Artist: Nancy Lupo
Exhibition title: Open Mouth
Venue: Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles, US
Date: October 5 – November 3, 2019
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo investigates the psychological, practical, and symbolic relationships among food, currency, and metabolism. Her sculptures often incorporate human or animal food elements and provide opportunities for communal exchange. Open Mouth is a configuration of sixteen benches produced at three-quarters scale, inspired by benches the artist encountered in Rome, with thirty-two rounded end elements that represent the number of teeth in the adult human mouth. Conceived as a “monument for the living,” Lupo’s benches draw a perimeter around the southeast end of Pershing Square. Open Mouth is a stage for viewing, meeting, and thinking about the metabolism of the city. Throughout the course of the triennial, the artist, as well as musicians, writers, and others intervene in performances with the benches.
Nancy Lupo received her BFA from the Cooper Union and her MFA from Yale University. In 2013, she was in residence at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Her solo exhibitions were presented at Visual Art Center, University of Texas at Austin (2019), Antenna Space (Shanghai) (2018), Kristina Kite Gallery (Los Angeles) (2017), Swiss Institute (New York) (2016), 1857 (Oslo) (2015), and WALLSPACE (New York) (2015). Lupo’s work has been part of group exhibitions at the Hammer Museum (Los Angeles) (2018), Tai Kwun (Hong Kong) (2018), Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon (France) (2017), Astrup Fearnley Museet (Oslo) (2016), Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles) (2016), Atlanta Contemporary (2016), and MoMA PS1 (New York) (2014), among others. She is a recipient of the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant (2015), the Foundation for Contemporary Art Emergency Grant (2013), and Virginia Commonwealth University’s Fountainhead Fellowship (2012).
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Nancy Lupo, Open Mouth, 2019, exhibition view, Public Art Triennial, Pershing Square, Los Angeles
