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

Posts Tagged ‘border art’
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.”

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.

We’re Launching our Patreon Account! – www.patreon.com/jugglingklines
We're Launching our Patreon Account! - www.patreon.com/jugglingklines

We created a Patreon account so that people who love what we create can help support our work.

Zacky the Cat Fights Fascism in 2020 election
Zacky the Cat Fights Fascism in 2020 election

We have created a short video to encourage voting in this crucial US Presidential election. To save our Democracy, we must all do our best to counteract voter suppression and Fascism. If our cat can do it, so can you!

Heritagefuture.org Podcast: Veronica Murphy / Larry and Debby Kline, August 2020.
Heritagefuture.org Podcast: Veronica Murphy / Larry and Debby Kline, August 2020.

We are honored to be interviewed by Heritagefuture.org for our work illustrating stories for Write Out Loud’s Kamishibai presentations. The latest project was told from the viewpoint of a Japanese-American child, who endured loss and displacement as his family was forced into Japanese internment camps during WWII.

Larry Kline discusses his work with Debby Kline in a virtual lecture at Building Bridges Art Exchange, Los Angeles, August 2020.
Larry Kline discusses his work with Debby Kline in a virtual lecture at Building Bridges Art Exchange, Los Angeles, August 2020.

Larry Kline discusses his work with Debby Kline in a virtual chat at Building Bridges Art Exchange, Los Angeles. This conversation is part of the “Self-Confinement Residency,” developed by arts organizations in Spain, Columbia, Costa Rica and the United States to address the challenges facing artists who continue to create in the face of covid-19.

VoyageLA, “Art & Life with Larry and Debby Kline,” Jan. 21, 2019.
VoyageLA, “Art & Life with Larry and Debby Kline,” Jan. 21, 2019.

We create everything from large installations to micro-drawings. The materials that we use are always dictated by the idea, so our media ranges from the traditional like graphite, clay and paint to the unusual, such as fluorescent light bulbs, mud from the Dead Sea, ketchup and salt. Much of our work is a reflection on politics and social justice.

San Diego Jewish World, “Art to inspire, raise questions, and perhaps anger,” by Donald H. Harrison, October 23, 2018.
San Diego Jewish World, “Art to inspire, raise questions, and perhaps anger,” by Donald H. Harrison, October 23, 2018.

SAN DIEGO – The contemporary art exhibit, “Beyond the Age of Reason,” curated by Larry and Debby Kline, is nearing the end of its run at the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park. If you want to be intrigued, or even possibly enraged, by various artists’ visions of religion and spirituality, you’ll need to get to the museum space before the exhibit closes on October 31st.

La Jolla Light,”20 artists reveal their beliefs in potent exhibit at Balboa Park,” By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, October 15, 2018.
La Jolla Light,"20 artists reveal their beliefs in potent exhibit at Balboa Park," By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, October 15, 2018.

The myth-master is Eleanor Antin, one of the founding members of UC San Diego’s Visual Arts Department, and an internationally-admired artist, or as the Klines put it: “an artist of the world.” Shown here is one of the pieces from her “Roman Allegories,” a series of large-scale photos staged in Del Mar and La Jolla that re-envision the last days of an ancient civilization remarkably similar to ours.

San Diego Union Tribune, “Beliz Iristay finds that in America, ‘the artist part of me has really flourished,’” by Martina Schimitschek, September 16, 2018
San Diego Union Tribune, “Beliz Iristay finds that in America, 'the artist part of me has really flourished,'” by Martina Schimitschek, September 16, 2018

After the failed military coup of 2016 in Turkey, Iristay designed 55 rehals (the x-shaped bookrests for the Quran) and filled them with small minarets. Titled “Oku | Read,” the rehals are covered with military cards used by soldiers to keep track of their service days. The translucent cast-resin minarets are in jumbled disarray. The piece, part of the San Diego Art Institute’s exhibition “Beyond the Age of Reason,” warns of ignorance.

Art and Cake LA, “Beyond the Age of Reason at the San Diego Art Institute,” by Genie Davis, September 13, 2018.
Art and Cake LA, “Beyond the Age of Reason at the San Diego Art Institute,” by Genie Davis, September 13, 2018.

“Myth is open to interpretation, and unfortunately, so are truths, but they are still the underpinnings of religious belief. The nuances of belief can either unite or divide individual, families and nations. The nuances can lead to peace or more often, war,” the Klines relate. “We believe -pun intended – that the artists reflect the larger populace that struggles with the concept of belief.”

