Aftershocks Folio

"Scientifically speaking, an aftershock is one of a series of seismic reactions following an earthquake. On an interior level, there is also the memory aftershock, when the human body remembers and replays the experience of the earthquake, shaking and shivering in restless dreams. Eventually, the aftershocks cease and all is calm again…until the next time.”

from the essay Floating Existencies - The Art and Artists of Thought Works @LA by J.SM. Willette, PhD.

An aftershock might also be described as a tensional release, a reaction, a delayed reflex to a singular sensational event. It is an epilogue - a post thought. For the eleven artists involved in this exhibition, an aftershock is just that, a reflexive reaction to, and reflection upon the idiosyncratic natural, social and political spectacle native to Los Angeles and experienced by Angelenos on a daily basis.

One evening in mid-June 1994, a group of artists gathered at John Greco’s Josephine Press to discuss the idea of creating an artist’s book, when yet another aftershock rattled the collective psyche of the city. This time i wasn’t an earthquake nor a destructive riot, but rather, the now infamous O.J. Simpson slow speed chase. It was at this moment that the Aftershocks portfolio was conceived. Bearing witness to and directly experiencing yet another bizarre surreal spectacle, the group decided to collaboratively produce an editioned portfolio of intaglio images. Its theme collectively evoking their reactions to and meditations upon the unique natural environs and social upheaval that have deeply affected Los Angeles during this the final decade of the 20th century.

The images and text of the Aftershocks portfolio represent a creative commentary documenting the cycle of shock and aftershocks. By combining text and images, the artist’s respond to the 1992 riots, the Northridge earthquake, immigration, freeways, the O.J. Simpson saga, and more. The graphic work also represents a broad spectrum of aesthetic and conceptual approaches - Abstract and figurative, narrative and scientific, political and personal. The images were printed from state-of-the-art, water etched, photo polymer plates in black ink on white paper.