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Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

  • Exhibitions
    • Current
    • Upcoming
    • Past
  • Calendar
  • Learning
    • Artist Residency
    • Bookshelf Residency
    • Digital Projects
    • Public Programs
    • Schools & Community
    • Special Projects
  • Visit
  • About
    • Staff
    • Governance
    • Press
    • Partnerships
    • Opportunities
    • Annual Report
  • Shop
  • Get Involved
    • Spring Benefit
    • Join
    • Institutional Support
    • Artist Edition Series
    • Sustainability
    • Corporate
  • Donate
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Back To Exhibitions
February 11
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May 14
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February 11
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May 14
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Upcoming Events

Milford Graves: Fundamental Frequency

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Performance
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Milford Graves: Fundamental Frequency is dedicated to the life and work of the late interdisciplinary artist Milford Graves (1941–2021, born in Jamaica, Queens), whose revolutionary experiments—spanning music, medicine, movement, and art—explore the cosmic relationship between rhythms and the universe. Instrumental in the Free Jazz movement, Graves is best known as a percussionist, yet he applied his interest in rhythm far beyond the boundaries of music. A true polymath and innovator, Graves also trained as a cardiac technician to better understand the connection between the drum beat and the heartbeat; invented a martial art form called “Yara,” an improvisational practice loosely based on the movements of the praying mantis, the Lindy Hop, and African ritual dance; operated a community garden as a skilled botanist and herbalist; and taught generations of students as an influential professor in the Black Music Division at Bennington College.

Originating at Artists Space in New York, in collaboration with Mark Christman and Ars Nova Workshop in Philadelphia, Milford Graves: Fundamental Frequency has been reimagined for the presentation at ICA LA. Reflecting Graves’ expansive approach, this comprehensive retrospective includes extensive film, photographic, and archival documentation of the artist’s live performances and dynamic collaborations across the globe including those with Japanese dancer Min Tanaka and jazz musicians Albert Ayler, Giuseppi Logan, and the New York Art Quartet. Also featured is a selection of Graves’ extraordinary assemblage sculptures and related documentation based on his studies of human anatomy and acupuncture, several expressive and rarely seen works on paper, a collection of hand-painted album covers (released under the artist’s own recording imprint, Self-Reliance Program, famously realized in collaboration with pianist Don Pullen), decorated percussion instruments, and a number of Graves’ iconic costumes. Accompanied by a series of live events hosted at ICA LA and at various locations across the city of Los Angeles, this presentation will further underscore the legacy of Graves’ work and the enduring impact of the artist’s singular and holistic approach to sound, spiritualism, and the study of the human body.

Images
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Installation view, Milford Graves: Fundamental Frequency, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, February 11–May 14, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane/ICA LA.
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February 13, 2023
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March 03, 2023
On the Same Frequency as Milford Graves

Milford Graves: Fundamental Frequency is organized by Artists Space, New York, in collaboration with Mark Christman and Ars Nova Workshop, Philadelphia. The exhibition is curated by Danielle A. Jackson with Stella Cilman. The presentation at ICA LA is organized by Amanda Sroka, Senior Curator, with Caroline Ellen Liou, Curatorial Assistant.

Major support for Milford Graves: Fundamental Frequency is provided by Karen Hillenburg and Sebastian Clough.

The exhibition is also generously funded by Betsy Greenberg and Steve NyBlom, Akio Tagawa, and Yuval Bar-Zemer.

Additional support provided by Kate Lally and Paul Solomon.

ICA LA is supported by the Curator’s Council and Fieldwork Council.

Milford Graves (1941–2021, born in Jamaica, Queens) was a percussionist, acupuncturist, herbalist, martial artist, programmer, and professor. A pioneer of Free Jazz, Graves was a member of the New York Art Quartet, whose iconic first recording in 1964 featured poet and social activist Amiri Baraka (then LeRoi Jones). In 1967, Graves joined powerhouse saxophonist Albert Ayler’s quartet and they went on to achieve great praise for their seminal performance at John Coltrane’s funeral. In 1972, Graves invented a martial art form called “Yara,” which he developed and taught in his dojo in Jamaica, Queens. Graves later joined the Black Music Division, at Bennington College, where he taught for 39 years. In 2000, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and in 2015 he received the Doris Duke Foundation Impact Award. He is the subject of a critically acclaimed feature-length documentary, Milford Graves: Full Mantis (2018), directed by his former student, Jake Meginsky, with Neil Young. Among his many notable recordings are In Concert At Yale University (with Andrew Cyrille, 1966); Dialogue of the Drums (with Andrew Cyrille, 1974); Meditation Among Us (1977); Grand Unification (1998); Beyond Quantum (with Anthony Braxton and William Parker, 2008); and Space/Time Redemption (with Bill Laswell, 2014).

