CRASH: A Film Series Curated by Elvis Mitchell for ‘Jason Rhoades. DRIVE’

Hauser & Wirth is pleased to present ‘CRASH’, a car-centered film series curated by the film critic and writer Elvis Mitchell. This is the first in a series of public programs occasioned by the exhibition ‘Jason Rhoades. DRIVE’, a yearlong exploration of the art and legacy of California sculptor Jason Rhoades via the subject of cars and car culture. 

The renowned host of KCRW radio’s ‘The Treatment’ Elvis Mitchell conducts weekly in-depth interviews with leading figures of film, television and art. He is the director of the 2022 documentary ‘Is That Black Enough for You?!?’ a history of Black cinema that focuses on the 1970s. Reflecting on his selection of films for CRASH and the work of Jason Rhoades, he writes:

'The twentieth century city, the twentieth century machine and the twentieth century artform that combined art, music and movement – Los Angeles, cars and the movies. LA is a sprawl of a city that, as topography, suggests a Jackson Pollock and cars traverse the city like brushes, like pastels, and movies love to…move, it makes all the sense in the world that each of these things both inspire and feed on each other. And all were a catalyst for the works of Jason Rhoades, who celebrated color, lines and motion in his works. With that in mind, we present a series of films – some of which gave Rhoades a specific kind of spark – to commemorate his fascination with art, cars and the movies: all manifestations of the American Dream.'

At the first screening, featuring Walter Hill’s 1978 classic ‘The Driver,' Elvis Mitchell will introduce the film and the series.

CRASH takes place over five consecutive Wednesdays, March 13 to April 10, 2024, and is free to the public.  Films will be shown in the exhibition gallery with viewers seated amongst the cars that Rhoades considered readymade works of art.   

Reservations are encouraged due to limited seating in the exhibition space. 

Wed 13 March, 8 pm
Introduction by Elvis Mitchell
THE DRIVER (1978), Directed by Walter Hill
1 hr 30 min  
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Wed 20 March, 8 pm
CAR WASH (1976), Directed by Michael Schultz
1 hr 37 min 
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Wed 27 March, 8 pm
THE CAR (1977), Directed by Elliott Silverstein
1 hr 38 min 
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Wed 3 April, 8 pm
DRIVE (2011), Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
1 hr 40 min 
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Wed 10 April, 8 pm
TITANE (2021), Directed by Julia Ducournau
1 hr 48 min 
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About ‘Jason Rhoades. DRIVE’
For Jason Rhoades, the car was a vehicle of artistic pursuit, both readymade sculpture and American idol. Starting 27 February, Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles will dedicate an entire gallery at its Downtown Arts District location to a yearlong exploration of Rhoades’ art via the subject of cars and car culture. Known for the driving imagination and ambition of his work, as well, at times, its reckless provocation and overwhelming materiality, Rhoades (1965–2006) was a world builder for whom the making of sculptures and the creation of narratives were intertwined. His epic-scaled installations made him a force of the international art world in the 1990s while he was based in Los Angeles. ‘DRIVE,’ will unfold over a series of thematic iterations, an ever-changing exhibition of Rhoades’ sculptures, drawings, videos and multiples—enriched by archival materials, public programs and contemporary perspectives.