NEWTON GIRLS THROUGH THE HALF TWENTIETH
CENTURY ALL THIGHS AND HEELS AND CHEEKBONES AND NO MANNERS
AND A WHOLE COUNTRY WAKING UP TO THAT FALSE EMPATHY/ ADS FOR
CAR INSURANCE ON TV/ AND THE WEIRD WAY THE LANGUAGE IS FLATTEN-
ING AWAY FROM ALL THE ONCE CONDITIONAL TENSES INTO A PERMA-
NENT FLAT PRESENT NOW | BUT WE DO WANT THE RADIO COMMENTARY
THE VOWEL REPETITION ASSONANCE HIGH MANNERIST MELODY, THE
QUICK SPASTIC WRIST GESTURES, SMOOTH RUNS IN THE PAINT
Robert Montgomery_Above The Streets Project by Robert Montgomery, Do Art Foundation, and 2014Do Art Foundation
Tarka Gordell & Jesse Hanbury
ALMOST AT THE BEVERLY CENTER MALL SO I JUST SAID LET'S GO SHOPPING
ANYWAY AND I BOUGHT A BLUE RALPH LAUREN CABLE-KNIT SWEATER/
COTTON AND SILK/ AND SEER SUCKER SHORTS, OUR OLD IDEA OF A PREPY
SUMMER HELD ON TO AND I REMEMBERED WHAT SEAN SAID, HE SAID | DEATH
MAKES WINGS WHERE ONCE WE HAD ONLY SHOULDERS SMOOTH AS RAVENS
CLAWS | AND TOMORROW WE MIGHT HAVE A BARBECUE AND THE WATER TO
IRRIGATE THE ORANGE TREES AND THE BOUGAINVILLEAS GATHERS IN THE HILLS
BEHIND US, AND THE BUTTERFLY SOUND OF AN EMPTY CIGARETTE PAPER I LIT
FOR YOU, LIKE A CANDLE LIT FOR YOU, BURNS IN THE ASHTRAY BESIDE ME/ AND
IN MY IMAGINARY LIFE I STILL LIGHT YOUR CIGARETTE AND GIVE YOU A HUG
AND WE LOOK OUT OVER WEST HOLLYWOOD AND SHRUG
Robert Montgomery_Above The Streets Project by Robert Montgomery, Do Art Foundation, and 2014Do Art Foundation
Rene & Lola Poem
I DON'T KNOW IF ANY OF IT GOES UP I THINK OUR SOULS JUST STAY WHEN THEY
DIE AND YOU SEE THEM IN THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS IN THE RAIN ON THE WINDOW
Robert Montgomery_Above The Streets Project by Robert Montgomery, Do Art Foundation, and 2014Do Art Foundation
AND THERE ARE NO OTHER INCARNATIONS BUT EVERYONE JUST DRIVES AROUND
THE BLOCK ONCE AND COMES BACK TO THE ATM ON THE CORNER | COS THE
CITY IS THE MAGIC SCULPTURE WE BUILT TO CHANGE THE GODS INTO THE GODS
Robert Montgomery_Above The Streets Project by Robert Montgomery, Do Art Foundation, and 2014Do Art Foundation
WE WANTED, AND YOU LOOK SO BEAUTIFUL AND GOLDEN IN THE AFTERNOON
WEST SUN IN ALL RENTAL CARS/ EVEN DOLLAR COMPACT OPTIONS/ YOU'RE
MAKING KIA RIOS OR SIMILAR FILLED WITH GOLDEN LIGHT ALL OVER THE
COUNTRY FOREVER AND WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU MOST IS THE OLD GODS
ARE HAPPY IN YOU BUT THE NEW GODS ARE ANXIOUS
Shivers of Sky
THESE GLASS TOWERS IN THE SKY WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE SUN COME AN
HOUR EARLY TO THE EAST AND KEEP THE SUN AN HOUR EXTRA TO THE WEST
FRIGHTEN AND RIDICULE SCULPTURE / SCULPTURE CAN BE MADE ALONE BY
ANYONE BUT THE CITY IS A MAGIC SCULPTURE OF THE GROUP MIND AND
THE LAND MUST HAVE DREAMED THE CITY OR WE DREAMED IT TO EACH
OTHER AND THEN WE SUNG IT INTO BEING LIKE A CHOIR SINGS A GOD/
AND THE DESERT MUST HAVE DREAMED THE MOUNTAINS / AND THE FIELDS
MUST HAVE DREAMED THE FREEWAYS OR LEARNED THE FREEWAYS FROM
THE WIND IN THEIR GRASS, FROM THE SHIVERS OF SKY IN THEIR GRASS
THAT WHISPERED IDEAS OF FREEDOM TO THEM
Special thanks to Rick Robinson for coordinating the massive sponsorship from CBS. Thank you also to Yael Greenberg at the Ace Hotel for arranging sponsorship to host the artist as well as accommodating a rooftop artist talk moderated by Kimberly Brooks. A very notable and special thanks to Kingston Trinder for his incredible time and vision in bringing Robert to Los Angeles, and Art Share for their additional support.
Photos by Olivier Chatard
Original prints can be found at http://doartfoundation.bigcartel.com/
