Today, the city of Los Angeles announced that it has commissioned LA-based artist Glenn Kaino to produce a major public work in conjunction with a new bridge that links the LA Arts District to Boyle Heights, where Kaino grew up. “I wanted to say that I am very excited and feel honored to have been selected for this project. I have such a great deal of respect for the communities on both sides of the bridge and look forward towards making a project that resonates with them now and for future generations,” Kaino said at a press conference in LA today. “My practice has been about using art and the techniques associated with art to make connections — between seemingly disparate materials, ideas, people, and even histories. I can’t think of a more profound challenge to me than to create something meaningful in a place that already means so much to me and everyone in Los Angeles.” Kaino has not yet decided the form his project will take, but he plans to focus on how such infrastructural features can dramatically impact a community.
And there’s even more Kaino to come. In September, he has a solo show at Chicago’s Kavi Gupta Gallery and he’ll debut the longest version yet of his “Bridge” sculpture in D.C. and in October he has a major installation in the Prospect.3 New Orleans biennial.
— Ashton Cooper (ashton_cooper)
(Photo: Courtesy Glenn Kaino Studio)