Southern California's premier modern and contemporary art museum.

Eija-Liisa Ahtila
Lahja-The Present, 2001
Five-monitor installation on DVD-R with stereo sound
Museum purchase with funds provided through prior
gift of Lois Outerbridge

Internationally acclaimed Finnish artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila explores the dark and troubling effects of psychological traumas, psychoses, and mental breakdowns in this suite of five videos of related narratives recounted by young women. Shown on television monitors arranged in a gallery, The Present gives cinematic form to disquieting episodes of madness, evoking hallucinations, phobias, and obsessions. This important large-scale installation by one of the most compelling artists working in film and video today includes some of Ahtila's most enduring and powerful images of women.