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On Saturday, May 6, Downtown Los Angeles' Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) is proud to present new works by UK-based multimedia artist Iva Troj and San Francisco-based painter Sergio Lopez in their first exhibitions with the gallery. Both exhibitions will take place in Gallery 3.
Iva Troj
's paintings exhibit the sensibility and feminine grace present in Renaissance era art, combined with her uniquely modern point of view. Growing up in the outskirts of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Troj was faced early on with male dominance in a communist country. The themes in her work vary, but challenging the hetero-normative perspective has always artist Iva Troj been a central concern. Masterfully executed in colored pencil, acrylic, and gold leaf, and ripe with personal symbolism, Troj's new collection "Fallow and Fire" offers her interpretation of social constructs that founded gender boundaries in art.
Iva Troj: "Lions & Monkeys: A Place II"
(mixed media (color pencils, acrylics, gold leaf on canvas) - 22.8" x 33.4")
Set against tapestry-like backgrounds, her portrayals of elegant nudes and animals represent scenes from the artist's own life, while illustrating the duality in female sexuality and beauty. Included in the exhibit are four key pieces from her larger, ever-evolving, "Bride Series." About this body of work, Troj shares: "As a child I was taught to question one-dimensional narratives, which grew from a survival technique to technology of the artistic self. In many ways, I am what you get when you throw ancient Sakar Mountain wisdom failing to adapt to totalitarian ideas right into the pits of post-industrial capitalism. My language may be subtle, but my ideas are not.
Like many artists, I discuss personal experiences. At the same time, I strive to escape the self, an urge that partially stems from crossing borders in the last years of the cold war. Living through cultural starvation in my childhood has made me restless and hungry for honest creativity with an almost childlike curiosity. In that sense, nothing I discuss is strictly personal. Sexual abuse, violence, trauma...I may present an unusual perspective on these topics stemming from the self, but only as an outset. The work needs to keep changing, relive itself, challenge its own conformity."
In the stunning figurative oil paintings of Sergio Lopez, the artist's muses appear to blend with their environment in elaborate displays. The physical boundary is blurred between their bodies and the wild, often floral-patterned fabric backdrops that are draped behind them. For Lopez, the female form is a beautiful, spirited motif that is used to communicate his innermost ideas to the viewer. While his work is grounded in realism, it also possesses a surreal quality, and represents the aspects of art and design that he finds inspiring. In Lopez's ongoing painting series (also the title of his new exhibition at CHG), "Painted Roses" explores his favorite subject matter in a variety of sensual images.
Sergio Lopez: "This Be" (oil on linen, mounted on board - 20" x 18")
Lopez shares:
"In my 'Painted Roses' series, physical boundaries between skin and floral patterns are dissolved. I merge the figure in and out of the background playing with patterns of the femininity and delicacy of roses, with the dark, urban hint of floral tattoos and piercings all loosely played around the soft delicate translucence of the female figure. The patterns become stand-ins for nature as the female figures appear to be in the grips of rapture, as if they are in love with their own bodies and with the flowers. 'Painted Roses' demonstrates how our real and perfect beauty is usually not visible or exposed; it is often covered by external facade dictated by the culture we live in, some of which is not easily removed or separated from one's true self."
The opening reception for Iva Troj and Sergio Lopez will be hosted Saturday, May 6 from 7-11pm at Corey Helford Gallery. The reception is open to the public and both collections are on view through June 3.
About Iva Troj:
Contemporary Art Excellence Artist of The Year 2016 and 2013 Towry Best of East England Award Winner, Iva Troj seamlessly incorporates her vast experience of traditional painting techniques with postmodern elements to create engaging Renaissance-style works that challenge the notion of societal conformity. Knowledge of traditional art techniques were first inspired by the necessity to fit within Cold War aesthetics of social realism. Alongside this, however, lay an acute perception of the reality existent beneath external structures: Troj has long been inspired by Japanese art and culture - traditional and contemporary - evident in the strange characters and icons which populate her landscapes alongside nude renaissance figures. It would be straightforward to assimilate Troj's work with some sort of allegory. However, the artist is open in expressing the danger in utilizing this as a tool that is often too culture specific. Instead by breaking up classical motifs, Iva Troj introduces parallel stories in a postmodern shift, binding the inescapably contemporary with revived histories.
About Sergio Lopez:
Sergio Lopez, born in 1983, is a graduate of the Academy of Art in San Francisco - and is an exemplary painter in a variety of mediums. His artistic knowledge ballooned when he discovered his love of oil painting and charcoal drawing. He filled sketchbook after sketchbook with observations from life as well as drawings from his imagination. The Golden Age illustrators, Bravura painters, contemporary artists, concept designers, graffiti writers, and photographers have been some of his strongest influences in his pursuit of painting. He continues to study by visiting museums and observing the Great Masters, which he strives to learn lessons of beauty from. His paintings of female nudes are unique and arresting. They have been soaring in popularity since they first began appearing in publications such as Juxtapoz, Hi-Fructose, Spectrum, and Bluecanvas. He has even been selected twice as a finalist for the Art Renewal Center's prestigious yearly Salon.
Sergio continues to work in a variety of mediums and styles. From oil and gouache landscapes in and out of the studio to nude gesture studies in newsprint, he enjoys it all. Sergio especially enjoys discovering new vistas, setting up his easel, and creating a piece on the spot. He believes there is no better way to discover the truth and essence of a scene than by standing before it and studying it carefully. Sergio is a native of Sonoma County. He finds the area ever-inspiring, and never ceases to find a new gorgeous area no matter how often he explores. Since he began participating in Plein Air Events in 2010, Sergio has won multiple awards, including Epperson Gallery's Valona Paint Out best of show award two years in a row, 3 awards in the 2010 Paint San Clemente Festival, 2nd place Artist Choice Award for Telluride Plein Air 2013, and Honorable Mention in the Alameda Plein Air event two years in a row. He uses the knowledge gained from painting outdoors in his studio paintings. He also is the co-founder of the North Bay Plein Air Painters group and has been helping organize monthly paint-outs since 2009.
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 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
and connect on
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,
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and
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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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