EXITING THE VEHICLE | JUST DO IT - a serigraph by Richard Duardo 1997 - AP1232
On June 7-10, 2018, a very moving show was held at the These Days Gallery in Los Angeles in honor of a single print of this extraordinary work. It was the only piece exhibited. The following is an excerpt from their page explaining its significance:
"Over the course of three days in March of 1997 thirty-nine members of the Heaven’s Gate community exited their vehicles with the help of phenobarbital-saturated applesauce and pudding in a rented home in Rancho Santa Fe California.
The following month Los Angeles artist Richard Duardo curated the exhibition “Applesauce and Pudding” at downtown LA’s now defunct Art and Commerce Gallery, about the Heaven’s Gate incident. Duardo, along with several designers, recreated the scene of the group’s “graduation,” their “classroom” and a series of prints taken from a police photo. The image is of an “Away Team” member’s exited shell, their torso covered with a purple fabric, revealing only their legs clad in black sweat pants and their feet in a pair of iconic black Nike Decades.
Two photographs of the original 1997 installation found online show two variations of this print. One with the show’s title “Applesauce and Pudding” and the other with the Nike catchphrase “Just Do It” sans the Nike Swoosh that is found in the bottom left of this print. "
Numbered 7/7. Top edge wear and some water damage, does not affect the image. Measures 21 1/2" x 38".
RICHARD DUARDO ARTIST BIOGRAPHY (from These Days Gallery)
Richard Duardo, born in 1952 grew up in the Boyle Heights section of East Los Angeles and has long been a legend in the Los Angeles art world. He is an artist and Master Printer with more than 25 years experience producing works for over 450 artists including David Hockney, John Van Hamersveld, Mark Mothersbaugh, Chaz Bohorquez, and Keith Haring. Duardo graduated with a degree in graphic design from UCLA in 1976 and spent 1977 as an apprentice to master printer Jeff Wasserman at historic LA print studio Gemini GEL where he worked with some of the most notable artists on the West Coast at that time including Ed Moses, Edward Ruscha, Patrick Nagel, Lita Albuquerque, and Judy Chicago.
He became one of the first artists to work at Self-Help Graphics in Boyle Heights, a now-famous organization that provided training and exposure to young artists and community members of inner-city Los Angeles. As one of the primary centers incubating the nascent Chicano art movement, it became the west coast hub of the major Chicano Poster Movement, promoting art as a non-violent instrument of social change. In 1978 Duardo co-founded The Centro de Arte Publico, the first Chicano-owned serigraphy studio in Los Angeles that quickly became a hotbed of culture in the East LA community. It was here that Duardo would first collaborate with artists Carlos Almaraz, Guillermo Bejarano and John Valadez. His eventual departure from the Centro was the beginning of his mission to produce innovative works in print by artists from around the world. In the 1980s, In addition to his studio, called ‘Multiples Fine Art Printing’ at this time, he opened a traditional gallery space in the Arts District called Future Perfect. The studio also pressed records for its in-house label, Fatima Records, which captured the early Los Angeles punk scene and all movements that sought to disrupt the ‘system.’ Late at night, bands such as the Germs, Devo, and Los Lobos would perform on the studio’s rooftop.
Duardo also held leadership roles in major Los Angeles arts organizations. He joined the Board of Directors for Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, a nonprofit that promotes the intersection of art and public engagement and soon after was appointed to the Board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
As an artist, Duardo is known for producing large, vibrant colored serigraph prints of cultural icons. His contributions to arts and culture in Los Angeles are undeniably invaluable.
Richard Duardo passed away in November of 2014 at the age of 62.
"I believe artists fill in the space that life has mutilated and rendered mute." "
