Larry and Debby Kline artists and provocateurs – installation, performances, and other works

The Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment – A large scale installation consisting of a colonnade displaying various themes based on religion and conflict. Each of the eight columns is primarily made using castings from commercially available molds. The juxtaposition and alteration of these molded forms create new meaning and iconography.

My Dinner with the Klines

My Dinner with the Klines

For years, The Klines have engaged in an unusual ritual by making art when dining out. It is one facet of their art that spawned their collaborative ventures. These works capture creativity at its most playful state, resulting in surprisingly complex and impromptu sculptures borne of only the materials at hand.

The Candy Store

The Candy Store

The Candy Store acknowledges the trend toward self-diagnosis and treatment. Due to rising healthcare costs by providing medicinal candy. This starter pack of inconsumable medicinal talismans is a welcome addition to the panoply of healthcare choices and is guaranteed to meet or exceed FDA standards for safety or effectiveness.

Earth Igloo for Jerusalem

Earth Igloo for Jerusalem

    Built atop the Museum on the Seam over the Passover and Easter holidays, Earth Igloo for Jerusalem reflects its surroundings, a dome in a city of domes, and is an ironic mud structure in a future sans ice. The mud is from the region of the Dead Sea, a body of water that [...]

The Game at Hand

The Game at Hand

The Game at Hand addresses America’s current global conflicts, and is a poignant commentary on US involvement in both hot and cold wars in the Middle East. At a distance, this piece appears to be simply a beautifully hand-made chess set. Closer inspection of the set, however, reveals the futility of this game.

The Kline’s work gets crushed by a steamroller at ENVZN23 Urban Arts Takeover
The Kline's work gets crushed by a steamroller at ENVZN23 Urban Arts Takeover

Much thanks to all the folks at Mesa College art gallery for printing our woodblock, United States Hostage, at ENVZN23 Urban Art Takeover. Their crew “crushed it” on the streets of Logan Heights for about 12 hours. We sooooooo wanted to drive the steamroller!!!

The Malashock Dance troupe performing with the Alchemist at ENVZN23 Urban Arts Takeover.
The Malashock Dance troupe performing with the Alchemist at ENVZN23 Urban Arts Takeover.

We were thrilled to be part of this visual and performing arts festival that transformed warehouses, industrial spaces, and other urban areas of the Commercial Street corridor in Logan Heights. Two full city blocks were activated with multi-sensory art interventions by creatives from both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. Here is the Malashock Dance troupe tearing it up at ENVZN23 Urban Arts Takeover. The Alchemist is pleased.

San Diego Union Tribune, “ENVZN Urban Art Takeover features multi-sensory art,” Aug. 30, 2023.
San Diego Union Tribune, “ENVZN Urban Art Takeover features multi-sensory art,” Aug. 30, 2023.

Susanna Peredo Swap talks about the ENVZN 23 Urban Art Takeover, transforming two city blocks into a showcase for film, theater, dance, visual arts and music, from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border:

“Debby and Larry Kline‘s piece is installed in a screen printing shop, transforming the space. It talks about over-consumption and recycling and the cycle of living trash. It’ll be like a temple.”

SDVisualArts.net, “ENVZN: A Very Special Event,” By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, August 18, 2023
SDVisualArts.net, “ENVZN: A Very Special Event,”  By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, August 18, 2023

The Klines’ Alchemist has appeared in different iterations in various locations. This newest version—now legless but taller than ever—will be surrounded by drawings that illustrate the four elements of the alchemical process: Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. You’ll find him in a space that welcomes meditation, with a soulful soundscape by Tijuana-based multimedia music artist MALU and an offering bowl for you to share your hopes and dreams.

UC San Diego TODAY, “The Human Condition Affects Us All,” by Joyce Pritchett, July 12, 2023.
UC San Diego TODAY, “The Human Condition Affects Us All,” by Joyce Pritchett, July 12, 2023.

“Students have the unique opportunity to work with the Klines to practice life drawing of models and cadavers,” said Lee. “The goal of the class is to help students form an understanding of the human body that is wholly different from, yet may intersect and interact with, the clinical perspective.”

DiversionsLA, Excerpt from “Art Blossoms at Loft at Liz’s, Durden and Ray and More,” May 10, 2023.
DiversionsLA, Excerpt from "Art Blossoms at Loft at Liz’s, Durden and Ray and More," May 10, 2023.

Edgy and surreal, witty, and, well, expansive, the show includes an eight foot ink drawing (just one panel in a larger piece) by the Klines, “The Dark Side of the Moon (Phase 3)

San Diege Jewish World, “B’Shalom: Body Image, Military History, Baseball Classic, Jewish Political News,” By Donald H. Harrison, March 16, 2023.
San Diege Jewish World, "B’Shalom: Body Image, Military History, Baseball Classic, Jewish Political News," By Donald H. Harrison, March 16, 2023.

Columns on either side, made of blue masking tape, present Schomaker as a Samson-like figure pulling down the pillars of body-image orthodoxy. “This is an image of her pushing the boundaries of what is considered acceptable,” Larry said. “We tried to make an image of her that shows her inner strength instead of her foibles and weaknesses,” Debby added.

Trifecta: Artist, Scientist, Patron exhibition tour video
Trifecta: Artist, Scientist, Patron exhibition tour video

“The Klines worked with Dr. Thiomas Albright, Chair of Vision Research at the Salk Institute, whose research is studying perceptions and our brain’s ability to fill in what it thinks it has seen. His research is finding that things like cultural expectations, personal bias and even religious beliefs have more impact on our perception than what we see with our own eyes.” This work also incorporates poetry by David Antin and Jerome Rothenberg, and readings by Eleanor Antin and Jerome Rothenberg.

The Alchemist in His Elements
The Alchemist in His Elements

The Alchemist is the original “maker”, an icon for a world that demands cheap, readily available material goods, without concern for the byproducts of manufacturing. But our relationship with industry is a complicated one. At its core, the Alchemist also represents our need to design, build and change our environment through understanding the principles that guide our world.