Fool's Gold

Noysky Projects presents Fool’s Gold, an exhibition that references fallacy, illusion, and the masqueraders who perpetuate untruths. Situated off the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Fool’s Gold was inspired by the tension between the myth of the Boulevard as a glamorous destination and the reality as a place of tawdry souvenirs and misfortune.

California and the American West have historically been celebrated as places where legends are born and dreams are made. Fantastical narratives tell of new beginnings, finding the perfect mate, striking it rich, and even becoming famous. Nathanael West’s The Day of the Locust was one of the earliest novels to challenge those narratives and take the hot air out of Hollywood. Set in the late 1930s, the satirical novel features the outcasts who were drawn to lore of California. Most eventually turn bitter and resentful when they learn that their California dreams are an unattainable fantasy:

“The sun is a joke. Oranges can’t titillate their jaded palates. Nothing can ever be violent enough to make taut their slack minds and bodies. They have been cheated and betrayed. They have slaved and saved for nothing.”

Many of the works in Fool’s Gold mirror the skepticism in The Day of the Locust, questioning our undue emphasis on inflated storytelling, particularly in this era of misinformation, post-truth politics, propaganda, and the cult of personality.

Themes explored include: Makenzie Goodman and Adam Stacey’s installation of a West Texas town that has been abandoned by society; Jessica Williams' haunting paintings of classic Angeleno lore; Tom Dunn’s rock 'n' roll artifacts that blur the line between fact and fiction; Ryan Harrison Gould’s photography that examines the false narratives dictated by the adult film industry; and Camille Schefter’s assemblages that explore failed courtship rituals.