Franklin Avenue: 'Farewell, Work Holiday Parties': Alex Prager's All-Too-Real Art Installation at LACMA

While on the Great Los Angeles Walk last month, my colleague Pat Saperstein posted a few photos on Instagram from what looked like a staged event happening at LACMA: "Farewell, Work Holiday Parties" appeared to be a live, immersive event featuring actors portraying an out-of-control work holiday party. I was a mile or two behind her, and hoped it would still be going on by the time I got to the museum.

And indeed, when I got to the museum an hour or so later, the party was going on. Because here's the amazing part: Artist Alex Prager had not hired actors to re-enact an awful office Christmas. These are all incredibly real-life mannequins, in the most amazing fashion. The exhibit is outdoors, and free to see, making it COVID-safe.

I mean, wow. Here's how LACMA describes the work: "Approaching the work from any direction, the visitor gets the distinct sense that there are a lot of people around. It is strange to see a group gathered without masks, standing very close to one another and even touching as they pose for a picture. You quickly realize the plaza before you is not full of people; it is a tableau made of lifelike sculptures and props depicting an office party bordering on absurdity. Like Alex Prager's photographs, the characters are frozen into detailed, fantastical (pre-pandemic) scenarios. The most absurd thing of all is the eerily real feeling about the sculptures. They are so lifelike that it seems as if one might move at any moment—or that they are looking directly at you."

More from LACMA: "This new world has necessitated new approaches to making art and engaging audiences, and this type of life sculptural work is a new element in Prager's practice. Based in Los Angeles, the artist has been working in performance, photography, and film for years (and a keen eye may even notice a nod to one of her past works under the Christmas tree). This piece came about when Miller Lite approached Prager to make artwork that could be featured in a holiday commercial. Speaking about the inception of the work, Prager said, "It's rare that a project like this comes my way. I have been experimenting with sculpture in my work for years. Miller Lite and DDB trusted me to make 15 life sculptures with complete creative autonomy." The result of this collaboration with Miller Lite is a piece that enlisted Hollywood special effects, techniques of photography, and Prager's signature way of blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. The curators welcomed the opportunity to recontextualize these impressive new works by Prager and the hyperreal sculptures now have a new life beyond the advertisement as artworks for this outdoor installation."