The Kienholzes’ collaboration, which began in the 1970s, has been central to L.A. Louver’s history
L.A. Louver gallery is featuring two rare works by Edward and Nancy Kienholz, “Drawing for the Ozymandias Parade” and “The Morning Walk,” in its 50th anniversary exhibition, on view through July 26, the gallery announced.
“Drawing for the Ozymandias Parade” is a hanging relief assemblage that mirrors the Kienholzes’ large-scale tableau “The Ozymandias Parade” (1985), which depicts government leaders, including a vice president riding an upside-down horse, hoisting a flag of the exhibiting country. The smaller-scale drawing features a toy horse severed by a mantlepiece, a ripped ten-dollar bill, a crocheted doily, a miniature American flag, and a toy TV displaying “Ford Pardons Nixon.” Mounted on a mirror with painted horse hooves and a Thirteen Colonies flag, the piece reflects the viewer, urging confrontation with political corruption in America.
“The Morning Walk” (1987), one of only six bronze assemblages by the Kienholzes, presents a meditative scene with an art nouveau-style female figure, a flower stem, and two dog heads, all cast in bronze and set in a metal display case with an illuminated light bulb. Inspired by the artists’ time in West Berlin, where they scoured flea markets, the work’s broken-armed figure and soft features evoke an elegiac tone, reminiscent of a small religious shrine, possibly reflecting post-war Berlin’s cultural weight.
The Kienholzes’ collaboration, which began in the 1970s, has been central to L.A. Louver’s history. The gallery, which has represented the artists since 1981, hosted their first solo exhibition that year with “Sollie 17” and the “White Easel Series” and later showcased their work in its New York opening in 1989. L.A. Louver has presented 12 solo exhibitions of their work in Los Angeles, two in New York, and numerous group shows, and now represents The Edward and Nancy Kienholz Foundation.
