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June 9, 2010
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A Voyage of Growth and Discovery is being exhibited in the same studio space where it was first
conceived and developed.

LOS ANGELES, CA.- West of Rome Public Art presents A Voyage of Growth and Discovery, an
immersive art experience created by artists Mike Kelley and Michael Smith. This exhibition marks
the first Los Angeles exhibition for both artists in nearly a decade; Kelley has not been the subject
of a solo exhibition in Los Angeles since 2001, and Smith’s work last appeared in the group
exhibition “Out of Action” in 1998. A Voyage of Growth and Discovery is a mixed-media work
that includes a multi-channel video, a 30-foot sculpture, and a sound installation. Presented in the
Farley Building, which has served as Mike Kelley’s studio since 2008, viewers have the unique
opportunity to enter into the artist’s studio and view the work in a location that is traditionally off
limits to the public.

The two-and-a-half hour, six-channel video component of A Voyage of Growth and Discovery
follows the existential journey of Baby Ikki, a character conceived and portrayed by Michael Smith,
as he wanders through an annual art event and temporary community based on radical self
expression and self-reliance in Nevada's remote Black Rock Desert. The installation evokes the
festival's fantasy-like environment, which is both folksy and grand—a mixture of fairground,
playground, hippie commune, and the futuristic architectural aesthetic of R. Buckminster Fuller.

A Voyage of Growth and Discovery is being exhibited in the same studio space where it was first
conceived and developed. By opening the studio to the public, West of Rome calls into question the
traditional division between the artist's public and private spheres: the studio, which is normally
reserved as a secluded, private space, is now turned inside out as it becomes the official site of
public presentation.

Bringing the visitors to the Farley Building, where the studio is located, serves as yet another
occasion for West of Rome to highlight a part of the city outside the art-world's usual path, making
the installation highly interesting in terms of both its history and its present state. Ethnic diversity
and a large population of creative professionals have long characterized the neighborhood of Eagle
Rock, which only in recent years has seen a dramatic process of gentrification. Tucked in the hills
of North-East Los Angeles, the Farley Building, once served as a self-storage facility, is a typical
construction of the local landscape.

A Voyage of Growth and Discovery is a collaborative project by Mike Kelley and Michael Smith. It
was curated by Emi Fontana, and co-produced by West of Rome Public Art and the SculptureCenter
(Long Island City, NY), where it premiered in Fall 2009.