Jun 23, 20172 min read

“Everything Must Go” – Don Porcella’s Solo Show at Noysky Projects

Everything Must Go

Don Porcella’s Solo Show at Noysky Projects

By Patrick Quinn

Through July 1st

The corner of Hollywood and Las Palmas is a perfect storm of everything that Hollywood Boulevard has to offer. Tacky gift shops and greasy pizza joints share the sidewalk with a Scientology testing center, a school for heavy-metal guitarists, and a bar called the Rusty Mullet. In this environment, one expects to find the local wax museum or even a Museum of Death a few doors down. But a cutting-edge, cleverly curated art gallery is a pleasant and unexpected left-turn.

Noysky Projects is tucked away at the end of Artisans Patio. It’s a narrow lane of tiny shops that wouldn’t be out of place in Florence or some other European city. The Patio is over a hundred years old so it isn’t a surprise that Noysky Projects is not the first art gallery to show work in the patio. In the late 1940’s, Barbara Byrnes and Clara Grossman opened the American Contemporary Gallery. Its exhibitions featured paintings, sculptures, and experimental films by avant-garde European artists such as Man Ray, Oskar Fischinger, and James and John Whitney.

Noysky Projects is run by artists Sean Noyce and Katya Usvitsky (hence the gallery’s name). They’ve been in the patio for less than three years and have only been curating outside artists for a year and a half. But In that short space of time, they have presented a series of noteworthy shows including the one on display now.

Don Porcella’s solo show Everything Must Go is a funny and clever nod to the neighborhood the gallery is a part of. Part 7-11, part Dollar Store, and part Hollywood gift shop, the work is hung casually and as with real life, the stock is always changing. As stated in the press release, the show illuminates America’s obsession with nostalgia, the lure of the tourist industry, and the manipulation of desire.

The work has been created with the most basic of arts & crafts supplies. The kind usually purchased at Michael’s or (if you must) Hobby Lobby. Pipe cleaners, puffy paint, and cardboard are the materials. A paint brush, glue, and good pair of scissors are the tools. But this isn’t childish work banking on its own irony to impress the critics. The attention the artist has paid to detail and craft is readily apparent. If the viewer pays attention, they will discover that each piece has its own story to tell. It’s a small gallery, but Don Procella’s show has big ideas.

Everything Must Go runs through July 1st. Noysky Projects is open to the public Thursday through Saturday, noon-6pm, during exhibitions and by appointment during all other times.

Their address is 6727 ⅞ Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028

Please check the Exhibitions page for more information / http://noyskyprojects.com/