Dean and Laura Larson’s We Are All In This Together

By
Raleigh Barrett Gallina
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This month’s LA Art blog features the works of Dean and Laura Larson in We Are All In This Together at MOAH:CEDAR.
This month’s LA Art blog features the works of Dean and Laura Larson in We Are All In This Together at MOAH:CEDAR.

[NoHo Arts District, CA] – This month’s LA Art blog features the works of Dean and Laura Larson in We Are All In This Together at MOAH:CEDAR.

Even though MOAH:CEDAR had some heavy lifting to do when MOAH was closed, MOAH: CEDAR hasn’t slowed down. In a collaborative exhibition, MOAH: CEDAR showcases We Are All In This Together, a fantastical and otherworldy account of contemporary climate concerns and strains through the lens of a mythical animal society.

Dean and Laura Larson hold almost 90 years of experience within the art world between both of them; perhaps most charming is that they continue to be inspirations to one another.

This month’s LA Art blog features the works of Dean and Laura Larson in We Are All In This Together at MOAH:CEDAR.

Set in the Middle Ages,  We Are All In This Together features anthropomorphized figures against a backdrop of 14th and 15th century scenery.

This month’s LA Art blog features the works of Dean and Laura Larson in We Are All In This Together at MOAH:CEDAR.

Laura has created an entire society of familiar creatures, who exist and have as complex (and objectively more deep) of a relationship with the natural world today as humans do. Dean provides the backdrop of grandiose, digitally manipulated photographs.

This month’s LA Art blog features the works of Dean and Laura Larson in We Are All In This Together at MOAH:CEDAR.

Laura’s figures are a hybrid of animal-human creatures called The Mourners, cast as sculptures that are cloaked in Medieval European religious garb. The statuesque figures are unmoving as if petrified for what is happening to their/our world. The Larsons bring us through a cautionary tale that highlights extinction, climate change, and the interconnectivity between the two. Drawn from alabaster figures of monks and clerics, The Mourners traverse various European epochs. From the beginning of time to the downfall of Earth, these quasi-religious figures raise perils of being spiritually separate from Mother Earth and all she offers.

Despite the fantastical nature of The Mourners and details of their history, you can’t help but feel that the imminent destruction of Earth, or rather, imminent need for human intervention to return to care for the Earth.

This month’s LA Art blog features the works of Dean and Laura Larson in We Are All In This Together at MOAH:CEDAR.

Artists:

Dean and Laura Larson

Exhibition:

We Are All In This World Together

July 22 – September 10, 2023

MOAH: CEDAR
44857 Cedar Ave, Lancaster, CA 93534