Sam
Durant Altamont
Raceway (2003)
14" x 11"
Limited Edition of 150
Signed & Numbered $400.00 (8.25% sales tax for CA Residents)
Fresh from
his two major surveys at LA's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
and Kunstverein Düssseldorf, SAM DURANT's trademark dead-pan
delivery and sly, thoughtful manner slowly seeps through the superficial
simplicity of his work. From Robert Smithson to The Rolling Stones,
the main thread of Durant's work is the failure of utopia in political
and social formations. As Sam describes it:
"My work is primarily an anti-nostalgic dialog with history
and reflection - always traveling between fact and fiction. I connect
significant historical events to uncover problematic meanings that
maintain contemporary relevance. There's a certain absurdity to some
of the connections I make, but the overall tone is very serious.
Lenny Bruce said 'Humor is pain + time.' I think that describes my
work pretty accurately."
Sam is represented by Blum & Poe (Santa Monica), Galleria Eva: Fontana
(Milan) and can be seen this summer in the 50th Venice Biennale.
About this Print
Unable to play Woodstock, the Rolling Stones wanted to do their own
version of the free concert on the west coast. The infamous "West-stock"
devolved into a dystopian nightmare. Four concert-goers died, including
Meredith Hunter who was stabbed to death by a local HellŐs Angeles
chapter hired as security for the festival. This concert at the close
of the sixties signaled an end of the utopian ideals of the hippie
culture. Nothing that happened at Altamont in 1969 could be construed
as progressive or utopic - it was pure disintegration.
Sam took this photo of the legendary concert-site in Tracey, CA in
the late 1990's. This early photo, and subsequent investigations,
lead to the creation of his well-known "Proposal for Monument at Altamont
Raceway, Tracey CA" — a mixed media installation recently
acquired by LA's Museum of Contemporary Art for their permanent collection.
