Karla KaplunLa MisiónFebruaryFeb 15th - MarchMar 26th, 2022Gaga L.A.
La Misión
…And then was the Verb
Boiling from these hands;
Coffins wide open
—Dropping off feast, fright—,
Eternally committed to
Felony.
Gods as guts and Goals
Hunted by the law of the Great Number;
Innocent cruelty dispossessed from
Joker, Pythia, Messiah in the name of
Kratos.
Law nor number:
Mystery!
Night in eye. Homer’s watery humor covered in waterfalls;
Ocular obsolescence shows the face of sigh(t).
Potential encounters where answer is perpetually
Question.
Ruins nourished by the ones to be killed—Beauties worthy of
Sacrifice.
Time is the flagellum of presence.
Utilitarianism: chimera that ignores our ash destiny. We are
Vehicles seeking a different return of the same
World.
X spins 45°. Three nailed sticks…
Yawn of years goes by—new?
Zero.
Gaga is pleased to present La Misión, the second exhibition of Karla Kaplun (b. Querétaro, México, 1993) with Gaga and her first in the United States, marking the opening of our new shared space in Los Angeles.
The show consists of an altarpiece (retablo in Spanish) composed of 15 paintings the artist began in 2020. The starting point was the idea of the Ark, the Plague, God’s wrath and the need to evacuate our contemporary world: And God told Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” (Genesis 6:13) As it goes, God then told Noah to build an Ark divided into three levels which we see represented in the installation. The work depicts images of various animals, the figure of Christ, and members of the artist’s immediate community suspended in a baroque tableaux chronicling the birth of a new world, the death of an old one, and all its attendant violence. The title of the exhibition evokes the concept of a task or duty–a mission or a commission. What does it mean to produce a work, to be filled with purpose, to act on One’s will, or the will of God?
Installation
views
Works
Karla Kaplun
Bow
Proa
2022
Oil on canvas
82.28 x 27.76 x 1.81 inches
209 x 70.5 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
Rags and prayers for a constant moribund
Andrajos y oraciones para un constante moribundo
2022
Oil on canvas
82.28 x 51.97 x 1.81 inches
209 x 132 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
Muttering monks
Monjes bisbisiantes
2022
Oil on canvas
82.28 x 51.97 x 1.81 inches
209 x 132 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
Be said splendor when the weather howls
Se dice esplendor cuando el clima aúlla
2022
Oil on canvas
100.39 x 82.28 x 1.81 inches
255 x 209 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
Time stop for a bit,
The queen has cut her hair.
Que se detenga el tiempo un poco,
La reina ha cortado sus cabellos.
2022
Oil on canvas
82.28 x 51.97 x 1.81 inches
209 x 132 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
Gustavo’s nightmare
La pesadilla de Gustavo
2022
Oil on canvas
82.28 x 51.97 x 1.81 inches
209 x 132 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
Stern
Popa
2022
Oil on canvas
82.28 x 27.76 x 1.81 inches
209 x 70.5 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
An incarnate shell as a witness
Una concha encarnada como testigo
2022
Oil on canvas
23.23 x 27.76 x 1.81 inches
59 x 70.5 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
After the flood Noah still lived three hundred and fifty years more
Después del diluvio, Noé vivió todavía trescientos cincuenta años más
2022
Oil on canvas
27.76 x 42.91 x 1.81 inches
109 x 70.5 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
Ribbed original of love
Costillacanalada origen del amor
2022
Oil on canvas
51.97 x 42.91 x 1.81 inches
132 x 109 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
Three times swordfish
Tres veces pez espada
2022
Oil on canvas
27.76 x 82.28 x 1.81 inches
70.5 x 209 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
Arise and say
Levántate y di
2022
Oil on canvas
27.76 x 82.28 x 1.81 inches
70.5 x 209 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
Given reality
La realidad dada
2022
Oil on canvas
51.97 x 42.91 x 1.81 inches
132 x 109 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
The transgression confirms the rule
La transgresión confirma la regla
2022
Oil on canvas
27.76 x 42.91 x 1.81 inches
109 x 70.5 x 4.6 cm
Karla Kaplun
What benefit does the man get from so much work?
¿Qué provecho saca el hombre de tanto trabajar?
2022
Oil on canvas
23.23 x 27.76 x 1.81 inches
59 x 70.5 x 4.6 cm