Matthew Chase-Daniel

ARTIST SELLS STAR RELICS IN VENICE

New Mexican Artist Matthew Chase-Daniel has come to Los Angeles for the summer to make a splash on the Venice Beach Boardwalk. Veritable Los Angeles Culture Star Relics is a performance, an installation, and a retail venture. The artist, with his camera, backpack, and small plastic bags has been following a "Star Map" through the streets of Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, and Malibu to gather bits of esoteric memorabilia which he assembles in small framed reliquaries. Amid an odd arrary of leaves, flower petals, pine needles and dirt - to name just a few of the objects he has amassed - Chase-Daniel composes each star relic as a document: including photos of the site where each object was found, photos of the nearby star home, and text describing exactly when and where it was collected.

These "reliquaries" are now available at the Venice Boardwalk in an going sales performance Chase-Daniel will document on video. "I wanted to reflect on the influence that television and movies have in the world these days," says Chase-Daniel from his studio at the Santa Monica Airport. "Making something that is this ridiculous, yet saleable, is a way for me to comment on our obsession with stardom and the power that Hollywood has in the contemporary world."  The Venice Boardwalk, a historic carnival-like destination for both tourists and Angelinos is an ideal venue for the project.

"I’ve gotten a wide range of responses," he says,"from incredulity, to desire, disgust, and praise. Some see it as a joke, others as something they really want to posess." Chase-Daniel is well-known for his large-scale photo collages and ephemeral sculptures made of wild plants. His artwork has been exhibited throughout the US and abroad, He is represented in California by the Craig Krull Gallery in Santa Monica. Boardwalk vendor locations are awarded weekly by lottery, so Chase-Daniel’s exact location will vary throughout August. (2007)