MOCA Focus: Lisa Lapinski, The Fret and its Variants constitutes the LA-based artist’s first solo museum exhibition and features a combination of new and recent work. Utilizing wood, found objects, wallpaper, and other materials, Lapinski’s multidisciplinary work imposes syntactic concerns related to pattern and language onto sculpture’s traditionally spatial and volumetric purview. The exhibition’s title alludes to these interests with its reference to the “fret,” a category of architectural ornament used since ancient times.
The centerpiece of The Fret and its Variants, a new, large-scale sculpture titled Monty Python Precedes Dungeons and Dragons (2008), comprises a beech, walnut, and poplar fence adorned with ornamental motifs, a graphic illustration of eyeglasses containing only one eye, and a framed square of bright red caning. Also featured in the exhibition are a trio of sculptures from 2001, Mosque of Sankoré, Mosque of Boré, and Mosque of Mopti, in the MOCA permanent collection; a large photograph from 2008; drawings on wallpaper; and more.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue.
MOCA Focus: Lisa Lapinski, The Fret and its Variants is organized by Bennett Simpson, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.