Four Cities Suite, Los Angeles 1983

Here we see ‘Four Cities Suite, Los Angeles’ by Hiro Yamagata, the Japanese-born artist known for his laser and hologram artworks. Yamagata presents us with a playful, yet pointed, take on the city of Los Angeles. He spotlights the city’s cultural identity through its entertainment industry. Billboards of Marilyn Monroe, Jaws, and Casablanca create a backdrop for the Hollywood dream. The artist focuses on its cinematic history, but what about the lives behind the camera and beyond the screen? Yamagata includes the Playboy Club, Hollywood Animal House and Little Caesar’s as part of the cultural landscape. We need to ask, who is invited to partake in the Los Angeles dream, and who is excluded? What is the cost of admission, so to speak? With this work, Yamagata asks us to consider the allure and the exclusions of Hollywood and its impact on the cultural landscape. The artwork subtly suggests that fame and fortune are often built on the labor and exclusion of many.