VINCENT PRICE ART MUSEUM PROUDLY PRESENTS GRANDMA ENTERTAINMENT FRANCHISE BY YOSHIE SAKAI
October 21, 2023
ON VIEW OCTOBER 21, 2023 – FEBRUARY 3, 2024
Monterey Park, Calif. (October 21st, 2023)– The Vincent Price Art Museum (VPAM) at East Los Angeles College is proud to announce the opening of “Grandma Entertainment Franchise” by Yoshie Sakai. In her first solo museum exhibition, Grandma Entertainment Franchise, artist Yoshie Sakai brings together three immersive installations produced over the last three years: Grandma Day Spa, Grandma Nightclub, and Grandma Amusement Park. These three distinct but interconnected installations, composed of Sakai’s video and sculptural work, satirically reproduce public sites of leisure, re-imagined with grandmothers as their target demographic.
Grandma Entertainment Franchise stems from Sakai’s reflections on her own grandmother, or obaa-chan, who came to live with her family when the artist was nine years old. Sakai’s memories of her obaa-chan open a searing, tragicomic inquiry into society’s obsession with youth and innovation, as evident in the outsourcing of elderly care, urban redevelopment and disinvestment, marketing demographics, and our notions of desirability, success, and the good life.
Grandma Entertainment Franchise builds on Sakai’s probing, affect-laden excavations of capitalism, family dynamics and social structures, and the psychology that writes them in space. This exhibition critiques capitalism’s production of space and ways of being, while also drawing on popular forms of entertainment and media to engage diverse audiences, especially those historically devalued, ignored, and seen as burdens.
The exhibition is organized by the Vincent Price Art Museum. The exhibition is guest curated by Dav Bell and Ana Iwataki.
Generous support for this project is provided through a grant from the Mellon Foundation. Additional support provided by a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant.
About the Artist
Yoshie Sakai is a multidisciplinary artist who works primarily in video, sculpture, installation, and performance. She has exhibited and performed locally at Munzón Gallery, Long Beach (2023); Torrance Art Museum (2023, 2013); ArtCenter DTLA (2020); University Art Gallery, California State University Dominguez Hills (2019); Visitor Welcome Center, Los Angeles (2018); and internationally in Cambodia, Canada, Germany, Japan, and Korea. Sakai is the recipient of the City of Los Angeles (COLA) Individual Artist Fellowship; California Community Foundation Fellowship For Visual Artists; Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, and was in residence at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Drawing in 2014. She received an MFA from Claremont Graduate University, BFA from California State University, Long Beach, and BA in Communication Studies and Classics from UCLA. She lives and works in Gardena, California.
About Vincent Price Art Museum
The Vincent Price Art Museum (VPAM) at East Los Angeles College serves as a unique educational resource for the diverse audiences of the college and the community through the exhibition, interpretation, collection, and preservation of works in all media of the visual arts. VPAM provides an environment to encounter a range of aesthetic expressions that illuminate the depth and diversity of artwork produced by people of the world, both contemporary and past. By presenting thoughtful, innovative, and culturally diverse exhibitions and by organizing cross-disciplinary programs on issues of historical, social, and cultural relevance, VPAM seeks to promote knowledge, inspire creative thinking, and deepen an understanding of and appreciation for the visual arts. Learn more about VPAM at VPAM.org.
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About East Los Angeles College
East Los Angeles College (ELAC) is the largest of nine two-year community colleges within the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). More information about ELAC is available online at www.elac.edu. Follow ELAC on social media at Facebook @EastLACollege, X/Twitter @EastLACollege, and Instagram @ELACHuskies.
For VPAM press inquiries, please contact Katie Dunham, Katie Dunham Communications, at katie@katiedunham.net.
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For VPAM or Grandma Entertainment Franchise press inquiries, please contact Joseph Valencia, Curator of Exhibitions at jvalencia@vpam.org. Learn more at vpam.org.