Quam Odunsi’s second solo exhibition at Design Matters Gallery in Los Angeles, The Reagents (previewed), recently closed and we have images from the exhibition installation for you here. The show highlighted the artist’s versatility in media and included sculptures, photographic prints, signature collages, silkscreen works, video, and paintings on canvas from images taken on analog (the artist’s preferred recording medium) Super8, 35mm, 120mm, and Polaroid film.
This body of work sees Odunsi transforming himself into the role of a government surveillance official who takes his duties too far and becomes overly-absorbed in his subjects’ affairs. The world he chooses to represent through these observations is often isolated, impersonal, technologically ambivalent, as well as brand name and logo ubiquitous. The unedited and raw aesthetic Odunsi uses to portray the official’s version of Los Angeles provides an almost journalistic and nostalgic view, providing a added empathy, poignancy, and depth to these anonymous subjects’ lives. There is always a curious narrative and vibrant story that could be attached to each piece, reflecting the artist’s background as a film director.
Images by James Ng for Arrested Motion.
