Design

Frédérick Gautier Takes on the Soon-To-Be Revived Los Angeles River

Frédérick Gautier’s Eat the River, 2016.
Frédérick Gautier’s Eat the River, 2016.

A longtime public eyesore, the Los Angeles River will soon be getting a major facelift as the result of a controversial redevelopment plan led by Frank Gehry in cooperation with the city. But before the beautiful new buildings and beautiful new people drive out the old, experimental artist Frédérick Gautier has taken up residency in the historic riverbank community of Frogtown.

“Everything is already there in the water, on the shores, under the bridges: the traces, the flow, the light, the sound and color,” Gautier said before embarking on his site-specific work, Eat the River, featuring 100 assemblages and sculptures derived from his travels along the waterway. At downtown Los Angeles’ Please Do Not Enter, beginning September 21.