March 18, 2004

UC San Diego Visual Art Faculty Louis Hock Presents
Southern California: A Cinemural At San Diego Mesa College

By Patricia Quill

Known for his provocative work in film and public art, University of California, San Diego’s Louis Hock presents Southern California: a cinemural at the San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery. The work is an updated version of a piece that Hock developed in 1979. Described as an ‘evolving serial triptych’, Southern California: a cinemural was projected onto various public environments in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego during the summer of 1980. The current piece, which will be projected onto the back wall of the gallery, maintains the format of the original (8’x30’/running time: 70 minutes) but has been updated technologically and transferred to DVD.

The exhibition will be on view until April 20, 2004. A reception for the artist will be held at 5:00 p.m., March 18th immediately followed by a lecture at 7:00 p.m. in the San Diego Mesa College LRC Library, Room 435. The San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery is located at 7250 Mesa College Drive.

The epic format of Southern California envelops the viewer with contrasting images of an enchanted local landscape (ocean, palm trees and wealth) and the poignant reality of barrios, farmland and flower fields. The concept evolved from Hock’s ruminations on postcards of San Diego and how they ‘mythify’ geography and regional culture. According to Hock this cinematic mural exposes the imaginary landscape “that hovers with the smog, bounded by the Tehachapi Mountains to the north and fabled Tijuana, Mexico to the south;” it consists of exquisitely photographed and highly saturated images of skyscrapers in Los Angeles, beach life, cheesy television commercials, Mission-style homes and freeways. Text, in the form of subtitles, adds an additional layer that reveals “the mythic conception of the real, concrete and stucco world”--an edgy world where seismic forces and natural, social and cultural powers collide.

In addition to the production of work for institutional sites such as theaters and galleries, since 1980 Hock has engaged in an active public art practice. He has also frequently collaborated with artists David Avalos, Elizabeth Sisco, Deborah Small and Scott Kessler. Dealing with border issues and the plight of Latino immigrants, Hock’s critically acclaimed films, photographs and installations have been shown in festivals, galleries and museums internationally, including the Ex Teresa Arte Actual in Mexico City, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the American Museum of the Moving Image in New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Cinematheque, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. Hock’s four-part, four-hour video about the life and times of a community of undocumented Mexican workers in Southern California, THE MEXICAN TAPES: A Chronicle of Life Outside the Law was broadcast internationally on the PBS, the BBC, and Televisa in Latin America.

Born in Los Angeles, Louis Hock has taught at the UCSD since 1977. His research is associated with UCSD’s Center for Latin American Studies (CILAS), the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts (CRCA), and the University of California Digital Arts Research Network (DARNET).

San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery hours are Monday – Wednesday: 10:00-3:00 p.m., Thursday: 12:00-8:00 p.m., closed Fridays and weekends. Admission is free to the public. For parking and other information call (619) 388-2829.

Media Contact: Patricia Quill, (858) 822-0661