Two new public murals make La Jolla debuts on two new sites – San Diego Union-Tribune

The Murals of La Jolla program continues to grow its reach, having established two new sites in La Jolla’s Village — one on the side of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and the other facing an alley on Silverado Street. And in the last month, two new murals from Los Angeles-based artists were placed on them.

Although the murals are located less than half a mile apart, each artists’ perspective and style are distinct.

The first to be installed was Joey Terrill’s “Remembrance,” which was placed on an exterior wall of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego at 700 Prospect St. on Aug. 28.

Terrill, whose work often centers on his identity as a Chicano and gay man, created “Remembrance” in 1989, a tumultuous era for the LGTBQ+ community.

“When HIV and AIDS hit back in the early ‘80s, it was only inevitable that I started to make art about the way that it impacted the community,” Terrill said. “I had friends dying. Famous people were dying, people that I worked with, people that I used to date. It was wartime. (It was) time for me to roll up my sleeves and be a warrior in this.”

Thus, “Remembrance” does not just focus on the ones who were lost during the AIDS crisis, but also those grieving the lost.

An image of Terrill serves as the focal point of the piece, alongside his then-partner Robert Ward. Both he and Ward hold a bouquet of long-stemmed gladiolas and Bird of Paradise flowers, the city of Los Angeles’s official flower. Terrill describes the background of the piece as “a succulent, desert cactus-style garden.”

In selecting that backdrop, Terrill illustrates his and his peers’ own experiences in the 1980s.

“It looks beautiful (but) it also looks treacherous,” he said. “For me, that was metaphorically how we were navigating the psychosocial, sexual dynamics going on at that time.”

Peeking above Terrill’s right shoulder in the piece is a patch of blue sky.

“I looked at that as an indication of potential for hope, or being able to circumvent the treacherous garden we found ourselves in,” he added.

The placement of “Remembrance” at MCASD is particularly fitting, as Terrill’s work is featured in the permanent collection and is a part of the upcoming “Visiones Nocturnas: Queer Nightlife in Contemporary Art,” opening Saturday, Sept. 19.

“Bringing ‘Remembrance’ into public space gives new audiences an opportunity to encounter Joey’s work in an unexpected setting and, hopefully, encourages them to learn more about Joey, his practice, and the history and context surrounding the work,” said Murals of La Jolla director Taylor Chapin.

The second mural that recently went up offers a more abstract style and marks another new site for the Murals program, on the alley-facing side of GDC Construction at 1031 Silverado St. It was installed on Sept. 2.

Los Angeles-based, Seoul-born artist Yunhee Min was commissioned to create a site-specific, original piece for Murals of La Jolla. The result, “Silverado Close-Up” sees Min tap into her career-long fascination with abstraction, color and space.

During past visits to La Jolla, some of the qualities that stuck out to Min were the shades of the sun, the ocean and abundant lighting.

“Abstraction is interesting because it allows and it encourages … multiple readings,” Min said. “Secondly, I’m interested in color in working with abstraction. Color is inherently multiple. If we are looking at the same color together, the way you might experience it … is probably not the same as I see it or I might experience it.”

Like Terrill, Min’s work can be found in MCASD’s permanent collection and previous exhibitions. Min expressed her appreciation for being a part of the Murals program.

“I’m very happy to be participating,” Min said. “It’s an excellent model of a public art program. The program is dealing directly with the property owners, and they benefit, I would imagine. It becomes part of that environment.”

The new site, Chapin added, “gives us an opportunity to expand the presence of the program within The Village. Yunhee developed the composition specifically with the building in mind, considering its scale, proportions, and how the work will be experienced from different vantage points. The mural brings an incredible sense of color and movement to the building and creates another opportunity for people to encounter contemporary art as they move through La Jolla.”

Under the 16 year old, privately funded Murals of La Jolla program, art pieces are on view for a minimum of two years before later being replaced. Murals of La Jolla was founded by the La Jolla Community Foundation and is currently administered by the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. Commissioned artists are selected by an advisory committee consisting of art professionals.