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

Posts Tagged ‘The Klines’
ENVZN24 – The New Age of Enlightenment meets Fashion Week San Diego!!!
ENVZN24 - The New Age of Enlightenment meets Fashion Week San Diego!!!

ENVZN24 paired our latest work, “The New Age of Enlightenment,” with San Diego Fashion Week! This piece is one of the largest 3D Printed artworks that we have seen and it invited lots of public interaction, including hundreds of new messages placed inside the Buddha column by visitors. We will post these ‘hopes and dreams for the future’ on social media daily.

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.

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.

Joyce Cutler-Shaw Artists in Residence at UCSD School of Medicine
Joyce Cutler-Shaw Artists in Residence at UCSD School of Medicine

As the Joyce Cutler-Shaw Artists in Residence at UCSD School of Medicine, we are honored to have the opportunity to create artworks for display. We recently created/and or installed two large sculptures and one large drawing in the Biomedical Sciences building, each about 8 feet in height or length.

Medical Illustrations
Medical Illustrations

We have recently begun creating anatomical drawings. This is a new process for us, but we are working with anatomists to create approximately 100 drawings. It is an incredibly challenging and exciting process.

Three Phases of the Moon: A Cautionary Tale
Three Phases of the Moon: A Cautionary Tale

In the final panel, The Dark Side of the Moon, the Earth has become a defunct rock in the sky and rabbits, the victims of testing, have escaped and repopulated the moon, doomed to repeat the same mistakes as their human counterparts.

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.

Art and Cake LA, “The Bird Is The Word,” by Kristine Schomaker, Jan. 18, 2022.
Art and Cake LA, “The Bird Is The Word,” by Kristine Schomaker, Jan. 18, 2022.

Audubon documented as many American birds that he could find in his lifetime. He was an avid hunter but appreciated the diversity, abundance and beauty of birds. He often would kill the birds, position them in such a manner that they looked alive and then document them in drawings and paintings. We picked up his pen and followed with images of birds that are now extinct.

SDVisualArts.net, “Seeking Truth & Other Science-Inspired Installations at La Jolla Historical Society,” By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, October 14, 2021
SDVisualArts.net, "Seeking Truth & Other Science-Inspired Installations at La Jolla Historical Society," By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, October 14, 2021

They’d created a kind of forced perspective—those tilted walls—and added competing sounds from multiple directions that were meant to be confusing, even a little disturbing—a demonstration of how distractions affect perception. The TRUTH carved into the granite slab was stippled to look blurry: the word appeared gradually in 15-minute cycles, then water jets washed it away. Dim lighting made things even more confusing, and I couldn’t hear myself in the cacophony of voices, recorded at a 2017 tribute to the late poet David Antin.

Seeking Truth
Seeking Truth

In SEEKING TRUTH, we present an architectural environment with visual and audible cues intended to make viewers feel unsettled or confused. A cacophony of sounds confronts viewers as they traverse the space. These sounds are derived from Cacophony and Utterances, a participatory piece that we created in memory of David Antin, performed at the Getty Center theater.

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!

Weeks 1-6: Self-Confinement Residency with Building Bridges Los Angeles, September 2020.
Weeks 1-6: Self-Confinement Residency with Building Bridges Los Angeles, September 2020.

Weeks 1-6 of my self-confinement residency which will culminate in a performance and exhibition at Building Bridges Art Exchange Los Angeles. I am building Patrolling the Perimeters, featuring sugar tanks riding robotic vacuums which clean up their own messes as they collide.

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.

Art and Cake LA, “Disclosure: Art Redemption through Confession,” By Genie Davis, Jan. 31, 2019.
 Art and Cake LA, “Disclosure: Art Redemption through Confession,” By Genie Davis, Jan. 31, 2019.

Debby and Larry Kline play prophet by mapping impending tragedy for the planet. The large scale ink on paper work is lush and dramatic, referencing Biblical plagues as they foretell natural and man-made disasters. The work, “Prayer Rug: Be Not Afraid” is a massive 49 by 94 inches.

Artdaily.org, “Exhibition offers a take on the sacred and secular acts of confessing sins,” Jan. 20, 2019.
Artdaily.org, “Exhibition offers a take on the sacred and secular acts of confessing sins,” Jan. 20, 2019.

Curated by Dani Dodge and Alanna Marcelletti, “Disclosure: Confessions for Modern Times” features artists Kim Abeles, Jorin Bossen, Kimberly Brooks, Joe Davidson, Dani Dodge, Donald Fodness, Kathryn Hart, Debby and Larry Kline, Conchi Sanford, Ed Tahaney and Steven Wolkoff.

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.