portfolio 2006

Jessica Bronson

James Welling

Alex Slade

The Los Angeles Forum is proud to announce the release of its second annual Portfolio edition. Each year the Forum commissions the work of selected artists who have studied and interpreted the Los Angeles' physical and cultural landscape. Portfolio 2006 conceptually pairs the participating artists with the classic analysis of Los Angeles by architecture historian and theorist Reyner Banham, who wrote the seminal Los Angeles: The Architecture of the Four Ecologies (1971). By reviewing Los Angeles through Banham's now historic ecological categories (Autopia, Surfurbia, the Foothills, and the Plains of Id: each coined to lend clarity to an undefined, post-urban city), this year's Portfolio artists present the ecologies one generation later, how both the city and the word "ecology" itself have evolved since the 1970s.

Portfolio 2006 artists who contributed to the project are Los Angeles artists, Jessica Bronson, Catherine Opie, Alex Slade, and James Welling. The work will be housed in a special viewing case designed specifically for the works by architect, Michael Maltzan.

The LA Forum would like to thank the artists and their galleries, as well as Michael Maltzan for their in-kind contributions to this important Forum fundraiser. All the proceeds (after printing costs) go to support LA Forum programming such as its On the Map architecture tours, its Out There Doing It lecture series and special events, which contribute to providing an understanding of emerging and renowned design projects by Los Angeles architects and designers.

The Forum has begun pre-selling Portfolio 2006, at a reduced rate, to help offset the printing and manufacturing costs. If you have interest in purchasing this portfolio please contact Forum President Warren Techentin or call at 323.855.0891