An L.A.-based multimedia artist is having his way with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House. This weekend, the gorgeous home and the park where it’s perched will be transformed into a sprawling gallery to showcase Aaron Axelrod’s colorful and trippy work: "swirling video installations, massive neon-lit sculptures and crystal-encrusted art," says KCRW.
Titled "Dark Matter," the retrospective survey opens to the public for free this weekend, running 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The LA Weekly says Alexrod’s resume includes creating band artwork at Coachella for Madonna and Radiohead and murals at the headquarters of TOMS, Google, and Disney. Alexrod's own website says he's inspired by Dr. Seuss, Wu-Tang, and Walt Disney.
Dark Matter will feature 40 pieces of art, including "String Theory," a series of neon-light mixed-media paintings, projections of "shifting colors and psychedelic animations" on the house’s walls, and a Swarovski crystals collaboration. Hollyhock House was the first home Wright designed in Los Angeles; it’s perched atop a hill in Barnsdall Art Park and has been totally restored.
"There are so many blank walls and angular surfaces. There aren’t that many windows. Everything is very square and rectangular and very geometric, and it lends itself very well to projection mapping, because each side is technically its own screen," Axelrod told KCRW.
In a candid interview with the radio station’s Design and Architecture program and with the Jewish Journal, Axelrod says he was inspired by his experiences using ayahuasca, a powerful hallucinogenic. "I kind of wanted to douse it with paint," he said, "but they didn’t let me."
- The Hollyhock House Gets a Psychedelic Art Takeover [KCRW]
- Aaron Axelrod's Barnsdall Art Park Takeover [Jewish Journal]
- Aaron Axelrod's Music and Painting Performances Light Up Downtown's Vortex Dome [LA Weekly]
- A Full Tour Through Frank Lloyd Wright’s First LA House, Restored to its 1920s Beauty [Curbed LA]