Chantal Joffe and Tal R in Human Condition at the former Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center

Human Condition (1 October - 30 November 2016) is an immersive, site-specific exhibition that features the work of over eighty emerging and established artists in a uniquely challenging space: a former hospital in West Adams, previously known as the Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center. Curated and produced by the Los Angeles-based art advisor John Wolf, Human Conditioninvites artists to re-contextualize the hospital’s functional history—over 40,000 square feet of it—as a venue to explore what it means to be human. The exhibition opens to the public on October 1, 2016 and runs through November 30, 2016.

 

The Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center proudly opened in 1971 as the first Black-owned hospital in Los Angeles. It operated successfully for decades. Later, both the hospital and the West Adams neighborhood in which it was located declined; in the hands of the Pacific Health Corp, the hospital closed amid revelations of criminal mismanagement and insurance fraud in 2013.

 

Years of neglect are now giving way to reinvestment in West Adams, which hosts much of the city’s cherished architectural heritage and landmarks. It is now home to many working artists, a burgeoning art scene, and other signs of community-driven cultural renewal.

 

With Human Condition, Wolf has invited artists to explore the corporal and psychological experience of being human. Ranging from sculpture, drawing, painting, performance, and immersive installations, the works are displayed amongst the surgical rooms, maternity wards, a psychiatric floor, and cafeteria. Both the artist and viewer are encouraged to explore the dilapidated remains and transcend the building’s original intention.

 

Many of the artists have taken over entire hospital rooms for solo presentations and site specific installations, with the two main floors of the exhibition divided in approach to human condition. The subconscious mind is addressed on the first floor by artists Jenny Holzer, David Benjamin Sherry, Gregory Crewdson, and Chantal Joffe, among others. The hospital’s rooftop billboard, which once read “The Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center,” now reads “Flesh and Bone Zone” in a gradient of flesh colors—the work of artist Kelly Lamb. Upon entry, Jenny Holzer’s engraved white granite bench “What a show when they tell you it won’t hurt…,” 1989, succinctly sets the tone for psychological tour de force ahead.

 

The conscious, decision-making mind is explored on the second floor by Laurent Grasso, Polly Borland, Matthew Day Jackson, and Marc Horowitz, to name a few. Here, the surgery rooms host sculptural work by Daniel Arsham, Matthew Day Jackson, Tony Matelli, and Nick van Woert, while Polly Borland’s “Babies” series hangs in the cheerful pediatric ward. The juxtapositions range from uncanny to twisted. Before climbing to the fourth floor psychiatric ward, guests are invited to put up their feet: In an ironic nod to a human need for comfort, the otherwise sterile ICU has been repurposed as a waiting room with furniture from the Haas Brothers, Jeff Zimmerman, James Magni, Kerry Joyce, and Holly Hunt. 

 

Human Condition is a unique opportunity to experience artwork outside the confines of a typical art space. In using the skeletal remains of the hospital and its discarded medical supplies, artists and viewers are encouraged to explore the notion of what we leave behind—from objects to human history. 

 

Image: Chantal Joffe, Self-Portrait in the Garden at Night, 2016.

 

Posted November 9 2016

Victoria Miro

16 Wharf Road
London N1 7RW
t: +44 (0)20 7336 8109

info@victoria-miro.com

View map

Victoria Miro Venice

San Marco 1994,

Calle Drio La Chiesa

30124 Venice, Italy

t: +39 041 523 3799 

info@victoria-miro.com
View map

Opening Times

During exhibitions:

London: 
Tuesday–Saturday: 10am–6pm. 

 

Venice: Tuesday–Saturday: 10am–1pm & 2–6pm. 

 

We are also closed on Sundays, Mondays and public holidays. 

 

Admission free. 



 

Enquiries

All general enquiries should be sent to
info@victoria-miro.com

 

All press enquiries should be sent to
press@victoria-miro.com
 
All rights and reproduction enquiries should be sent to
rights@victoria-miro.com


Victoria Miro does not accept unsolicited artist applications.

