What goes on behind closed doors in Southern California?
- Text by Robin Nierynck
- Illustrations by Ed Templeton
Contemporary artist and skater Ed Templeton explores the sinister depths of suburban life in California’s Huntington Beach, with a new solo exhibition of paintings Synthetic Suburbia at Roberts & Tilton gallery in Culver City, California.
A chronicler of Southern California life, Templeton has long photographed the people and culture around Huntington Beach, where he grew up. Now he’s moving into the suburbs, for an expedition into the secret lives of its residents.
With Synthetic Suburbia, Templeton seeks out the darker side of the coastal town, unveiling its shrouded elements of strangeness and fabrication. “Synthetic Suburbia is a culmination of years of looking at the place where I live and the peculiarity of it,” says Templeton, “I have travelled all over the world and there is no place as strange as Huntington Beach.”
Under the surface of his paintings, which may seem like simple depictions of people going about their daily lives, a private world unravels, exposing a patchwork of facade and carefully constructed images.
Templeton perfectly captures the eeriness of a too-perfect, seemingly idyllic vision of manicured lawns and painted wooden fences. And fences feature heavily in this collection; a physical manifestation of the false front they represent. Templeton explains, “Behind all of these nicely painted houses and planned communities are humans and all the thorny issues that come with them.”
Synthetic Suburbia runs at Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, California, April 25 – May 30.
You might like
How Japan revolutionised art & photography in the ’60s and ’70s
From Angura to Provoke — A new photobook chronicles the radical avant-garde scene of the postwar period, whose subversion of the medium of image making remains shocking and groundbreaking to this day.
Written by: Miss Rosen
The lacerating catharsis of body suspension in Hong Kong
Self-Ferrying — In one of the world’s most densely packed cities, an underground group of young people are piercing their skin and hanging their bodies with hooks in a shocking exploration of pain and pleasure. Sophie Liu goes to a session to understand why they partake in the extreme underground practice.
Written by: Sophie Liu
On The Mountain, Jamie Hewlett’s Gorillaz explore life after death
Going East — As everyone’s favourite animated band release their latest album, the visual artist behind it all catches up with Josh Jones to chat about the grief and spirituality underlining the record, as well as his learnings from how other cultures approach death and the afterlife.
Written by: Josh Jones
The strange suburban mundanity of San Fernando Valley’s porn industry
The Valley — Legendary photographer Larry Sultan grew up in the northern Los Angeles suburb, which also happened to be the 20th century epicentre of the country’s adult film industry. Spending days on set shooting life behind the scenes, his now-canon series blurred fantasy, desire and domesticity.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Greer Lankton’s dolls are more human than you think
Could It Be Love — A staple figure in New York’s ’80s East Village scene, her art shocked and confronted. Now, three decades after her death, a new monograph anthologises her work, which explores the darker sides of human life, but also finds beauty within the strange.
Written by: Miss Rosen
In photos: The colourful, foreboding techno-optimism of the ’90s
A Visual History — Henry Carroll’s new book traces the roots of unfettered, present-day neoliberalism through images from the 20th century’s final decade, raising questions about how we arrived at where we are today.
Written by: Miss Rosen
