“There is another world, but it is in this one,” said Surrealist poet Paul Éluard. In this exhibition, artists look to the future, imagining how we move forward from the tumultuous events of the past year. [read more]
Art in the Plague Year is an online exhibition organized by UCR ARTS: California Museum of Photography and curated by Douglas McCulloh, Nikolay Maslov, and Rita Sobreiro Souther. UCR ARTS’s programs are supported by UCR College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, the City of Riverside, Altura Credit Union, and Anheuser-Busch.
All works in this exhibition are reproduced with permission of the artists/copyright holders. Works (images, video, audio or other content) must not be used or reproduced for any purposes other than fair use without prior consent of the artists.
Simon Penny (b. 1955, Melbourne, Australia. Lives and works in Los Angeles)
Evan Stanfield (b. 1989, Los Angeles, CA. Lives and works in Los Angeles)
Poems: Covid Diary
Short video poems, sound.
Gaia’s Revenge 1:17 min.
Oh It’s Nothing 1:07 min
Suddenly Bare Life 1:40 min
Friends Far Away 1:03 min
“I’ve been in almost total lockdown since March 6th. I experienced many lifestyle dislocations, as we all have. My work went online and I was not permitted to attend campus—where my studio is located. Unable to pursue my usual exercise and leisure activities, I began to take long solitary walks, during which time lines and phrases ‘bubbled up’. I noted them down and almost unintentionally began to write what I have no other name for than ‘poems’. Most reflect on Covid, lockdown, and related political, economic and environmental matters. I also occasionally took photos and video, sometimes of the massive earthmoving going on. I asked my friend Evan to set some of the recited poems to some of the video.”