For Immediate Release
December 11, 2018

Contact:
Olga Gallardo
(424) 646-5260 

LOS ANGELES, CA - Just in time for the winter holiday travel season, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), in partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), is showcasing four new art exhibitions at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), three of which are located in either newly constructed or renovated exhibition spaces.

“As part of its expansion and renovation efforts, LAX is transforming many of its public spaces into art spaces to showcase Los Angeles’ dynamic contemporary art scene for guests to enjoy,” said LAX Art Program Director Sarah Cifarelli. The new exhibitions include sculpture, paintings, photography, and digital and mixed-media artworks, which can be found in Terminal 1 and Terminal 7.

Terminal 1, Departures

"Transverse" by Ching Ching Cheng & "Parade on Wheels" by Hadiya Finley

As paired solo exhibitions, Ching Ching Cheng’s abstract watercolor paintings and Hadiya Finley’s soft and rounded figures speak to the remarkable capacity, beauty, and endurance of the human body and imagination. Artist Ching Ching Cheng's exhibition "Transverse" consists of 14 abstract watercolor paintings that explore the parallelism of machine engines and the organs of the human body. The artwork is installed in the exhibition space located on the path to Gate 9 on the Departures Level, and is on view for ticketed passengers until May 2019.

Cheng's work is rooted in her early fascination with the immense machines she observed in her father's factory while growing up in Taiwan. She was intrigued by how every part of each machine connected to another massive machine, moving and working smoothly together, like a human body. Once she began studying the human form as part of her art education, she recognized a connection between engines and human organs. The integral role engines played in her father's factory was not unlike the vital role our organs and brain play in our everyday functions.

As a transplant to Los Angeles, Cheng observed Angelenos' dependence upon personal automobiles, which, in turn, inspired this series of abstract shapes that poetically depict her interpretation of the correlation between engines and organs.

Located in the display case of the exhibition space on the path to Gate 9, "Parade on Wheels" is an installation of twelve hand-carved papier-mâché figurines by Los Angeles artist Hadiya Finley. Finley has studied the female form and developed an innate sense of the shapes in order to create sculptures that represent a simplified, but identifiable, figure. With movable joints and mechanical features, these figures express the power of bodies to engage in motion and activity. Finley’s installation is on view for ticketed passengers until May 2019.

 

Finley reimagines the shape and purpose of dolls by creating figurative forms made of wood, clay, paper, and glue. The primitive and ancient sculptural feel of the figures is juxtaposed by the addition of motorized wheels and metal contraptions. Combined with objects such as birds, fish, and gears to suggest movement, Finley imbues a sense of strength and endurance to the delicate forms, transforming the figures into instruments of action.

Terminal 7 Gallery, Departures

"Lost in the sky " curated by Lauren Albrecht, DPA Fine Art Consulting

The group exhibition of nine artworks, titled "Lost in the sky" strives to evoke the universal sense of awe and wonder one often experiences while gazing at the sky. The artworks of Miya Ando, Natalie Arnoldi, Lia Halloran, Bradley Hankey, David Malin, and Debra Scacco celebrate the brilliance of the universe through a wide range of aesthetic approaches. Curated by Lauren Albrecht of DPA Fine Art Consulting, "Lost in the sky" serves as the inaugural exhibition for the new Terminal 7 Gallery, and is on view for ticketed passengers until May 2019.

 

This exhibition features painting, photography, and digital media artworks that use light to alter the perception of the viewer, draw inspiration from scientific discovery, or attempt to explore beyond physical and visible boundaries to reveal our inner emotional conditions. Brought together in this exhibition, these artworks seek to inspire and inform our endless fascination with the firmament.

Terminal 7-8, Connector Hallway, Departures

"Wild Blue Yonder" curated by KJ Baysa

"Wild Blue Yonder" is also a group exhibition featuring 13 artists whose work is united by their creative approaches to the concept of the color blue in literal, allegorical, and interactive forms. The main exhibition is on view for ticketed passengers in the newly renovated Terminal 7-8 connector hallway, and a triptych of oil paintings by Gary Brewer is on view for the public in the Ticketing Lobby, through March 2019. "Wild Blue Yonder" was curated by KJ Baysa. The exhibition includes paintings, photography, interactive sculpture, and digital media artworks.

 

Artists Kelly Berg, Gary Brewer, Jeff Frost, Johannes Girardoni, Yumiko Glover, Kio Griffith, Moses Hacmon, Bryan Ida, Jay Mark Johnson, Bennett Lieberman, Andy Moses, Ali Silverstein, and Ivan Wong present artworks uniquely reflective of the color blue, a color that surrounds us on a daily basis. "As the color of the sky and the sea, blue symbolizes depth and endless space," states Baysa. "I hope travelers enjoy the diverse and imaginative approaches to interpreting the color blue."

About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

LAX, the fifth busiest airport in the world and second in the United States, was named in Skytrax's 2018 top 10 U.S. airports. LAX served more than 84.56 million passengers in 2017 and offers 737 daily nonstop flights to 100 cities in the U.S. and 1,386 weekly nonstop flights to 88 cities in 44 countries on 73 commercial air carriers. LAX ranks 13th in the world and fourth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed, with more than 2.2 million tons of air cargo valued at over $101.4 billion. LAX handled 700,362 operations (landings and takeoffs) in 2017.

An economic study based on 2014 operations reported LAX generated 620,600 jobs in Southern California with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion. This activity added $6.2 billion to local and state revenues and $8.7 billion in federal tax revenues. The study also reported that LAX's ongoing capital-improvement program creates an additional 121,640 annual jobs with labor income of $7.6 billion and economic output of $20.3 billion, $966 million in state and local taxes, and $1.6 billion in federal tax revenues. LAX is also the second most popular airport in the world to appear on Instagram according to wego.com.

LAX is part of a system of two Southern California airports – along with Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City's general fund.

For more information about LAX, please visit www.flyLAX.com or follow on Twitter @flyLAXAirport, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LAInternationalAirport, and on YouTube at www.YouTube.com/laxairport1.

As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities. Alternative formats in large print, braille, audio, and other forms (if possible) will be provided upon request.

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