 

Before contacting or subscribing please read our Privacy Policy

 

We respect the choices you make about how you would like to hear from us. You will find links at the bottom of all emails we send from our mailing list which allow you to Update your preferences to change the way we contact you, or Unsubscribe if you want to opt out.

 

Read our Modern Slavery Statement here.

 

Read our sustainability statement here.

Subscribe

Staff contact details

Directors

Victoria Miro
W.P. Miro
Glenn Scott Wright
Gussie Huddart
Executive Assistant to Directors
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7549 0491

Sales

Divya Pande
Head of Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0903
Oliver Miro
Director of Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7549 0496
Paula Sankoff
Senior Director, Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7549 0494
Clare Coombes
Director of Sales - Museum Acquisitions
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0919
Simon Kirby
Director of Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7549 0498
Alessandra Modiano
Director of Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 3962 4346
Will Davies
Director of Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 3962 4355
Fern Warriner
Associate Director of Sales
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0905
Pia Sophie Biasi
Director – Venice
Direct line: +39 041 523 3799
Alexandra Leverett
Senior Sales Administrator
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 3962 4344
Victor Schagerlund
Sales Administrator
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 3962 4356
Libby Tyler
Sales Administrator
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0912

Exhibitions

Erin Manns
Director of Exhibitions - Head of Department
Direct line: +44 (0) 7780 463 580
Jessica Green
Director of Exhibitions
Direct line: +44 (0) 7957 195 504
Rachel Kent
Director of Exhibitions
Direct line: +44 (0) 7852 751 045
Mary Taylor
Production Director
Direct line: +44 (0) 7950 267 092
Simona Pizzi
Artist Projects Director
Direct line: +44 (0) 7848 006 894
Imogen Sampson
Exhibitions Associate
Direct line: +44 (0) 7572 724 115
Virginia Sirena
Exhibitions Associate
Direct line: +44 (0) 7950 267 246
Julia Oborne
Digital & Exhibitions – Vortic Exhibition Associate
Direct line: +44 (0) 7883 702 323

Communications

Kathy Stephenson
Director of Communications
Direct line: +44 (0) 7803 611 186
Martin Coomer
Head of Editorial and Digital Content
Direct line: +44 (0) 7930 490 411
Marisa J. Futernick
Digital and Social Media Consultant
Direct line: +1 (860) 549 2576
Content and Communications Manager
Direct line: +44 (0)7375 789 535
Bea Bradley
Photography, Rights & Reproduction Manager
Direct line: +44 (0) 7957 787 866
Aimee Blow
Design and Communications Coordinator
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109

Operations

Robert Holzberger
Director of Operations
Direct line: +44 (0) 7986 580 363
Photini Pavlidis
Senior Facilities and IT Manager
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0914
Olivia Singh
Operations Manager
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7549 0493
Vicky Polakovic
Front of House and Events Coordinator
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0913
Mary Eleanor McNicholas
Art Fair Coordinator
Direct line: +44 (0) 7896 548 233
Clare Rowe
Paper Archive and Records Manager
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Philip Ewe
Library Coordinator and Archive Assistant
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Adeline Guy
Registrar Director - Head of Department
Direct line: +44 (0) 7490 237 709
Jayne Archard
Senior Registrar
Direct line: +44 (0) 7496 865 055
Alice Panton
Senior Registrar
Direct line: +44 (0) 7852 751 046
Emer Bermingham
Senior Registrar
Direct line: +44 (0) 7984 073 772
Fiona Holdsworth
Assistant Registrar
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Amelia Power
Assistant Registrar
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7324 0901

Technical Services

David Wood
Technical Director, Head of Department
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Jon Glazier
Head Technician
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Martin Fletcher
Senior Technician
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Jonny Winter
Senior Technician
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Rob Phillips
Senior Technician
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109
Ross Taylor
Technician
Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109

Finance

Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7336 8109