JK RUSS PRESENTS HOUSE OF PAPER BIRDS
December 10 – January 4
Hours: Wednesday – Sunday | 6–11PM
Closing Reception: January 2 | 5–7PM
P3Studio
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
3708 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, in partnership with Art Production Fund, is pleased to announce artist-in-residence JK Russ. During her residency, Russ invites guests to join her for the creation of a magical new kingdom. Ruled over by feathered fashionistas in designer stilettos, her collaborative collage installation, House of Paper Birds, turns the foundation of contemporary biological classification on its head.
House of Paper Birds is a collage collision of female forms, birds and desert plants laced with a strong fashion component inspired by The Cosmopolitan itself. The kingdom will manifest itself in two large collages. One window work will feature bird women figures positioned in a desert landscape. Guests will co-create this landscape using rock and sky images from National Geographic magazines. The second collage will be created on panels and feature a surreal flowering Joshua tree created from images cut from fashion publications. The discarded paper cut-outs produced during this process will be left to accumulate on the floor, creation a sea of color as the weeks pass.
Meanwhile, a number of Russ’ completed collages will be on display in P3Studio’s second room. Turned into a reading room for the run of the residency, the space will house a couch and comfortable chairs, so guests can sit and browse the array of magazines at hand. In addition, the room will hold a collaged cardboard bird-head mannequin showcasing a changing selection of fashion items from The Cosmopolitan boutiques. Russ’ residency will conclude with a reception featuring the completed collage works and a screening of the 2012 JK Russ and Mina Kahn collaborative video “Desert City Bird Life.”
Originally from New Zealand, Russ now lives and works in Las Vegas. While her early works explored performative gender and sexuality combining photography with moving image, her recent collages merge popular culture and fashion elements, along with desert creatures and rock formations. In 2012, her work was featured on the Las Vegas episode of “The Ethical Hedonist,” produced for the Travel Channel UK, and in 2013, she was co-winner of “Best Art Import” in Las Vegas Seven’s Best of the City Awards. She is currently represented by galleries in Las Vegas (Sin City Gallery), New Zealand and Australia and is a featured artist and blogger with the Huffington Post.
The artist-in-residence program at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas represents one component of its larger art program, in which artists create projects that are interactive and participatory, giving guests the opportunity to connect at an authentic and personal level. Developed and curated in partnership with Art Production Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to producing ambitious public art projects, it strives to reach new audiences and expand awareness through contemporary art.