Falling Towards Light, 2011

Feb 12

Commonwealth & Council presents Falling Towards Light, a solo exhibition incorporating light as substance and medium by NY-based artist Ethan Shoshan, hosted by Gallery 3209 in Culver City.

For his first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, Shoshan unpacks his grandfather’s timeworn suitcase from his immigration to the United States, full of forgotten dusty clothes and papers. Shoshan contemplates the description of his grandfather discovered in his great-uncle’s journal during World War II as a “moth,” considering light as a metaphor for flight (departure and arrival), and archives the unspoken and fractured narratives of one’s “family tree.” In the works on paper, droplets and swirls of clear enamel fleetingly cling to their surfaces. The visible colors on these fragile and deteriorating surfaces reflect upon and direct our vision to look through the materiality displayed.

The works—papers capturing light, magnetic sculptures substituting the body for relationships, a pair of stone hearts emphasizing the human condition—explore concepts of diaspora and quests for home, acceptance, prosperity, and community—the proverbial gold at the end of the rainbow.