D3projects is proud to present Jason Lazarus' photographic works in Recordings.

November 17, 2007 - January 5, 2007

Opening reception for the artist: Saturday November 17, 2007, 7-9 pm 


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D3PROJECTS at Bergamot Station, CA, is proud to present Recordings, Jason Lazarus' first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, featuring new work inspired by photographic vernacular. Lazarus has been internationally exhibited, including throughout the United States, Europe, China and Japan. The artist holds an MFA in Photography from Columbia College in Chicago. Actively involved in the art community, Jason Lazarus independently curates exhibitions and has taught actively since 2003 at Columbia College, St. Xavier University and Robert Morris College.  
 
The exhibition will feature a debut installation of the series Recordings as well as new images selected from Nirvana. Lazarus will also release a new artists book entitled "The last rose of summer on my nightstand" – a curated collection of images from an anonymous woman's photographs from the early 1960's.  Last, in keeping in the spirit of the vernacular, he will exhibit a new large scale photograph from his Self portrait as an artist series--a blow-up of Michael Vick's abandoned apology note in the artist's own handwriting.  This piece in particular highlights the arc of the Self portrait as an artist series, in this case an image-document of a performance seeking to engage the ritual of public apology.
 

Recordings is an ongoing series of installations inspired by an inherited family snapshot from Lazarus's grandmother with "Tornado, 3 miles west of home" written on the back. Installations consist of old snapshots culled from garage/estate sales, resale shops and thrifts stores mounted and presented image-facing-the-wall. From discursive to tender, the texts Lazarus includes at once reveal the relationship between image and maker and propel new narratives between with the installation and audience.
 
Nirvana asks "Do you remember who introduced you to the band Nirvana?". Lazarus has been posing this question to friends and strangers, accumulating offbeat images of skater friends, fathers in sweatpants loading guns or posing with their car, bands that don't make it out of the basement, or romantic grungy boyfriends.  Excerpts from interviews Lazarus conducts with each participant are handwritten on the blown up prints of the snapshots.  In the tradition of Jim Goldberg's Rich and Poor  series, the exhibition prints offer intimate texts and images simultaneously for consideration, and in this case, loaded with the angst and optimism of early 90's youth.

Jason Lazarus' practice as an artist not only involves making photographs, but engaging the confluence of the camera, vernaculars, flickr and google, pop culture, photo books, weblogs and more. His photographic investigation of personal histories as well as contemporary society acts as a foundation to investigate our individual and cultural obsessions.

D3projects opened in June 2007 to bring an interactive and friendly art environment to the general public and art aficionados. Our aim is to share a passion for art and become an artistic forum based on a participative spirit. Any proceeds resulting from our activity are used for activities bringing together artists, general public, collectors and dealers, or donated to charities.