Foto In L.A.: 10.07

10.23.2007

Seeing Things At DRKRM Gallery

drkrm. gallery
2121 San Fernando Road, Suite3, Los Angeles, CA 90065
323-223-6867
E-mail, drkrm@mac.com
Web site, http://www.drkrm.com
Gallery hours, Tuesday – Saturday, 11am-5pm; Sunday, 1-4pm
Please direct e-mail inquiries about the exhibition to the gallery’s address (above); DO NOT use “Reply” button, it will send to ArtScene.
To view formatted version of this announcement online:
http://artscenecal.com/Announcements/1007/drkrm1007.html

After years of dismissing inexplicable sounds, fleeting images and broken crockery, owners of a modest Mt. Washington (Los Angeles) home began to suspect that their house may be haunted. They began taking Polaroid pictures of cold spots and places in the house where their Saint Bernard refused to tread. What they got back were snapshots that were anything but ordinary. In fact, it changed their lives forever.

Drkrm. Gallery is hosting a special Halloween week retrospective called SEEING THINGS. It is the first public viewing of this rare and unique collection of paranormal photographs. As featured on the TV shows SIGHTINGS and UNEXPLAINED MYSTERIES, these images are just a fraction of the hundreds of photos captured in the last two decades, most never before seen by the public.

Most of the photographs on display were taken before Photoshop, digital imaging and cell phone cameras changed photography. Each Polaroid is original and unique. They show familiar rooms with wispy, feathery tendrils and misty tufts of white substances and, amazingly, cloud-like writing. Even more extraordinary is the relevance of the words to whatever questions had been asked. Usually a response came in English, but sometimes it appeared in Latin. For example, after questioning the identity of the answering spirit, a response came in Latin; “Et alla Corpus delicti,” (among other things, a murder victim). The words floating in midair were invisible when the photo was taken.

Renowned spiritualist and psychic Peter James was called in to explore this phenomenon, in addition to three other psychics who also lent their insight to this investigation. James visited the house numerous times and believes that it is situated on the grounds of an ancient ritual site and that spirits are definitely trying to communicate with the living.

SEEING THINGS explores the boundary between the known and the unknown. It asks whether something as simple and functional as photographs of record — people at a party, an empty room, an open door — can be a gateway to something more. These startling photographs challenge perceptions of reality and art. Is the image of the room with the ghostly writing the way we see ghosts, or is it the way ghosts see us? Who is seeing things, after all? Come explore these strangely surreal photographs and decide for yourself.

drkrm. gallery is an exhibition space dedicated to fine art and documentary photography, cutting edge and alternative photographic processes and the display and survey of popular cultural images.

All gallery events are free and open to the public.

10.03.2007

DESTROY ALL MUSIC: The Masque and Beyond, 1977 – 1978 at drkrm.gallery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DESTROY ALL MUSIC: The Masque and Beyond, 1977 – 1978
Photographs from the Early Los Angeles Punk Scene
Dawn Wirth
Louis Jacinto
October 6 – 26, 2007
Reception for the Artists: Saturday, October 6, 7-10 pm
complimentary valet parking

drkrm. gallery
2121 San Fernando Road, Suite3, Los Angeles, CA 90065
323-223-6867
E-mail, drkrm@mac.com
Web site, http://www.drkrm.com
Gallery hours, Tuesday – Saturday, 11am-5pm; Sunday, 1-4pm

Darby Crash by Dawn Wirth

Dawn Wirth bought her first camera in 1976, enrolled in a high-school
photography class and began taking photos of bands. Although the
photography teacher told her that the work was “crap”, she
continued to follow her passion. “I was going to these punk shows;
the music was exciting, new and different.“ Dawn captured on film
the beginnings of a very underground LA punk scene with no idea of
the kind of impact and longevity the music, dress and ideas would
have on pop culture. Wirth shot, up close and in action, legendary
bands such as The Germs, The Screamers, The Bags, The Mumps, The
Zeros and The Weirdos in and around The Masque and The Whiskey a Go-
Go in Hollywood, California. In addition, Dawn snapped out-of-town
bands such as Devo and Talking Heads and photographed The Clash
before they came to America. Dawn Wirth’s photos have been seen in
the pages of fanzines such as Flipside, Sniffin’ Glue and Gen X. Her
photos will also be appearing in the upcoming books Punk 365 released
by Rolling Stone and The Masque Book by Brendan Mullen. Destroy All
Music will be the first time Wirth will be showing a major body of
work in public.

Louis Jacinto moved to Los Angeles in 1975. He was 19 years old when
punk rock hit. “While I saw a lot of other photographs highlighting
the extremes of the scene, I was only interested in this new, fresh
sound; this new self-made glamour. That’s what I saw when I looked
through my lens. It was a wonderful time for me, my friends and for
the bands. It was my last bash as a young American.” Many of the
images from his book, PUNKROCKLOSANGELES, will be on exhibit,
photographs of bands and performers like Nervous Gender, X, The
Alleycats, The Know, The Bags, The Screamers and The GoGos. Louis
Jacinto’s work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Advocate,
Frontiers Magazine and Drop Dead Magazine. His work will also be
featured in Brendan Mullen’s upcoming The Masque Book. As a member
of the Los Angeles art collective LAART, Louis has exhibited
throughout Los Angeles. This is the first showing of his images from
PUNKROCK LOSANGELES.

Drkrm. Gallery is an exhibition space dedicated to the display and
survey of popular cultural images, fine art photography, cutting edge
and alternative photographic processes. Regular gallery hours are
Tuesday – Saturday, 11 am – 5 pm. Sunday 1-4pm. Drkrm Gallery is
located at 2121 San Fernando Road Suite 3 Los Angeles, CA 90065,
323.223.6867. All gallery events are free and open to the public.