One of the best-known contemporary artists serves coffee to the public at a Los Angeles gallery

If you happen to be in Los Angeles these days, you may have the opportunity to be served coffee by one of the world’s most famous contemporary artists, Canadian Terence Koh. No, he has not changed jobs: this is a performance organized by the Make Room gallery in the California metropolis and titled Kohfee.

Terence Koh, for his performative action, invites guests to participate in a special coffee ritual that takes place in a specially set up environment, a surreal cave meant to capture the imagination with its lack of artificial light, letting only natural sunlight illuminate it through a side door. During the day, the sun’s rays create a changing landscape inside, stopping on earth, moss and native plants that mingle in a ballet of light and shadows. Each visit to this space is thus intended to become a multisensory experience, enriching the senses and stimulating the mind as visitors then step out onto the street, cup of coffee in hand, ready to explore the outside world with a new perspective. Or at least that is the artist’s intention.

This environment, inspired by Gaston Bachelard’s seminal text The Poetics of Space, is meant to embody his theories of “topoanalysis” and “intimate immensity.” Through Kohfee, Terence Koh (who participates in person by offering coffee to participants), wants to explore the interaction between the human body and its surroundings, challenging the boundaries of corporeality with an exhibition space where, through site-specific installations that explore the marriage between the physical limits of the human body and the expressive potential of confined spatial contexts, the audience is invited on a journey into the intimacy of the human soul, a reflection on the very nature of existence and the deep meaning of being.

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A cave that is also, however, as mentioned, a secret cafeteria, where visitors can immerse themselves in contemporary art while savoring the pleasure of a hot beverage. Indeed, each cup of coffee takes on the function of inviting visitors to explore the world of art with all their senses, in a celebration of life and creativity. Thus, with each cup of coffee served at the puibblico, Koh invites his guests to explore the transformative power of art and be transported on a journey of discovery and wonder.

Terence Koh was born in 1977 in Beijing and grew up in Mississauga, Canada. He graduated from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver. He currently lives in New York City. In 2008, he was included in Out magazine’s “100 People of the Year” list. He has exhibited extensively in the United States and widely abroad. In his installations, objects, wall works and performances, Terence Koh creates a space where memory and imagination mingle with art history and subcultures. He explores themes as diverse as mythology, religion, identity, power, fashion, and sexuality in an often provocative way, charged with possible symbolic readings. He is best known for his monochromatic installations and ritualistic performances.

One of the best-known contemporary artists serves coffee to the public at a Los Angeles gallery

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