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You are here: Home / LACE / 2000-2004 / Beautiful Ornaments as Shadows, Crashed Down and a Video of Flickering Light in a 70’s Office Tower

Beautiful Ornaments as Shadows, Crashed Down and a Video of Flickering Light in a 70’s Office Tower


November 16, 2002 – January 18, 2003

LACE presented a solo exhibition by Alice Könitz that ran 16 November, 2002 through 18 January, 2003. An opening reception took place on Saturday 16 November 2002 from 6 – 8 pm. The artist spoke about her work during a joint artists’ presentation with Ruby Neri on 17 January, 2003 at 7 pm. This exhibition was organized by Irene Tsatsos.

Alice Könitz’s exhibition, entitled Beautiful Ornaments as Shadows, Crashed Down and a Video of Flickering Light in a 70’s Office Tower, could be seen even before entering the building. On the windows of the building’s front façade, Könitz installed a vinyl pattern across the viewable area of the glass, which provided privacy and protection from the general street traffic, and enticed and permitted curious passers-by to peek through the slivers of space between pattern elements.

The window installation provided a foreground for the rest of Könitz’s work in the exhibition, which consisted of a series of maquettes and a new sculpture. The sculpture was an amalgamation of her distinct memory of a wooden structure that she visited as a child in Germany, and a set of contemporary corporate office towers located in downtown Los Angeles. This show will also include a series of maquettes – small cardboard and mixed media models – which served as proposals for structures that could function as sculpture, as architecture, or both.

Könitz’s constructions suggested an opening of the modernist aesthetic. Rather than tight, impenetrable forms, there were gaps that revealed sites of potential. There was a purposeful absence in Könitz’s forms that alluded to material breakdown. However, breakdown does not equal disintegration. The spaces were slippages, sites for reconstructing alternate realities and structures. Könitz imagined the viewer relating to her sculptures as pseudo-functional objects, alluding to possibilities in the everyday. Stoking the tension between title, material, structure, and imagined functionality, Könitz played with the viewer’s sense of hope and expectation.

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Filed Under: 2000-2004, Exhibition, Installation, LACE Tagged With: 2002, 2003, Alice Könitz, architecture, Beautiful Ornaments as Shadows Crashed Down and a Video of Flickering Light in a 70’s Office Tower, Exhibition, fabric installation, installation, Irene Tsatsos, Ruby Neri, Sculpture

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LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions)

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We're excited to work with two new Getty Marrow Un We're excited to work with two new Getty Marrow Undergraduate Interns this summer! 

💫 Becca Choe, LACE's Curatorial Intern, is a student at Pomona College studying Art and Politics. She is interested in exploring themes of immigration, home, industrialization, and South Korean political movements with her work as both a student and artist.

💫 Jada Wong, LACE's Communications and Media Intern, is an illustrator, printmaker, and educator who creates whimsical characters and stories to make sense of the world around her. Jada merges her love for the absurd and humor with themes of identity, community, and social justice in her work. 

Join us in welcoming them to the LACE team!
We’re grateful to everyone who joined us at “T We’re grateful to everyone who joined us at “This Home, Forever,” curated by 2025 LACE Emerging Curator Nahui Garcia. The two-day event featured performances by: @0ll668 @perras.bravas @lapovertydepartment  @michelelorusso @pacoimatechno @jakioeoeo

These performances took place during a fraught weekend for Los Angeles, with sirens and helicopters heard across downtown Los Angeles. On Sunday, @perras.bravas performed “Borderland Feelings,” a piece that seeks to shed light on and gather testimonies about the experiences, emotions, and demands that emerge when crossing the border. Participants were invited to share their border-crossing experiences by writing or illustrating them on a butterfly. These butterflies were later read aloud during the performance and placed on a body, symbolizing how the border becomes a scar that marks those who cross it.

This performance, along with the rest of the program, felt especially significant on that day. LACE remains committed to presenting socially-engaged projects and was founded as an experimental artistic space for freedom of expression and art that is socially and politically engaging. 

We’re glad to have shared space with LACE friends, collaborators, and colleagues, as well as new friends. 

Photos by Angel Origgi. (@angeloriggi)
Please join us in welcoming two new members to the Please join us in welcoming two new members to the LACE team! 

 🌟 LACE’s new Communications + Event Coordinator, Ida Tongkumvong is a Los Angeles-based arts administrator and marketing professional with a passion for expanding access to the arts and fostering inclusivity within creative spaces. She holds a B.A. in Communications from UCLA. Her previous roles with Sounding Point, the LA Phil, and CAP UCLA deepened her commitment to broadening arts access through strategic partnerships, inclusive programming, and dynamic storytelling. With a keen interest in public art and community-based initiatives, Ida brings a thoughtful and collaborative approach to audience development and creative event planning within L.A.’s contemporary arts landscape. Outside of work, you’ll often find her at a flea market or estate sale, always on the hunt for a one-of-a-kind find.

 🌟 LACE’s new Production + Operations Coordinator, Johnny Young began making his mark on the Los Angeles arts scene as Gallery and Programming Manager for the Juicy Beats Artist Exchange Lounge in 2000. He has worked with the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), where he played a key role in production and management for their First Fridays program; he was also selected for the prestigious Diversity Apprenticeship Program (DAP) at The Broad, a competitive initiative aimed at training the next generation of museum and gallery professionals from underrepresented communities. Johnny brings a sharp eye for detail, a commitment to equity in the arts, and a dedication to amplifying voices that challenge the boundaries of convention.
Did you get your tickets for “This Home, Forever Did you get your tickets for “This Home, Forever” happening this weekend? “This Home, Forever” is a stage, a forum, and a dynamic workshop nurtured by a group of artists and activists devoted to and inspired by Los Angeles. Learn more and get your tickets at the link in our bio. 

Held on the rooftop of the historic Bendix Building, performances will be presented with a 180 degree view of downtown Los Angeles. See performances by: @0ll668, @perras.bravas, @lapovertydepartment, @michelelorusso, @pacoimatechno, @jakioeoeo. 

Behind-the-scenes photos by @andreuuua  @selene__preciado and @abwyman
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