Participating artists: Tom Dunn, Makenzie Goodman & Adam Stacey, Ryan Harrison Gould, Camille Schefter, and Jessica Williams.

Curated by Sean Noyce

Noysky Projects presents Fool’s Gold, an exhibition that references fallacy, illusion, and the masqueraders who perpetuate untruths. Situated off the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Fool’s Gold was inspired by the tension between the myth of the Boulevard as a glamorous destination and the reality as a place of tawdry souvenirs and misfortune.

California and the American West have historically been celebrated as places where legends are born and dreams are made. Fantastical narratives tell of new beginnings, finding the perfect mate, striking it rich, and even becoming famous. Nathanael West’s The Day of the Locust was one of the earliest novels to challenge those narratives and take the hot air out of Hollywood. Set in the late 1930s, the satirical novel features the outcasts who were drawn to lore of California. Most eventually turn bitter and resentful when they learn that their California dreams are an unattainable fantasy:

“The sun is a joke. Oranges can’t titillate their jaded palates. Nothing can ever be violent enough to make taut their slack minds and bodies. They have been cheated and betrayed. They have slaved and saved for nothing.”

Many of the works in Fool’s Gold mirror the skepticism in The Day of the Locust, questioning our undue emphasis on inflated storytelling, particularly in this era of misinformation, post-truth politics, propaganda, and the cult of personality.

Themes explored include: Makenzie Goodman and Adam Stacey’s installation based on a West Texas town that has been left in the dust; Jessica Williams’ haunting paintings that hover between myth and reality; Tom Dunn’s rock ‘n’ roll artifacts that blur the line between fact and fiction; Ryan Harrison Gould’s photographs that examine the narratives dictated by the adult film industry; and Camille Schefter’s sculpture that explores American exceptionalism.

Exhibition Images

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On view: September 16 – October 14, 2018

Opening reception: Sunday, September 16, 3-6pm

Hours:  Thursday-Saturday, 12–6pm, and by appointment

Public transportation: Red Line to Hollywood/Highland. Walk 2 blocks east.

Parking: 2 hour validated parking at Hollywood & Highland Center: 1768 N. Highland Ave ($2); 1618 N. Las Palmas Ave ($10); 1520 N. McCadden Pl ($7); or street parking in vicinity ($2 per hour)