ARTIST GETS TO THE HEART OF SOCIAL CONNECTIONS IN A SOLO ART INSTALLATION AT LA/ONTARIO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

ARTIST GETS TO THE HEART OF SOCIAL CONNECTIONS IN A SOLO ART INSTALLATION AT LA/ONTARIO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

(Los Angeles, California – November 3, 2015)  Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), in partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, announces a solo exhibition titled Missing Persons, featuring Los Angeles artist Brandy Eve Allen’s sixty plaster sculptures of milk cartons. Inspired by the 1980s milk carton campaign created to assist in finding missing children, Allen’s artwork expands on the meaning of a “missing person” and reflects on people who have gone “missing” in some way from her own life. Curated by Elizabeta Betinski, the cartons feature “Missing Persons” photographic portraits and the artist’s written reflections on the now-missing relationship.  Displayed in front of additional large-format photographs of urban and rural landscapes that create dreamlike settings, the cartons are a visual expression of the transient nature of relationships. On display at LA/Ontario International Airport (ONT) on the Departures Levels in Terminals 2 and 4, the exhibition is on view for ticketed passengers through February 2016.

Delightfully analog in an increasingly digital age, Allen’s work references a widespread public service announcement campaign used in the 1980s to locate missing children, the age before we had social media available to help us search for those we’ve lost along the path of our lives. The “missing children” milk cartons mark a moment in pop culture that may resonate with many viewers, while others may find it a fascinating historical narrative about the plight of missing children. Allen appropriates this pivotal campaign in her Missing Persons series to consider relationships that have gone “missing” in her own life: whether because relationships ended, or people moved, or quietly grew apart. Allen’s plaster quart-size milk cartons with black-and-white portraits and writings that resemble private journal entries displayed on each one gives viewers a very intimate look at moments of transience. Set against a backdrop of Allen’s color imagery featuring some of the places that were inhabited by her past relationships, such as a forest, the ocean shore, or city streets, each display of milk cartons is a kind of chapter in a visual art book of the artist’s various relationships, creating an intimate story of both connection and disconnection.

Missing Persons offers viewers an opportunity to reflect on their own moments of connections and disconnections with people in their own lives, especially in the midst of our evolving efforts to create lasting, meaningful connections within the realm of social media. As Betinski points out, “Allen’s work reminds us to treasure each moment of togetherness with those we love.”

About The Los Angeles World Airports Art Program

Initiated in 1990, the purpose of the Public Art and Exhibitions Program at LAWA is to educate and entertain the traveling public at LAX and ONT, and the FlyAway Bus Terminal at Van Nuys Airport. The program showcases local and regional artists through temporary exhibitions and permanent public art installations, which enhance and humanize the overall travel experience for millions every year. For additional information, please visit www.lawa.org .

About LA/Ontario International Airport

ONT is located in the Inland Empire, approximately 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles in the center of Southern California. It is a medium-hub, full-service airport with direct commercial jet service to 15 major U.S. cities and connecting service to

many domestic and international destinations. There are approximately 62 daily departures offered by 7 air carriers. For more information about ONT, please visit www.flyOntario.com, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ONTAirport, and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/flyONTAirport .