LAURA LONDON "Once Upon A Time...Axl Rose Was My Neighbor"

LAURA LONDON

"ONCE UPON A TIME...AXL ROSE WAS MY NEIGHBOR"

OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 | 8PM - MIDNIGHT

PRESS PREVIEW: SEPTEMBER 29 | 4PM - 7PM

Acclaimed Fine Art Photographer LAURA LONDON solo show opens at Coagula Curatorial Gallery September 29 and runs thru October 21, 2012.

Opening Reception is September 29, 8 PM - Midnight

Press Preview is that afternoon, 4 - 7 PM

Coagula Curatorial is pleased to announce the presentation of a solo show of new art by Los Angeles fine art photographer LAURA LONDON. Entitled “Once Upon A Time...Axl Rose Was My Neighbor”, the exhibit explores the fine line between constructed narrative and documentary, private portraiture and celebrity posing, and, most intensely, melodrama juxtapozed with the all out rock and roll lifestyle.

The exhibition will mix actual documentary photographs of a circa 1990 graffiti vandalization of the residence of Erin Everly by her then-husband Axl Rose with London’s studio and location recreations and interpretations of the main characters in the story – the rock star Axl Rose, his wife Erin Everly, his former girlfriend Stephanie Seymour, Slash (the lead guitarist in the band) and the classic lineup from the Guns ‘N’ Roses album, Appetite for Destruction.

Professional makeup artists, fine artists and hair stylists were hired to apply the transfers, paint on the tattoos, make up the models and style the hair to resemble the characters in the band. The artist did the styling, costumes and set design herself. Line drawings were made for transfers based on the tattoos of the characters.

The exhibit will feature large-scale 40”x40” and 20”x20” photographs shot on 2 ¼ film using natural and tungsten light and a 10-foot wall mural printed on vinyl. There is also a salon style wall of photographs that include behind the scenes, close up details and other media inspired pictures printed in various sizes. The installation of the work tells a story, a visual narrative and the experience of seeing the photographs as an exhibition reads similar to viewing a film.

Ms London explains, “My studio practice explores issues of identity, youth and contemporary culture. Similar to a social anthropologist, I observe people and social situations. My work comes from a combination of personal experience, memory, observation and imagination. ‘Axl Rose Was My Neighbor’ is a docudrama based on an interpretation and depiction of actual events.”