Interview with Charlie James: We’re Laughing With Him

Satirizing the art world and unabashedly calling out its warts and wrinkles is not a new phenomenon. But rather than rejecting that world on the basis of its flaws, Brooklyn-based artist William Powhida uses it as the brick and mortar of his practice. I took a tour of his latest exhibition William Powhida: No One Gets Out Alive at Charlie James Gallery in Chinatown, with the gallery’s director and namesake.

Before we get into your current exhibition, would you tell me about your background and how you first became interested in art?

I was a collector before starting the gallery.  I used to work in the software business and I started collecting about five years ago – mostly Bay Area artists, some LA.  Collecting gave me line of sight into another set of possibilities outside of the corporate world.  I’d always considered my IT career to be a happy accident, but an accident nonetheless, so I began studying the art world pretty carefully and gradually began to think about a transition.  It took about a year after resolving to do it to resign from Microsoft, sell the condo, and leave Seattle.  I chose LA over NY for the reasons most people do – it’s easier, less expensive, quality of life is much higher, etc.  And I couldn’t be happier with the results so far.

The “press release” for your current show says that you offered Powhida an exhibition after seeing only a single drawing by the artist at Pulse in New York, is that true?

Yeah, the “press release” – you’re right to do the quotation fingers when mentioning that…  The press release, which was written by Mr. Powhida and had only a few true statements within it, generated more feedback than pretty much anything we’ve done thus far at the gallery.  I got sympathy emails from people saying “Sorry to hear about this disaster of a show – hang in there!” and I also got mails full of giggles for those who saw it for what it was. That release even fooled members of the local press, LA Weekly thought I was messing around evidently and didn’t publish that the show was happening at all.  But – to your question, Mr. Powhida was being honest when he said that I saw one 15 x 18 inch drawing at PULSE NY this past March and I knew instantly I wanted to learn more about the guy.  The marriage of form and content that you can see in his drawings really blew me away, and I reached out to him within days of my return to LA.  We flew him out once on a “fact finding mission” and then again for principal photography of the trailer playing in my gallery now, and the rest is history… [Oh – for those who haven’t see the press release, click here!]

Would you say your aesthetic veers towards witty, satirical, self-referential work or was your attraction to Powhida’s practice atypical?

Powhida is a big fat bull’s-eye as far as the interests and priorities of the gallery go.  I think the designation that art world would apply to our program is ‘political’ — with a lower-case ‘p’ – in that we value work that is content-based and in dialogue with various elements of contemporary life.  We do a lot of art-about-art, we do culture-jammers / visual activists, and, despite Mr. Powhida’s advice to the contrary, we do identity-based work as well (feminist, Middle-Eastern).  The element of humor that you mention in your question is important though.  A lot of our artists make some pretty passionate arguments about different things, and they employ humor as candy to coat what could be bitter pills.  

In jest, you issue apologies to Eli Broad, Michael Govan, Jeff Koons, Christopher Knight and several other key art world figures lampooned in the exhibition, are you at all concerned that they might not be laughing with you as they say?

You know, we don’t really mean to apologize to anyone at all, but I would take this opportunity to extend our sincere gratitude to the individuals who appear and are ‘quoted’ in Mr. Powhida’s work.  I like to think that people gifted enough to occupy positions of leadership in the art world would have ample sense of humor to enjoy what is pretty obviously a thoughtful, intelligent and darn funny treatment of their world…  But, now that you mention it, maybe we do owe Koons an apology (wink)….

On a more personal note, do you have a favorite piece in the show?

I love the Baldessari update, Tips for Artists Who Want to Sell (New and Unimproved).  Not only does Powhida rightly tip his hat one of LA’s all-time great conceptualists, but I think, despite the artist’s indications to the contrary, that the piece has been smartly updated to reflect today’s art world climate.  The businessification of the art world in the Hirst-Koons-Murakami era of the last 10 years or so have changed the rules of the game, and Powhida’s recommendations are really focused on these new conditions for success.  I think Mr. Baldessari would enjoy it…

What’s on tap next for your gallery?

San Francisco conceptualist Lizabeth Eva Rossof is taking on China, IP piracy, political subversion, and serious questions of authorship for next show opening January 9th.  You might have seen these offers in magazines and on the web these days, they’re getting very common, of Chinese companies that will transform any image into a “priceless oil painting” for a price.  Well, this was irresistible for Liz, and she sent the “Master Painters of Xiamen” some 40 jpeg images for them to render in their wholly imitative style (you can pick different styles – Impressionist, Pointillist, etc).  It so happens, however, that Liz has sent the Chinese images that are 100% outlawed in the People’s Republic of China.  Dutifully, however, they have reproduced the images sent, and thankfully they cleared customs and arrived here in LA last week.  Add to these a significantly modified version of the Terra Cotta soldiers and you have our next show.  It’s going to be really, really fun.  Slightly reminiscent of Jim Shaw’s great Thrift Store Paintings, but I’ll let you be the judge of that…

- By Rebecca Taylor

William Powhida: No One Gets Out Alive will close December 5, 2009 at the Charlie James Gallery (975 Chung King Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90012).