Smithsonian Magazine, “The Dispossessed,” by Anna Diamond, July 2018.
Smithsonian Magazine, “The Dispossessed,” by Anna Diamond, July 2018.

Although this article was not specifically written about “Beyond the Age of Reason,” Smithsonian’s feature article on Wayne Martin Belger and his “Us and Them” project was published just days before our exhibition opened. Since the “Beyond the Age of Reason,” exhibition is the first time that “Us and Them” has been publicly exhibited, we felt it important to include the article here. To read the complete story, please visit SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE, “The Dispossessed,” by Anna Diamond, July 2018.

“Beyond the Age of Reason,” at San Diego Art Institute, curated by Debby and Larry Kline
"Beyond the Age of Reason," at San Diego Art Institute, curated by Debby and Larry Kline

San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park Presents: Beyond the Age of Reason
Dates: September 1–October 31, 2018
Member Reception: Saturday, September 15 from 5pm-6pm
Public Reception: Saturday, September 15 from 6pm-8pm
The museum is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10am-5pm, Wednesday 10am-8pm,
Saturday-Sunday 12pm-5pm

NO LONGER HIDDEN! DesEscondido BEGINS! & OH MY GODS! BEYOND THE AGE OF REASON CONTINUES!
NO LONGER HIDDEN!  DesEscondido  BEGINS!  &  OH MY GODS!  BEYOND THE AGE OF REASON  CONTINUES!

Simultaneous exhibitions at San Diego Art Institute and California Center for the Arts Museum!

We will be showing our “Post-Apocalyptic Coffeehouse” as well as thirty-nine drawings from our latest series, “Tiny Revolutions,” which have never been seen in San Diego at California Center for the Arts Museum. These tiny “acts of defiance” are hand-drawn graphite images ranging in size from ½” x ½” to 2 ½” x 2 ½.”

Beyond the Age of Reason continues at San Diego Art Institute featuring works by 20 artists including Eleanor Antin, Wayne Martin Belger, Michelangelo Buonarroti, de la Torre Brothers, Ruben Ochoa and Erika Rothenberg. Curated by Debby and Larry Kline.

Tiny Revolutions
Tiny Revolutions

We have decided to create an “act of defiance” each day in the form of Tiny Revolutions, very small hand-drawn graphite images ranging in size from ½” x ½” to 2 ½” x 2 ½.” Their size is dictated by the possibility that a day may come when Americans cannot freely voice dissent.

Voice of San Diego, “The Most Memorable Acts of Protest Art at the Border,” by Kinsee Morlan, February 26, 2017.
Voice of San Diego, “The Most Memorable Acts of Protest Art at the Border,” by Kinsee Morlan, February 26, 2017.

There’s been an uptick in art projects happening at the border now that President Donald Trump is in office. With so much attention on the border, it’s worth taking a quick look at some of the art that’s attempted to tackle the prickly issues surrounding it. Here are 20 instances of gutsy, controversial art that has explored the border.

Passages: Luminarias and Tears, for La Casa del Tunel, Tijuana, Mexico
Passages: Luminarias and Tears, for La Casa del Tunel, Tijuana, Mexico

Since La Casa Del Tunel was once a smuggling tunnel, we chose to honor the memory of those who either died trying to cross the border or made the crossing but lost contact with family in Mexico. These luminaries are in keeping with Mexican tradition and candles may be lit in memory of loved ones.

Maquette for Memorial for a Perilous Journey: Running to Racism
Maquette for Memorial for a Perilous Journey: Running to Racism

The figures in this piece are appropriated from California highway signage intended to indicate the crossing of undocumented immigrants, and are caricatures of a Mexican family. The final version of this piece is intended to be floated down the Tijuana River to the Pacific Ocean to be sailed Northward and placed on land as a monument to those who have perished in the crossing.

Artbusiness.com, “MISSION CULTURAL CENTER FOR LATINO ARTS, June 29, 2011.
 Artbusiness.com, “MISSION CULTURAL CENTER FOR LATINO ARTS, June 29, 2011.

In the main gallery, Debby and Larry Kline intrepidly essay on the relationship between Mexico and the United States, but they don’t stop there. US/Middle East policy, military might makes right, and the health care system as big business are all candidates for brutal scrutiny in this cavalcade of social and political commentary.