Hundreds of film and art lovers convened at James Fuentes Gallery to celebrate the opening of “Some More Collages,” Jim Jarmusch’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles.
It was Saturday night, and chatter bounced off the concrete floors of the gallery as visitors sipped wine and seltzer and tried to snap photos with Mr. Jarmusch, the New York filmmaker and indie luminary.
Twenty-eight of Mr. Jarmusch’s small, minimal newsprint collages hung on the walls, along with three larger lithograph edition prints. (Though he’s not picky about which papers he collages with, he often uses The New York Times.)
“I find Jim to be extremely original and innovative,” Scarlet Sobranie, 68, said as she explored the cavernous space. “He has a huge fan base here in Los Angeles.”
Mr. Jarmusch, 72, has made more than a dozen films, including “Down by Law” (1986) and “Coffee and Cigarettes” (2003) — often capturing strangers as they wander through one another’s orbits in different cities. He has also produced music, written poetry and created visual art, specifically hundreds of collages. In a room buzzing with devotees, he was a quietly commanding presence who naturally stuck out with a distinct crop of white hair.
He shared his small, surrealist collages with the public in 2021, when he held his first solo show at James Fuentes Gallery in New York.
While those pieces were abstract compositions that layered newsprint and celebrity heads on mismatched bodies, his newer work is a bit more eerie, leaving black cutouts in the place of people’s faces.
“I’m not analytical or very precise in my procedure, you know, intentionally — that’s my strength,” Mr. Jarmusch said as he drank a glass of white wine. “I like imperfection, and that’s why I love newsprint.”
Although Mr. Jarmusch is rooted in New York, he has an abiding appreciation for Los Angeles.
“I love cities, and I have people I love here,” Mr. Jarmusch said. “It’s not really the Hollywood scene — more musicians and artists that I know — but I like L.A. because it’s so itself. It’s particular.”
Tay Trong, a 51-year-old artist dressed in black overalls and a hat covered in dozens of multicolored sunglasses arms, said he first encountered Mr. Jarmusch’s work in college, and found inspiration in Mr. Jarmusch’s candid perspective on originality.
“He says, ‘Take from everything, because not everyone can be original, and that makes everyone original,’” Mr. Trong said, paraphrasing one of Mr. Jarmusch’s most popular quotes.
“He gives you a good starting point, and you don’t have to be guilty about it,” Mr. Trong added. “But then it’s ironic, because he’s totally original.”
Aralia Molina, 37, who drove from Tijuana, Mexico, and her friend Maria Cochinita, 51, who traveled from San Diego, said the show was worth the drive.
“Growing up, watching films of Jim Jarmusch was always part of my youth culture, and it was counterculture,” said Mx. Cochinita. “But I’m glad that this is happening. I’m glad that he’s getting that recognition.”
Throughout the night, a crowd orbited around Mr. Jarmusch, as people politely tried to grab a moment of his time.
Brianna Lara, the metalsmith behind Fumsup Silver, was waiting for an opportune moment to give him a piece of jewelry that was inspired by his 2013 movie, “Only Lovers Left Alive.”
“I want my pieces to exist among certain people that I admire,” Ms. Lara, 27, said. “I think he has an eye for nuance and probably appreciates something that came from someone that was cut from the same cloth.”
After the reception, Mr. Jarmusch’s friends and colleagues walked over to the Italian restaurant Ètra for a relaxed dinner party.
As LCD Soundsystem played softly over the restaurant speakers, guests settled into cozy booths and clustered around tables. Mr. Jarmusch sat alongside RZA, the Grammy-winning musician and the chief architect of the Wu-Tang Clan, and his wife, Talani Diggs.
“I’m loving the collages,” said RZA, who composed music for Mr. Jarmusch’s 1999 cult classic “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.” “Me and my wife, we see two that we want to try to bring home with us.”
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