Third time’s the charm for the 3rd US edition of Paris Photo Los Angeles, the world’s most celebrated art fair for works created in the photographic medium. Held May 1-2 at Paramount Pictures Studios in Los Angeles, the BMW Residency presentation of contemporary artists Mazaccio & Drowilal’s gives a unique glimpse of their work “Wild Style,” the result of their BMW Residency, and their new series, Antépisode, made in California. The show explores how artists have been and are using photography and moving image in their work in the 20th and 21st centuries. Pursuitist has been invited to attend the opening night gala.
The BMW Residency was founded in 2011 from a common desire between the luxury automotive company and the musée Nicéphore Niépce to support contemporary photography. Since 2011, BMW France has annually provided space and support for emerging, talented photographers to create and showcase their art in a published book and in different exhibitions as in select venues including Rencontres d’Arles, and Paris Photo in both Paris and L.A.
BMW’s latest artists-in-residence are Elise Mazac (alias Mazaccio) and Robert Drowilal who became a photography team in 2006 due to their shared passion for Conceptual art, cinema, and American and Japanese photography. Their photographs are a stylistic venture influenced by their experiments with collage, photomontage and digital technology.
“Wild Style” is a collection of images of animal life on various figures and objects in a way that closes the gap between reality and its representation in contemporary culture. “Antépisode,” their latest work, is the French translation for “prequel.” This project looks at the roots of IT companies in Silicon Valley, California, focusing on the materiality of the physical environments where the intangible lines of code were born.
“The BMW artist-in-residence initiative has been supporting young photography and strengthens the commitment as well as the tradition so essential to Paris Photo,” said Christoph Wiesner, Artistic Director of Paris Photo. “This is a fantastic opportunity provided every year to talented young artists and photographers.”
For more than 40 years, the BMW Group has engaged in over 100 cultural projects worldwide. The company focuses its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music, architecture, and design. In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by artist Gerhard Richter for the foyer of the BMW Group’s Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim and Anna Netrebko have co-operated with BMW. The company has also commissioned famous architects such as Karl Schwanzer, Zaha Hadid and Coop Himmelb(l)au to design corporate buildings and factories.
In its 12th year of partnership with Paris Photo and third year with Paris Photo Los Angeles http://losangeles.parisphoto.com, BMW will again provide VIP shuttle service with 7 Series vehicles, BMW’s flagship sedan. www.bmwgroup.com/culture.
