Drkrm.gallery is pleased to announce MONDO GRONK.
This historic exhibition – the first ever public presentation of never-before-seen photographs by the internationally renowned painter, printmaker, muralist and performance artist, Gronk.
Currently on view at Drkrm. gallery until October 18, 2009. There will be a closing reception for the artist on Saturday, October 17 from 7-10pm.
Click here for photos of Mondo Gronk opening reception 09/12 by Angel Villanueva
Spanning the late 1970’s through much of the 1980’s, these black and white images present a visual record of Gronk’s photographic work that includes the East L.A. avant-garde art collective, Asco (Spanish for nausea) and it’s conceptual counter-cinema movement, NO MOVIE (making movies without the use of celluloid). This alternative cinema was forged from the refusal of Chicanos to accept their lack of access to Hollywood. They constructed single-frame idealized images of daily life, like a still from a film, that would tell a whole story. Along with Harry Gamboa, Jr., Willie Herron and Patssi Valdez, and in collaborations with Cyclona, Mundo Meza, Jerry Dreva, and Tomata DuPlenty, Gronk’s cinematic sensibilities challenged the limits of sexuality, gender norms, and taste.
On display concurrently in the Project Room::
GRONKPATSSIPARTY : Photographs by Louis Jacinto
On Tuesday, October 31, 1978 Asco artists Gronk and Patssi Valdez had an exhibition and party at L.A.C.E. Gallery in downtown Los Angeles. The party included the second and final performance of punk band The Snappers. But that night Snapper members Gerardo Velasquez and Michael Ochoa met Edward Stapleton and decided to form Nervous Gender. No photographs of Gronk were taken. No photographs of Patssi Valdez were taken. Just a voyeuristic view of their guests and the demise of The Snappers and the spawning of Nervous Gender.
Louis Jacinto began photographing in 1973. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Advocate, Frontiers Magazine and Drop Dead Magazine. In addition, two photographs from his book, PUNKROCK LOSANGELES, have been added to the permanent collection of the Claremont Museum of Art. As a member of the Los Angeles art collective LAART, Louis has exhibited throughout Los Angeles.
Click here for more information, Drkrm. Gallery
