The Library Foundation of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Public Library present No Prior Art: Illustrations of Invention, an ambitious exhibition and program series inspired by and drawing from the LAPL’s patent and intellectual property resources and ultimately exploring the broad nature of human creativity. No Prior Art delves into creators’ unexpected stories and diverse perspectives with the work of more than a dozen artists and makers at the intersection of art, science, and social impact.
Part of PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative—and on view from September 14, 2024 through May 11, 2025 at Central Library—No Prior Art features approximately 150 sculptures, photographs, drawings, models, inventions, and new commissions, highlighting the imaginative spirit of creators throughout American history. The exhibition title, No Prior Art, is a play on a legal term integral to the patent application process indicating that the claims of the invention must be unique and have no obvious precedent in existing patents. The project includes work from Mixografia, a multigenerational art studio that invented and patented a unique three-dimensional printmaking process; Pippa Garner, a trans artist whose outrageous inventions act as an exploration of the body and a critique of consumerism; and KAOS Network, an Afrofuturistic innovation lab in Leimert Park founded by artist/filmmaker Ben Caldwell, among many others.
No Prior Art in the press
Los Angeles Review of Books
“Mother of Invention [VIDEO]”
Contemporary Art Review LA
“No Prior Art: Illustrations of Invention at the Central Library’s Getty Gallery”
LA Public Press
“LA Central Library exhibit elevates tools-of-survival by incarcerated Californians”
Hyperallergic
“Art as the Mother of Invention”
Los Angeles Times
“The busy person’s guide to PST ‘Art & Science Collide’ exhibitions”
Smithsonian
“What Patent Models Can Tell Us About American History”
Thanks to our sponsors
No Prior Art: Illustrations of Invention is made possible with support from Getty through its PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative.
Additional major support provided by The Lemelson Foundation. With additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Gregory Peck Endowment, the Steve and Judith Krantz Foundation, Debra and Norris Bishton, and Stephen and Hope Heaney.
