Harry Gamboa

The Sixth Expanse Harry Gamboa

THE SIXTH EXPANSE presents 2015-2016 ephemeral actions/encounters by many performers, directed/photographed by Harry Gamboa Jr. during the demolition and erasure of the iconic 6th Street Bridge in Los Angeles. The visual elegance of the 6th Street Bridge structure recedes from view during various actions of walking, dancing, laughing, assembling into groups, while the urbanscape is transformed due to absence, loss of memory, and reconfiguration of spatial relationships between being and disappearance. The 6th Street Bridge was a 1930's construction that was completely destroyed in 2016 to make way for gentrification efforts in the L. A. Arts District and Boyle Heights. This book presents a visual response to 21st Century assaults against historic landmarks and provides a performance art approach to critiquing contemporary real estate ventures vs established communities in urban centers. Harry Gamboa Jr. is an internationally recognized artist. He co-founded Asco (1972-1985) and founded the conceptual troupe Virtual Vérité (2005-2017). His photographs are in the permanent collections: Whitney Museum of American Art; Smithsonian Museum of American Art; Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. He is the author of Urban Exile: Collected Writings of Harry Gamboa Jr. (University of Minnesota Press). His works have been featured: The New York Times; The Wall Street Journal; The New Yorker; Artforum; Art in America; Frieze; Vanity Fair; Flash Art; Los Angeles Times; Le Monde; NPR; and La Opinión. He is a faculty member of the Photo/Media Program at California Institute of the Arts.