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Database Exhibitions
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STATUS ID Title Start date End date Featured image Last updated
Active Published
68 Brognon-Rollin:
Maybe Some Of Us Will Change This
2019-03-17 2019-06-30
Img 8214 3
2:28pm Nov 17, 2020 Page
Active Published
63 Patty Chang:
The Wandering Lake, 2009–2017
2019-03-17 2019-08-04
Ica chang 24
3:05pm Oct 01, 2019 Page
Active Published
19 Maryam Jafri:
I Drank the Kool-Aid But I Didn’t Inhale
2019-02-10 2019-06-30
Icla2.12.19 60
4:45pm Apr 09, 2020 Page
Active Published
64 Lucas Blalock:
An Enormous Oar
2019-02-10 2019-08-04
Icla2.12.19 95
4:52pm Apr 09, 2020 Page
Active Published
62 Adrian Piper
What It’s Like, What It Is #3
2018-10-07 2019-01-06
1991 what its like 3
12:12pm Jul 16, 2019 Page
Active Published
61 Agency of Assets:
Reality Augmented
2018-09-30 2019-01-06
Agencyofassets
1:44pm Apr 07, 2020 Page
Active Published
4 B. Wurtz:
This Has No Name
2018-09-30 2019-02-17
Wurtz install 05
4:54pm Apr 09, 2020 Page
Active Published
6 Nina Chanel Abney:
Royal Flush
2018-09-23 2019-01-20
Abney install 02
11:58am Jul 16, 2019 Page
Active Published
2 This Brush for Hire: Norm Laich & Many Other Artists 2018-06-03 2018-09-02
Brush for hire 14
9:02am Dec 06, 2021 Page
Active Published
20 sisters and brothers 2018-04-22 2018-06-17
Brothers & sisters 02
11:54am Jul 16, 2019 Page
Active Published
18 rafa esparza: de la Calle 2018-04-22 2018-07-15
Rafa esparza install 02
11:46am Aug 03, 2021 Page
Active Published
9 Grandfather: A Pioneer Like Us (1974) 2018-02-04 2018-04-22
Szeeman install 10
11:49am Jul 16, 2019 Page
Active Published
8 Skip Arnold: Truffle Hunt 2018-01-28 2018-04-08
Arnold install 11
11:45am Jul 16, 2019 Page
Active Published
1 Martín Ramírez: His Life in Pictures, Another Interpretation 2017-09-09 2017-12-31
Ramirez install 02
6:55pm Apr 02, 2020 Page
Active Published
7 Abigail DeVille: No Space Hidden (Shelter) 2017-09-09 2018-01-14
Deville install 02
11:37am Jul 16, 2019 Page
Active Published
5 Sarah Cain: Now I’m going to tell you everything 2017-09-09 2018-03-11
Ica cain 2017 09 06 001
1:19pm Nov 16, 2021 Page
Active Published
11 Moshe Ninio:
Rainbow:Rug
2015-01-17 2015-04-02
1
11:39pm Sep 22, 2017 Page
Active Published
10 Brian Weil, 1979–1995:
Being in the World
2015-01-17 2015-04-18
1
11:40pm Sep 22, 2017 Page
Active Published
12 Citizen Culture: Artists and Architects Shape Policy  2014-09-13 2014-12-13
1
11:38pm Sep 22, 2017 Page
Active Published
13 Anri Sala: Dammi i Colori  2014-09-12 2014-11-08
1
11:34pm Sep 22, 2017 Page
Active Published
14 Robert Swain: The Form of Color  2014-05-17 2014-08-23
1
4:59pm Mar 08, 2018 Page
Active Published
15 Nonfictions: Jeremiah Day/Simone Forti/Fred Dewey  2014-05-17 2014-08-23
3
11:38pm Sep 22, 2017 Page
Active Published
17 Xylor Jane: Sea Legs 2014-01-18 2014-04-05
Xylor jane 017
5:08pm Mar 08, 2018 Page
Active Published
16 Keltie Ferris: Doomsday Boogie 2014-01-17 2014-04-05
Keltie ferris 021
5:07pm Mar 08, 2018 Page
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