If you see only one exhibition this year, my vote is for Terry Allen’s “The Exact Moment It Happens in the West: Stories, Pictures and Songs from the ’60s ’til Now.” The 50-year survey of drawings and songs by the artist at L.A. Louver gallery in Venice is so jampacked with love, suffering and resilience that there’s a good chance you’ll be moved to tears.
At a time when narcissistic self-regard seems to be a lot of people’s default setting, it’s refreshing to see Allen’s exhibition. Filling two galleries downstairs and two upstairs, the sharply focused show consists of more than 100 works on paper , a smattering of sculptures and more than 18 hours of songs, performances and radio plays .“The Exact Moment It Happens in the West” is a self-portrait.
Allen’s works have been installed chronologically, in 16 sections. All but a few include headphones so you can listen to the music he was making at the time he was working on his drawings, assemblages and commissioned installations.It’s a great way to look at his art. A soundtrack, and not just a wall label or didactic panel, makes more room for poetry, for freewheeling leaps of the imagination and for stream-of-consciousness associations, not to mention enjoyment and revelation.