Paul Joyce: Hollywoodland [Pinspot #18]

Hollywoodland is an exhibition of paintings by Paul Joyce, curated by Dennis Hopper (July 7 through August 4, 2007).

In the tradition of novelists James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, Michael Connelly, and other literary giants who have immortalized the still beauty and mystery of Los Angeles, Paul Joyces paintings capture a distinct, larger-than-life, perception of the Los Angeles cityscape of yesteryear.

Joyce, who also practices as a film-maker and photographer, paints L.A. landmarks and vistas using bright colors, giving the work a fresh and luminous quality, evoking color techniques such as early Technicolor and Cinemascope. especially in his panoramic pictures. But herein also lies a darkness; of places that have disappeared and remain only in our minds- the collective memories of native Angelenos or of foreigners, like Joyce and Raymond Chandler (both of whom attended the same English public school: Dulwich College). In both cases a foreigners eyes help to show us more about our city than we, on a day to day basis, see for ourselves.

As Oscar-winning Production Designer Dean Tavoularis comments, Not since another Englishman, David Hockney, looked at Los Angeles with eyes blinded with light and color, never to be seen in London, has there been such colorful visions. Joyces painting, The Valley captures that stillness of the original desert upon which it was built. Paul Joyce treats Los Angeles floridly, and renders the painting of a great city pastorally.

Essays by Dean Tavoularis and Ron Hutchinson with various selected quotes

32 pages, Softcover, 9 x 6 inches, 2007