Durden and Ray
Max Presneill, “Interstitial” (2014, at left) and Esmerelda Montes, “Funeral” (2011, at right), presented by Los Angeles’s Durden and Ray at Norte Maar (Photo by Benjamin Sutton for Hyperallergic)
Esmerelda Montes, “Funeral” (2011, at left), and Jon Flack, “Coronita” (2013, at right), presented by Durden and Ray, at Norte Maar (Photo by Benjamin Sutton for Hyperallergic)
Gil Kuno, “Everything | Nothing” (2013), presented by Durden and Ray at Norte Maar (Photo by Benjamin Sutton for Hyperallergic)
@ Norte Maar
an exhibition for Exchanged Rates: an international exposition
Oct 23-26, 2014
Opening reception coincides with Beat Nite:
Fri Oct 24, 6-10pm
Norte Maar
83 Wyckoff Avenue, #1B, Brooklyn
Directions: L Train to Dekalb Ave Stop
Hours: Oct 23-26, 12-6pm
View the Installation
_________Bushwick, Brooklyn-Norte Maar is pleased to host Los Angeles based artists group Durden and Ray for Exchange Rates: an international exposition, Oct 23-26. Durden and Ray will take over Norte Maar's long celebrated apartment gallery bringing an eclectic West Coast vibe to Wyckoff Avenue. The apartment gallery will be open from 12-6pm, Oct 23-26, with a special edition of Beat Nite on Fri, Oct 24, 6-10pm.
Durden and Ray presents: The Great Wrong Place.Los Angeles has long been a place that has drawn outcasts, opportunists, and creative types who have escaped one life to re-invent themselves in another. When talking about Los Angeles, crime writer Raymond Chandler referred to the city as “the great wrong place.” The sheer blandness of L.A. acts as a blank canvas on which many have re-shaped their own destiny yet also acts as a mask covering up the more seedy elements that Los Angeles is so adept at harboring. Much like how Hollywood defines American culture it has also redefined and sanitized America’s sordid history.
All the artists in Durden and Ray in one way or another attempt to tap into a certain sense of disquiet. Whether by themselves, the society in which we live, or the nature of the art practice itself. There is a sense of an unsettled undercurrent within our work that binds us together. Perhaps this has been affected by living in Los Angeles but it is also part of a greater cultural experience. Perhaps this aspect of our work or our collective way of thinking is what initially brought us together to this great wrong place.
Artists include:
About Durden and Ray.
Based in Los Angeles since January 2010, Durden and Ray is comprised of artists and curators who work collaboratively to create exhibition opportunities in cooperating gallery spaces around the world. The Durden and Ray model expressly overlaps multiple strategies, including the commercial potential and visual I.D. of a gallery, the democratic structure of an artist's group, the potential to create collaborative works of art in the manner of a collective, and the shared fiscal support of its programs by group members and partnering organizations similar to a non-profit. The group has already seen notable success, realizing exhibitions in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and beyond. A true exemplar of organizational innovation, the Durden and Ray engine opens new pathways between self-motivated contemporary artists, arts organizers, and contemporary exhibition spaces worldwide.
