On
Saturday, December 17th,
Downtown Los Angeles' Corey Helford Gallery presents
Sweden-based artist
Mikael Takacs
in his U.S. solo exhibition debut, titled "Embodiment of Secrets," in Gallery 2.
Described as mind-bending and thoroughly mesmerizing, Takacs' portraits capture the imagination with his unbelievable command of paint with marbling effects. Using droppers to distribute acrylic paint across a horizontal canvas, Takacs distorts his subjects' faces by dragging the paint around with various tools like sticks and combs.
To convey his extraordinary use of abstraction, Takacs says, "These
intricate razor-sharp patterns swirl across the canvas as you look at it up close, which then takes the form of a portrait as you take a few steps back."
For his stunning new series featuring 20 paintings, Takacs
uses abstraction
to manifest his subject's innermost thoughts and desires not meant to be known by others. The viewer is given "just enough" to get an idea of what they are looking at, and then left half-way, encouraged to interpret the rest of the image themselves.
Upon a closer look, one can make out an arrangement of feathers, spirals, and waves as they emerge from his signature palette of light and dark turquoise, ochre, and fuchsia.
The results are a gorgeous example of a centuries-old method of creating art as modern portraiture and design.
"I Make up Stories to Seem More Interesting" (acrylic on canvas, 27.5" x 39.4")
"I find that the half-abstract nature of my portraits makes it both easier and harder to connect with my subjects. It's harder in the sense that you can't really see who it is, or maybe even what it is. It may be easier to connect with them for basically the same reasons, as you can project so much of your own thoughts onto someone you can just barely see," Takacs shares.
"I Have Lived Previous Lives" (acrylic on canvas, 27.5" x 39.4")
In preparation for his exhibition, Takacs performed a unique experiment: "Since my portraits tend to look fuzzy and a bit blurry, which has a somewhat 'anonymyzing' effect, I decided to let my subjects embody the secrets or confessions of those willing to anonymously share them with me. I placed out 'confession boxes' at a few different work places around Stockholm, and then asking the workers: "Would you like to share a secret?" I also asked my Instagram followers the same question. The response was huge, and the secrets ranged from dark to what some might call trivial confessions. These secrets are carried by the subjects in this series. They embody them."
Opening reception for Mikael Takacs will be hosted Saturday, December 17th from 7-11pm in Gallery 2. The reception is open to the public and the exhibition is on view through January 14th, 2017.
About Mikael Takacs:
Mikael Takacs is a marbler born, raised and still based in Sweden. He uses pipettes to distribute acrylic paint across the canvas to create his subjects, which he then distorts by dragging the paint around using various tools, like sticks and combs. He combines the classic abstract expression of marbling with concrete figures. This results in intricate patterns that forms his subjects. Variations of this technique has been around for hundreds of years, but in spite of that, his pieces are often mistaken for digital art.
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 re-located in December 2015 to a robust 12,000 sq. ft. building in Downtown Los Angeles, seven times larger than its original space, 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 sq. ft.,
providing total immersion for its attendees.
New exhibitions are presented approximately every four weeks. For more info and an upcoming exhibition schedule, visit
coreyhelfordgallery.com
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COREY HELFORD GALLERY
571 S. Anderson St. (Enter on Willow St)
Los Angeles, CA 90033
Tel. 310.287.2340
Open Tuesday-Saturday, 12 Noon to 6pm
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