Over the Influence is pleased to announce How They Ran, an upcoming group exhibition of selected Los Angeles-based artists. The exhibition, featuring a diverse group of 23 artists representing the pulse of the contemporary Los Angeles art scene, will open on August 12 and remain on view through September 5, 2018. There will be an opening reception on August 11, from 6 to 9pm.

The exhibition’s title is derived from the second chapter of Germaine Greer’s landmark text ‘The Obstacle Race’ (1979), a striking history which highlighted the many artists unfairly omitted from the modern art historical canon and how they transcended institutional bias to achieve success. Through this prism, How They Ran will present a multigenerational survey of artists from diverse backgrounds with divergent practices.

Drawn to the West Coast in the early 20th century, groups of artists, poets and misfits established creative communities firmly rooted upon the principle of artistic freedom. A century later, Los Angeles has evolved into one of the world’s foremost art cities, attracting scores of young, emerging artists who have effectively integrated with the generations of older artists who preceded them. Bringing together a dynamic community of LA-born artists, recent transplants, as well as artists who have lived in Los Angeles for several decades, the exhibition proffers a selected survey of today’s LA art scene in miniature. Collectively, the artists weave an intricate tapestry of the city they call home.

Divided thematically, the exhibition begins with artists working within the realm of architecture, particularly how environment affects psychology. Contemporary German photographer Uta Barth examines the visual perception of environmental settings. Her photograph of an exterior wall appears to be devoid of life, yet still carries the residue of human activity left behind. Barth’s work will be placed alongside other LA-transplants — Ali Silverstein, Kim Schoenstadt, and Dinah Diwan — artists whose work bears an explicit connection to the city and its environment. Interspersed are works, ranging from abstraction to natural geometries, including distinct atmospheric renderings of Los Angeles, lining the hallway and back gallery space.

The following room examines the dissemination of existing power structures, and how they influence narratives of identity. Jo Ann Callis’ feminist portraits from the latter half of the 20th century hang adjacent to Australian artist Alice Lang’s ceramic male figures sporting marbled psychedelic T-shirts, while Vanessa Prager’s impasto portraits reside perpendicular to Anja Salonen’s surrealist figures.

The final room incorporates a group of artists whose work explores the symbolism of everyday objects and materials, including Kerry Tribe’s film ‘What I Mean to Say’; Ke Peng’s photographs of the playgrounds of her childhood in China; and Megan Whitmarsh’s embroidered fabric household objects.