The weight of a patina of time convenes a series of works by Gala Porras-Kim (b. 1984, Bogotá, Colombia; lives and works in Los Angeles and London) research-based practice looks closely at the layered meaning of objects in the 21st-century museum. Her in-depth explorations of the uncertain histories of ancient objects reimagine their pasts while charting new possibilities for their present and future. Spanning sculpture, drawing, and installation, as well as objects from and projects based on the Fowler’s collections, the works on view reflect the artist’s affinity for fragments, conflicting histories, undeciphered texts, and other instances of uncertainty within the space of the museum. They additionally address the challenges of maintaining knowledge over centuries in shifting institutional contexts, and document Porras-Kim’s interventions into systems of classification and knowledge production.
Gala Porras-Kim: The weight of a patina of time
1976
Warhol acquires the first of several compact 35 mm cameras, and over the next 11 years shot approximately 130,000 black-and-white images, claiming that “having a few rolls of film to develop gives me a good reason to get up in the morning.”