After a period of comparative neglect, Californian art has in recent years made a return to the critical agenda. Indeed, March 14 sees the opening in Berlin of the retrospective “Pacific Standard Time”, at Martin Gropius Bau, in which several artists of the Pace show also have a presence. This show aims to historicize artistic production in Los Angeles from 1950-1980.
Galerie C&V’s investigation began with the discovery of a counterfeit copy of the catalogue accompanying the 1970 Pace show. The catalogue takes the form of a wraparound folder containing a set of loose pages, one for each of the thirteen artists who took part in the show, plus a cover sheet displaying the title of the show. The cover of the fake catalogue reveals that the “i” at the end of one the artists’ names Charles Arnoldi has been retouched, so that the name reads Charles Arnold. The sheet corresponding to Charles Arnoldi in the counterfeit catalogue is replaced by one referring to a “Charles Arnold”, showing a piece of work not by Arnoldi, and an artist’s picture that is likewise not him. Close inspection of this photograph of an unknown man reveals that he has in his hand a picture of the real Arnoldi, the picture that was used for his page in the authentic Pace catalogue".
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