NEW EXHIBITION AT LAX PROVIDES A SURREAL VIEW INTO A DREAMLIKE WORLD

            (Los Angeles, California – September 12, 2016) Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), in partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, announces a new art installation titled Transfiguration by Los Angeles artist Erika Lizée in the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Using illusionistic acrylic painting and abstract sculptural elements made of Duralar film, Lizée’s site-specific installation explores the idea of a hidden and undefined world existing beyond the visible realm.  The installation is on view for ticketed passengers with connecting flights in the Customs Hallway, Arrivals Level, through mid-February 2017.

            Lizée’s installations build from the idea that walls can serve as physical and metaphorical barriers. “My work questions one’s relationship to both the visible and invisible realms. I imagine the surface of a wall to be a threshold, and create a portal into another world,” Lizée states. In her installation at LAX, trompe l’oeil and sculptural paintings of mysterious and abstract shapes suggest the wall’s surface has been peeled back to reveal a magical otherworld. Hazy cloud-like tendrils and delicate lavender flowers sculpted from Duralar, a translucent film, seem to waft from the wall into the physical realm of the viewer. Lizée also uses actual light and shadow to spark a sense of wonder in the viewer and create a transformative experience as one’s perceptions shift with a greater understanding of the relationship between artistic materials and exhibition space. The installation serves as a metaphor for the journey of our personal and shared life experiences. Lizée’s wondrous dreamscape transports viewers on a voyage of fluidity and fluctuation, testing  our understanding of the familiar and expanding our awareness of the fantastic.

About Los Angeles World Airports Art Program

The mission of the LAWA Art Program is to enhance and humanize the travel experience by providing diverse and memorable art experiences throughout the airport. The Art Program includes temporary exhibitions, permanent installations, and cultural performances. With an emphasis on local and regional artists, the Art Program provides access to an array of contemporary artworks that reflect and celebrate the region’s creative caliber. For additional information, please visit lawa.org.

About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

            LAX is the seventh busiest airport in the world and third in the United States.  LAX served more than 74.9 million passengers in 2015.  LAX offers 742 daily nonstop flights to 101 cities in the U.S. and 1,273 weekly nonstop flights to 76 cities in 41 countries on 64 commercial air carriers.  LAX ranks 14th in the world and fifth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed, with more than 2.1 million tons of air cargo valued at over $101.4 billion.  LAX handled 655,564 operations (landings and takeoffs) in 2015. 

An economic study based on 2014 operations reported LAX generated 620,610 jobs in Southern California with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion.  This activity added $6.2 billion to local and state revenues and $8.7 billion in federal tax revenues.  The study also reported that LAX’s ongoing capital-improvement program creates an additional 121,640 annual jobs with labor income of $7.6 billion and economic output of $20.3 billion, $966 million in state and local taxes, and $1.6 billion in federal tax revenues.

            LAX is part of a system of three Southern California airports – along with LA/Ontario International and Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.

            As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities.  Alternative formats in large print, braille, audio, and other forms (if possible) will be provided upon request.