On Saturday, October 20, downtown Los Angeles' Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) will proudly unveil a solo exhibition from Irish photorealistic figurative oil painter Nigel Cox, entitled
Solitude & The Road to Extinction
, in Gallery 2.
The opening reception will be held on Saturday, October 20 from 7pm - 11pm, and the show will be on view until November 24.
Solitude & The Road to Extinction─
Cox
's first solo show at CHG─will feature
16 paintings using oil on linen, exploring themes of solitude and extinction, drawing on a wide range of references, from nature to popular culture.
He observes his figures on the busy streets of London, transports them into his calm, minimal spaces, transforming them from anonymous figures in a crowd to the focal point in a vast and mostly empty landscape. Cox sees solitude as a comforting shield against the frenetic world around him. His solitude is a calm place, apart from the crowd while still being within the crowd.
He commenced work on this exhibition, twenty-months ago, exploring extinction and our detachment from it in our everyday lives. The demise of spectacular creatures and destruction of habitats as we go about our lives, oblivious or indifferent to it all. He references creatures he has seen in their natural habitats (elephants and rhinoceros from Safaris in Africa, polar bears from the Arctic leg of his journey on the Transglobe Expedition*, when he was in his early 20s), these beautiful creatures are now on their road to extinction.
As Cox was working on this theme, he started thinking about the type of world we'd be inhabiting in the future, after the fall of civilization and destruction of life as we know it, a post-apocalyptic wilderness. In his new works, we see imagery inspired by popular culture creeping into the backgrounds of Cox's work. He develops subtle discord - a disconnect between the central photorealistic figure and those materializing from the mists. The background figures/elements are understated greyscale depictions─gentle, elusive, mirages seen through a haze.
Cox
's paintings create a mysterious, surreal environment that cleverly keeps one foot set solidly within the real world, drawing the observer into the work to explore narratives that have been subtly suggested.
Cox
shares, "To the best of our knowledge, we are the only inhabited planet in existence. To allow the demise of this incredible, unique sphere of intricate ecosystems could mean the eradication of all life in the universe. Man's roll in the universe should be to explore, settle, nurture, preserve, and proliferate throughout space...long after our dying sun has ceased to exist. We are on The Road to Extinction."
Nigel Cox
's
Solitude & The Road to Extinction
will open Saturday, October 20 from 7pm - 11pm in Gallery 2. The reception is open to the public and the exhibit will be on view through November 24.
The space is open Tuesday - Saturday, 12pm - 6pm. Corey Helford Gallery is located at 571 S. Anderson St. Los Angeles, CA 90033.
*
The Transglobe Expedition: Started in 1979 and successfully completed in 1982, this British expedition was led by Sir Ranulph Fiennes and completed the first circumnavigation of the globe along the Greenwich Meridian, via land, sea and ice over the both poles. Prince Charles was the expedition patron. Nigel Cox was the ship's radio officer. For more info, visit Transglobe-Expedition.org.
About Nigel Cox:
Nigel Cox was a previous finalist in the prestigious Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, and has exhibited with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2010, 2015 and The Discerning Eye Prize. Based in London, UK, he shows internationally with recent group and solo exhibitions in London, Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong, Mykonos, Italy, Germany, Austria and Ireland.
With a love of solitude, developing thought provoking narratives and in capturing fleeting moments in the life of a solitary figures, Cox's work draws influences from a multitude of inspirations, from the Dutch Masters to the Surrealists, the landscapes of the Transglobe Expedition and modern culture, with an appreciation for a refined technique that invokes the past but with a contemporary edge.
Cox grew up on the edge of a small harbor/market town in Ireland, called Dundalk. In his early 20s he was a part of the Transglobe Expedition's team, who successful circumnavigated the globe, via both poles, by land, sea and ice, with Sir Ranulph Fiennes. This three-year expedition to the ends or the earth has strongly influenced his life and paintings. His minimalist landscapes and solitude can certainly be attributed to this period of his life.
After many years of travel and living for long periods in Germany and Holland, Cox returned to London, UK in 1989 and has made it his permanent home.
About Corey Helford Gallery:
Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) was first established in 2006 by Jan Corey Helford and her husband, television producer and creator, Bruce Helford (Anger Management, The Drew Carey Show, George Lopez, The Oblongs) and has since evolved into one of the premier galleries of New Contemporary art. Its goals as an institution are the support and growth of young and emerging, to well-known and internationally established artists, the production and promotion of their artwork, and the general production of their exhibits, events and projects.
CHG represents a diverse collection of international artists, primarily influenced by today's pop culture and collectively encompassing style genres such as New Figurative Art, Pop Surrealism, Neo Pop, Graffiti and Street Art, and Post-Graffiti.
After nine years in Culver City, CHG relocated in December 2015 to a robust 12,000 square foot building in Downtown Los Angeles, where it continues to host exhibitions within the heart of the city's art community. The current space boasts three separate galleries, each of which house individual artist and group exhibitions, whereas the main gallery offers 4,500 square feet, providing total immersion for its attendees. New exhibitions are presented approximately every five weeks. For more info and an upcoming exhibition schedule, visit CoreyHelfordGallery.com and connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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