Los Angeles art to be explored in panel and reception in galleries of the Armenian Museum of America

WATERTOWN, Mass.—Following a successful opening of “On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s-1990s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection,” the Armenian Museum of America has announced a panel discussion with three prominent artists in the exhibition.

On Saturday, October 29, the Museum will be hosting a conversation with Laddie John Dill, Gregory Wiley Edwards and Joe Fay. Bolton Colburn will moderate the panel discussion, which begins at 2:00 p.m. and will be followed by a gallery reception at 3:30 p.m. Collectors Joan Agajanian Quinn and her daughter Amanda Quinn Olivar will also be present.

“On the Edge” includes more than 75 works by leading artists including Lita Albuquerque, John Altoon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lynda Benglis, Vija Celmins, Claire Falkenstein, Frank Gehry, David Hockney, Helmut Newton, Ed Ruscha and Andy Warhol.

“Our new contemporary show has excited visitors and art critics in Boston, so we are pleased to offer this program to the public,” explains executive director Jason Sohigian. WBUR called the show one of the top five things to do in Boston, and it was reviewed by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mark Feeney in the Boston Globe. WGBH arts editor Jared Bowen has featured the exhibit on NPR’s Morning Edition, Boston Public Radio and Open Studio.

“On the Edge” was curated by Rachel McCullah Wainwright. “The work and artists on display represent a period of history that transformed art making,” states Wainwright. “Art made in Los Angeles during the late 1960s and 1970s onward is defined by a unique spirit of anti-conformity, a play of new materials, a celebration of light, and the California cool ethos.”

Laddie John Dill (Photo courtesy of the artist)

The panelists have several works in the exhibition. Dill’s neon “portrait” of collector and muse Quinn sits on a narrow wall in the center of the large gallery. Dill gained notoriety with materials such as glass, metal, neon and cement, and his work embodies gesture and dynamic physical presence through its use of industrial materials.

Gregory Wiley Edwards (Photo: Robert Hale)

Edwards’ large abstract expressionist canvas “Expanded Resonance” captures your attention immediately upon entering the Adele and Haig Der Manuelian Galleries. His style is influenced by performance, activism and his investigations into African art and philosophy.

Joe Fay in his Livingston studio (Photo: Emily Fay)

Fay has two pieces in the current exhibition including a colorful portrait of Quinn. Inspired by the natural world, Fay gleaned a philosophy of experimentation that motivates his practice.

Colburn is the curator of collections and exhibitions at Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University. He is a former director of the Laguna Art Museum, senior curator of the Laguna Art Museum and senior curator of the Orange County Museum of Art.

The exhibition and this panel discussion are presented by the JHM Foundation. The suggested donation to attend is $15. Admission is free for students and members of the Armenian Museum.

Guests are asked to RSVP online for the October 29 event.

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Armenian Museum of America

The Armenian Museum of America is the largest Armenian museum in the Diaspora. It has grown into a major repository for all forms of Armenian material culture that illustrate the creative endeavors of the Armenian people over the centuries. Today, the Museum’s collections hold more than 25,000 artifacts including 5,000 ancient and medieval Armenian coins, 1,000 stamps and maps, 30,000 books, 3,000 textiles and 180 Armenian inscribed rugs, and an extensive collection of Urartian and religious artifacts, ceramics, medieval illuminations and various other objects. The collection includes historically significant objects, including five of the Armenian Bibles printed in Amsterdam in 1666.