If people don't go to galleries, galleries will go to people!
What better way to promote art than by moving it around the city? This is precisely what Ceci Moss, owner of **Gas Gallery, wondered. ** “I moved to Los Angeles about a year ago, with the intention of creating a space dedicated to art,” says Ceci.
“After speaking with numerous artists, writers, and gallery owners in the industry to gain insight into the art scene here, I realized that the geography of Los Angeles could be a barrier,” she explains.
That is why she decided on the automobile format, since it was the most direct way to overcome the main barrier, attract different audiences and create a more informal and welcoming environment than that of a typical gallery.
“I was inspired by **Bed-Stuy Love Affair,** Jared Madere's traveling gallery in New York and by John Benson's Bus, turned into a performance space in Oakland,” Ceci says of where her idea came from. In a city where car culture is growing at the same time as it is expanding geographically, Gas offers the opportunity to rethink why, where and how we see art.
WHAT EXACTLY IS GAS GALLERY?
The owner herself tells us: “Gas is a mobile, autonomous, experimental and online platform for contemporary art. We collaborate closely with artists to create experiences that foster community and connection by imagining alternative forms of critical and cultural production,” she continues.
But Ceci's truck has many more advantages: “the itinerant format reflects the fluidity of 21st century art culture and practice , while allowing for considerable creative independence in terms of concept, site, format, audience and engagement,” explains Moss.
Purpose? Ceci Moss has it clear: “Putting on smart, interesting and unique exhibitions with a wide range of talented artists in a space that allows a high degree of creativity, experimentation, autonomy and freedom”.
In addition, Gas Gallery was created with the aim of interact with the public in a more informal, open and accessible way. Thus, it is intended to work with artists to produce affordable editions and reach more people.
TRUCK ON THE OUTSIDE, ART GALLERY ON THE INSIDE
Ceci Moss found this 1993 Chevrolet P20 on the web classified ads craigslist . The restoration of the truck was more or less easy: a coat of paint, some lighting and voilà: space ready.
What required more dedication was its conceptualization, but finally, Gas Gallery started shooting. For each exhibit, Ceci contacts a location to park the van one day a week and also hosts pop-up exhibits. The location is easily found on the Gas Gallery website as well as on Twitter and Instagram.
"At the moment, I am organizing thematic group exhibitions, with approximately ten artists per program" , explains Moss, that in the future she would like to start holding more exhibitions focused on a single artist "
The exhibits are quite multidisciplinary, from performance, video, internet art, sculpture, textiles and wearable art. For each one, we include jobs on the truck and on our website.
Rollin Leonard, Kissing Underwater, 2016-2017
LIQUID LOVE, THE CURRENT EXHIBITION
The exhibition that will tour Los Angeles aboard the Gas Gallery until April 2018 it is Liquid Love , which takes its title from the book written by sociologist Zygmunt Bauman in 2003.
The works of Liquid Love They reflect on our ability to relate to each other in the context of neoliberal capitalism and the fragility of human bonds.
The artists that are part of Liquid Love are poets, writers, researchers such as: Cara Benedetto, Kathy Cho, Sophia Le Fraga and Rindon Johnson , Ann Hirsch, Rollin Leonard, Olivia Mole, Small Things, Angela Washko, Yelena Zhelezov.
Olivia Mole, Dud Ankress, 2018