LACMA, in collaboration with the Los Angeles-based artist collective
Fallen Fruit, presents EATLACMA. EATLACMA plays the richness of the
museum's permanent collection against the natural growth cycle of
gardens to create a year of programming in three acts. EATLACMA unfolds
seasonally and includes a curated set of gardens on the museum's campus;
an exhibition that invites public participation and draws from LACMA's
collection; and Let Them Eat LACMA, a one-day final event with more than
fifty artists and collectives to activate, intervene, and re-imagine the
entire museum's campus and galleries. Peppered with more than a dozen
interactive talks, performances, and events, EATLACMA aims to expand our
perception of art, food, and the museum.

EATLACMA*
On view through November 7, 2010 

Curators: Fallen Fruit-David Burns, Matias Viegener, and Austin
Young-and Michele Urton, Contemporary Art, LACMA

LACMA EXPLORES ART AND FOOD WITH YEAR-LONG PROJECT, “EATLACMA”
Collaboration with Fallen Fruit investigates the social role of food and art
and the rituals of eating

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
(LACMA) in collaboration with the Los Angeles-based artist collective
Fallen Fruit, presents EATLACMA. EATLACMA plays the richness of the
museum’s permanent collection against the natural growth cycle of gardens
to create a year of programming in three acts. EATLACMA unfolds seasonally
and includes a curated set of gardens on the museum’s campus; an
exhibition that invites public participation and draws from LACMA’s
collection; and Let Them Eat LACMA, a one-day final event with more than
fifty artists and collectives to activate, intervene, and re-imagine the
entire museum's campus and galleries. Peppered with more than a dozen
interactive talks, performances, and events, EATLACMA aims to expand our
perception of art, food, and the museum.

EATLACMA kicks off with public fruit tree adoptions that will be held at
LACMA’s campus and Watts Towers Arts Center and Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center the first weekend of February. Fallen Fruit will hand out 150 trees
at each site with planting instructions, requesting that the fruit trees
are planted in public space or on the perimeter of private property. The
fruit tree adoptions were chosen to introduce the project to honor the
beginning of the growth cycle, while also signaling the project’s
commitment to transforming neighborhoods and building community.
The public opening of the exhibitions The Fruit of LACMA and The Gardens
of LACMA will take place on June 27.

Pursuing their ongoing obsession with fruit, Fallen Fruit will curate The Fruit of LACMA, assembling works from the museum’s permanent collection in several forms of media, including painting, photography, and decorative arts. The exhibition will also feature new work by Fallen Fruit, including Show Us How You Eat, a participatory piece in which the public will be invited to submit video of themselves eating. Concurrently The Gardens of LACMA will be on view, showcasing artist-designed gardens installed throughout the LACMA grounds.

Each artist’s garden examines public space, the actualities and symbols of
food, and the people who give these things meaning. In addition to the
exhibitions, programming will include artist-led tours of the gardens, a
public fruit jam, workshops, and other participatory events, including
Salsa Salsa—improvisational salsa making and salsa dancing classes.
EATLACMA culminates with Let Them Eat LACMA on November 7, a day-long
public event that activates and engages LACMA’s campus and galleries.
EATLACMA is curated by Fallen Fruit—David Burns, Matias Viegener, and
Austin Young—and Michele Urton, assistant curator of contemporary art,
LACMA.

Scheduled programming
Plant the Perimeter Public Fruit Tree Adoption (Watts Towers Arts
Center and Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center)
Saturday, February 6, 2010; 12 pm
1761 East 107th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90059

Plant the Perimeter Public Fruit Tree Adoption (LACMA)
Sunday, February 7, 2010; 12 pm
BP Grand Entrance, North Piazza
5905 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA, 90036

Public opening of The Fruit of LACMA and The Gardens of LACMA
Sunday, June 27, 2010
LACMA

Let Them Eat LACMA
Sunday, November 7, 2010
LACMA

About Fallen Fruit
Founded in 2004 as collaboration between artists David Burns, Matias
Viegener and Austin Young, Fallen Fruit investigates urban space, ideas of
neighborhood, and new forms of located citizenship. All of their projects
touch upon fruit in some manner, deploying it to talk about reciprocal
relationships, social rituals, sustainability and the intersection of
private and public property. Their work includes an ongoing series of
narrative photographs, videos, public events or collaborative
performances, public-service posters for bus shelters, as well as
interactive installations and murals. For more information, visit
http://fallenfruit.org/

EATLACMA was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and made possible by a Museum and Community Connections Grant from MetLife
Foundation. Additional support was provided by the Ralph M. Parsons Fund.
LACMA tree distribution is sponsored by Paramount Citrus, the world's
largest grower of California Cuties. Watts Towers Arts Center and Charles
Mingus Youth Arts Center tree distribution is sponsored by TreePeople and
Paramount Citrus.

About LACMA Since its inception in 1965, LACMA has been devoted to collecting works of art that span both history and geography—and represent Los Angeles’s uniquely diverse population. Today, the museum features particularly strong collections of Asian, Latin American, European, and American art, as well as a new contemporary museum on its campus, BCAM. With this expanded space for contemporary art, innovative collaborations
with artists, and an ongoing transformation project, LACMA is creating a truly modern lens through which to view its rich encyclopedic collection.

General Information: LACMA is located at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90036. For more information about LACMA and its programming, call 323 857-6000 or visit lacma.org.

Museum Hours and Admission: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, noon–8 pm; Friday, noon–9 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 11 am–8 pm; closed Wednesday. Adults $12; students 18+ with ID and senior citizens 62+ $8; children 17 and under are admitted free. Admission (except to specially ticketed exhibitions) is free the second Tuesday of every month
and on Target Free Holiday Mondays. After 5 pm, every day the museum is open, LACMA’s “Pay What You Wish” program encourages visitors to support the museum with an admission fee of their choosing.

All information and photos courtesy and copyright of LACMA.