X-TRA presents
Pope.L reads “The Cypress”
Reading followed by conversation with Hamza Walker
Hosted by The Underground Museum
3508 W Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90018
Free and open to the public
Please join us for this very special event. Chicago-based artist Pope.L will present a reading of his short story, “The Cypress,” written for X-TRA’s Artist Writes commissions series. “The Cypress,” published in the summer issue of X-TRA, follows the narrator’s descent into a world of crime and incarceration driven by his relationship with a man called Mr. Pretty-Girl.
The reading will be followed by a conversation and Q&A with curator Hamza Walker, Executive Director of LAXART.
This program is part of X-TRA’s Artist Writes series, commissioned essays and lectures by A.L. Steiner, Andrea Fraser, Martine Syms, and Pope.L. Artist Writes is grounded in X-TRA’s mission to provide a platform for artists to define their own terms of engagement and to make meaningful contributions to the fields of criticism and theory.
About the artist
Pope.L is a visual artist and educator who uses contraries to create artworks in various formats: writing, painting, performance, installation, video, and sculpture. The goals for his work are several: joy, money, and uncertainty—not necessarily in that order. Some of his most recent projects are Brown People Are the Wrens in the Parking Lot, University of Chicago (2017); Flint Water, What Pipeline, Detroit, Michigan (2017); Whisper Campaign, Documenta 14, Athens, Greece, and Kassel, Germany (2017); and Claim, Whitney Biennial, New York City, for which he was awarded the Bucksbaum Prize (2017).
About The Underground Museum
The Underground Museum (The UM) is the magnum opus of the late painter and installation artist Noah Davis (1983-2015) and his wife, artist Karon Davis. The duo envisioned The UM as a channel to bring “museum-quality” art to the inner city via evocative exhibitions, artist collaborations, film screenings, and wellness programs. The UM serves Arlington Heights, a low- to-moderate income community in Los Angeles, and the city’s thriving creative community, with unwavering conviction that increasing access to art will inspire, educate, and transform lives. We create art-centric experiences that result in authentic relationships between artists, ideas, and people.
Support for this series has been generously provided by the Michael Asher Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Isambard Kingdom Brunel Society of North America, and Pasadena Art Alliance.
This event made possible with additional support from event partners ForYourArt, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, and our hosts, The Underground Museum.
VIA Art Fund is a producing sponsor for X-TRA 20.4 Summer 2018.