de boer (Los Angeles) is pleased to present Play It As it Lays, a group exhibition bringing together the works of nine artists. The title of the exhibition is a reference to a term in golf that means hitting the ball from where it lands. The exhibition also takes inspiration from the titular 1970 novel ‘Play It As It Lays’ by Joan Didion, a ruthless dissection of American life in the late 1960s.
The exhibition brings together representations that align closely with the dissection of American life. Through pictures and objects each artist’s work in exhibition interacts with the cultural aspects of each meaning of the phrase Play It As It Lays and within the social context of ‘playing the hand you are dealt.’ Bringing together artworks that range in genre and style from photo-realistic to faux naive and abstract no one grand and simple theme emerges, the idea of ‘playing the hand you are dealt’ largely resolves when seen in quantity to reiterate a beauty to individuality, unique journeys and self narratives.
Ryan Callis, Murray Clarke, Daniel Fleur, Christian Franzen, Julia Elise Hong, Alissa McKendrick, Claire Milbrath, Azikiwe Mohammed, Noelia Towers