PALM TREE AND WAVES: MARIO YBARRA JR IN LONDON!

the only Mr. Mario Ybarra Jr!


Carolina Caycedo riding the wave!


Mario's friends!


The artist's signature!


Mario Ybarra Jr.
The Only City on the Whole West Coast Without Beach Access

Guantanamera,
Guantanamera guajira, Guantanamera
Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crece la palma
Y antes de morirme
quiero
Echar mis versos del alma
Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera
I am an honest man
From where the palm tree grows
And before dying
I want
To share the verses of my soul.


Fifty-foot palm trees line the main boulevard in Wilmington, California, inspiring visions of a postcard surf fantasy. When reaching the ocean at the end of the street, one would presume to see young people in swimsuits and families playing in the sand. Rather, each person is greeted by the harsh reality of shipping-docks, train-yards and diesel trucks. Two miles before the shore, a massive breakwater stops all the waves you would expect from a Californian coastline. The Only City on the Whole West Coast Without Beach Access hopes to re-imagine the lost waves that would have, or better yet, should have crashed along the shore of Wilmington, home of North America’s largest commercial seaport.

Mario Ybarra Jr. works across a wide range of media including installation, painting, performance and video. His work often engages with the social conditions of modern Los Angeles, reflecting his personal experiences as a Mexican-American artist living and working in the city.

Mario Ybarra Jr. was born in 1973 in Los Angeles. Past exhibitions include solo exhibitions at Bob van Orsouw, Zurich; Black Squirrel Society at Lehmann Maupin, New York; and Focus: Mario Ybarra Jr. at the Art Institute of Chicago. He has also been included in the 2008 Whitney Biennial, and The World as a Stage, Tate Modern, London. He received his MFA in 2001 from the University of California, Irvine, and his BFA in 1999 from the Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles. He is the founder of the art collective Slanguage, based in Wilmington, California.

BROWN Gallery
Lower Ground Floor / 42 Hoxton Square / London N1 6PB
T/F +44 (0)20 7729 1290 / info@browngallery.co.uk
www.browngallery.co.uk
Open Wednesday – Saturday 11-6
Exhibition Dates: October 14 – November 28, 2009
Opening Reception: Tuesday October 13 from 6-8PM