Pretty: Disturbing

Recycled waste art depicting the defacement of nature in our consumerist society is not a new concept. However, the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art has adopted this tried-and-true tactic as the basis of their latest exhibit “Pretty: Disturbing.” By allowing four female artists—Pamela Grau Twena, Nancy Harlan, YaYa Chou and Miriam Wosk—to display their interpretations of waste’s metamorphosis to beauty, OCCCA has offered a new, contemporary spin on the idea. Witness the rebirth of all the socks you’ve lost in the dryer with Grau Twena’s “Crustaceans,” and see what happens to all those grocery bags that fly away in the wind in Harlan’s collaboration “Pacific Vortex.” Plus, Chou shows us how to have fun with food by creating a parasite symbolizing our nation’s compromise of food safety in “Allelopathy,” and Wosk shows her inner beauty through materials found around her everyday life. You’ll never look at your garbage the same way again.
Sat., May 2, 7 p.m., 2009