May 1, 2008

Anna Helwing Gallery is pleased to announce “Abracadabra,” the upcoming solo exhibition of Los Angeles based artist Emilie Halpern. The opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 17, 2008 from 6 to 8pm and will include an offsite sound piece the opening reception. The gallery is located at 2766 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90034. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 6pm.

Emilie Halpern’s exhibit titled “Abracadabra” will include photography, sculpture and an offsite sound piece. Abracadabra means both appear and disappear. Birth and death, which we normally think of as opposites- the beginning and the end, the first and the last-, are collapsed into one word Abracadabra. All the pieces in the show are abracadabric in that they either collapse opposites by demonstrating the interconnectedness of things we think are disparate, or they remind us that just as they have appeared things can disappear. One such work is “2061,” a black and white photograph framed behind black tinted acrylic. Because of the nature of the acrylic, the image in the photograph is not immediately visible, but as the years pass and the tint fades, the photograph will gradually appear. The photographic image is of Halley’s Comet, visible only every seventy-five years, reappearing next in 2061. Another immediate but ephemeral work includes an offsite sound piece titled “Blue Whale Heartbeat.” The blue whale heart is the largest and slowest heart to ever exist on the planet and it can be heard up to two miles away underwater. The viewer experiences the sound piece by submerging into a pool of water, as the sound piece is inaudible out of the water. “Blue Whale Heartbeat” will be played offsite at the W Hotel pool in Westwood immediately following the opening reception on May 17.

This is Halpern’s third solo exhibition and it will run through June 28, 2008. For further information contact Anna Helwing Gallery at 310 202 2213.