Michael Thibault is pleased to present artist Cayetano Ferrer's Vibe Compression, installed onto the gallery's facade.

Prompted with the task of producing a sign for the gallery, Ferrer explores the use of recontextualized architectural motifs in Los Angeles. With Vibe Compression, Ferrer recreates the frontage of Koreatown's Vibe Superclub and places it above the gallery's front doors and windows, resulting in an artwork that fluctuates between ornamentation, commercial signage, and public art.

The tiled pattern lining the exterior walls of Vibe nightclub on Western Ave. draws direct inspiration from the design motif of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House, a Mayan Revivalist residence composed of bricks inspired by ancient structures in Uxmal, Mexico. Far from an exact replica, Vibe's imitation of the Ennis House's brick pattern came with some loss in detail and definition, and an overall 25% decrease in the pattern's physical scale. Inaccurate measurements during construction also resulted in unaligned seams that noticeably break Wright's highly stylized modular design.

Cayetano Ferrer's Vibe Compression reduces Wright's recycled brick pattern an additional 25% while retaining the irregular seams from Vibe's reproduction. Causing additional degeneration in the pattern’s resolution through impoverished materials and technique, Vibe Compression refers broadly to a regional legacy of architectural imitation while focusing on a particular stylistic lineage originating from an enigmatic Mayan origin. Drifting from northeast to southwest, these three iterations enact a procession of architectural citations through the city. 

Cayetano Ferrer (b. 1981) received an M.F.A. from the University of Southern California in 2010. In 2013, he was a recipient of the Los Angeles Artadia Award. Selected exhibitions include: The St. Petersburg Paradox, Swiss Institute, NYC (2014), Made in L.A., The Hammer Museum, LA (2012), forecast the days [...], Galerie Max Mayer, Düsseldorf (2012), On Forgery, LAXART, LA (2011), and The Great Unconformity, Roski MFA Gallery at USC, LA (2010).