Hector Barrios, “Freedom Tru Art” (detail), mixed media on handkerchief and illustration board shot from behind with .45 caliber handgun (2011)
“Exit Wounds,” a collaborative, relational art project between formerly gang-involved youth of Homeboy Industries and Los Angeles artist Nancy Baker Cahill, opens with a free reception on Saturday, March 19, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Hi-Lite Project Space in downtown Los Angeles.
According to the gallery’s website: “Works in this exhibition blend individual narrative collages with Baker Cahill’s ‘Bullet Blossoms’ series. Participants in the project tell their stories through their own photographs, original art, text and unconventional objects. Baker Cahill then shoots the works with a .45 caliber handgun. Hauntingly fragile poppy blossoms painted around the ‘exit wounds’ suggest that healing and hope can co-exist with violence and despair.”
Works will be on sale opening night and 100% of the proceeds will benefit Homeboy Industries, which has helped thousands of young people transform their lives through job training, placement assistant and work within the organization’s small businesses, including Homegirl Cafe.
To see examples of works from the “Exit Wounds” project, visit: https://www.nancybakercahill.com/nancybakercahill/exit_wounds.html.
After the opening reception, the exhibition will be on view Tuesdays (3/22, 3/29, 4/5) from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and by appointment. Hi-Lite Project Space, 533 S. Los Angeles St., Sixth Floor, LA, (213) 784-2003 or https://thehi-lite.com/.