Materials & Applications
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 | |
| Formation | 2002 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Jenna Didler |
| Founded at | Silver Lake, California |
| Purpose | To pursue a public, participatory, and just culture of experimentation in architecture. |
| Headquarters |
|
Director | Kate Yeh Chiu (architect) |
| Website | https://www.materialsandapplications.org/ |
Materials & Applications is a Los Angeles–based art and architecture exhibition space. M&A's exhibitions typically take the form of outdoor, public installations, and one-to-one architecture. The organization is one of dozens of small non-profit artist run spaces that have been called "feral" in their relationship to larger, more established organizations and museums in Los Angeles.[1] Jeremy Rosenberg, a Los Angeles based writer, has likened it to other "feral" artist-run organizations such as The Museum of Jurassic Technology, Center for Land Use Interpretation, and Echo Park Film Center.[1]
Materials & Applications is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing new ideas in art and architecture into public space and public dialogue. The organization is currently directed by architect Kate Yeh Chiu, preceded by Jia Gu.[2]
The organization was founded in 2002 by artist Jenna Didier,[3] in the front yard of her Silver Lake home and studio. Oliver Hess met Didier in 2004 and joined her as Technical Director of Materials & Applications in 2005 – later become co-director before leaving the organization in 2012[4] From 2015 to 2020, Jia Y. Gu served as director and curator. The current director of M&A is Kate Yeh Chiu. As Amelie Taylor-Hochbert reports in Archinect: "Didier started the driveway-sized venue in the front yard of her Silver Lake home in the early 2000s, looking for a space to establish community and exchange for like-minded architects, artists, designers, and makers in the city."[5]
In 2018, Materials & Applications moved out of its Silver Lake home and relocated its offices to Chinatown. In lieu of their permanent exhibition space, Materials & Applications has expanded their programming into various neighborhoods throughout the Los Angeles area with temporary projects and multi-sited exhibitions. Currently, Materials & Applications activates a storefront exhibition space on Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park and since 2020 activates the courtyard at the Craft Contemporary as part of a multi-year residency. These exhibitions are free to the public.[6][7]
Materials & Applications past artists include Benjamin Ball, Layers LA: Emily White and Lisa Little, Judy Chicago, Gail Borden, Rob Ley, D.V. Rogers, Doris Sung, Jimenez Lai, Marcelo Spina, and Warren Techentin. The organization's work has been exhibited in shows at the Cal State Long Beach University Art Museum and in the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design.[8][9] It is run by a Board of Directors with a young leadership council called the Contemporary Council. The organization has received funding by the Pasadena Arts Alliance, Andy Warhol Foundation, Metabolic Studio, Department of Cultural Affairs, LA County Arts Commission and the Graham Foundation.[10][11]