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28/10/2011

Marta Soul / Amy Ross

Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles

Marta Soul
"Idillios"

Kopeikin Gallery is pleased to announce our first exhibition with Spanish artist Marta Soul, a founding member (2005) of NOPHOTO, a collective of contemporary Spanish photographers.

Idilios (Spanish lyrical word for 'romances') shows a series of romantic situations representing the experiences of one woman with different men. These idealised scenes are about the experience of romantic love; the kiss representing immediate satisfaction, a search for pleasure in a symbolic act devoted exclusively to seduce us, as advertising does. What emerges is a reflection about the ephemeral concept of love and happiness.

Marta Soul's past projects have also reflected on the interplay between image and reality, as well as the mutual influence that each has on the other's meaning. Her work continues to show a strong interest in contemporary society's determined roles for identity, sexuality, culture, and appearance.

Marta Soul was born and currently lives in Madrid, where she studied photography and graphic design. SOLO EXHIBITIONS (selection): 2009 'Wellhome', Center for Photography at the University of Salamanca, Spain; 2008 'Wellhome' and 'Chance of Love', Spectrum Gallery, Zaragoza, Spain; 2007 'Wellhome', Espai Visor, Valencia, Spain; 2007 'Chance of Love', Biennial of Fotonoviembre, Tenerife, Spain. GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selection). 2011 'Face Contact', Photoespaña, Madrid, Spain; 2011, 'Laberinto de Miradas', (Travelling show in Latin America); 2010 'Foto a Foto', Expo Pavilion of Spain in Shanghai, 2009 'Here and Now' (Travelling Show in Europe); 2007-2008 'All Inclusive', International Festival, Lodz, Poland. AWARDS and GRANTS (selection): 2008 Best Foreign Photographer in Pingyao International Photography Festival, China; 2008 Selection in Plattformo8, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland; 2007 Grant from Obra Social 'La Caixa' Fotopres'07.

Marta's website: http://martasoul.com/

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Amy Ross
"Lone Wolf"

Kopeikin Gallery is pleased to announce our first exhibition with artist Amy Ross, who over the past decade has become known for her exquisite rendered watercolors in which flora and fauna are surrealistically conflated.

"I am interested in the idea of artist as mad scientist."
- Amy Ross

The artist is drawn to stories that have emerged and evolved over time to provide explanations for the phenomena, both real and imagined, of the natural world. The most influential theme has been that of "shape shifting," wherein people are transformed, voluntarily or not, into animal form.

"I'm an animal, you're an animal, too."
- Neko Case

The members of the family Canidae, (or canids) are coyotes, dogs, foxes, jackals, and wolves. These mammals regularly appear in Ross' work and have taken on a totemic role in her life. Most canids are social animals that live in packs andf depend on the larger group for individual survival. In speaking of the impact of her last series on this new series the artist sites her younger brother currently serving in Afghanistan and the similarities between wolf packs and military troops. With both, individual survival requires reliance on the group, and one must acquiesce to the hierarchy of social rank and dominance if one is to be part of the group. In turn, the group can accomplish more than can the sum of its parts. But what happens when an individual leaves the pack and its den? How does a "lone wolf" not only stay alive but thrive?

Ross' new work has been made post-divorce, as the artist begin to reconfigure her life and identity without the backdrop and safety net of the proverbial pack. Amy explores the experience of being outside the group; the masks and identities that are experimented with along the way; and how the natural world can provide sustenance even when one is out there alone. What remains is raw instinct and a survivalist mentality: the inclination to hunt and take care of the young (her daughter). So the new series involves dichotomies in both the social and natural worlds: the individual versus the group; the fresh bounty from the farm versus bones found in the woods; death, relics and detritus versus rebirth, growth and potentiality.

Amy Ross was born inn New Jersey in 1972 and lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts. She graduated with a BA in Religious Studies from Connecticut College and went on to receive her Masters in Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass. Her art has long been informed by this academic background in religious studies, and an abiding interest in folklore and mythology. She can often be found at the Harvard Museum of Natural History where she spends far too much time drawing and studying the taxidermied animals.

Ross has been in numerous one-and two person shows since 2001. Recent exhibitions include shows at Jen Beckman Gallery in New York City and at the Allston Skirt and Steven Zevitas Galleries in Boston. Her work is included in many collections, including those of the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA and Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA.

Amy's website: http://amyross.com
Amy blogs at: http://naturemorph.typepad.com/

Image: Marta Soul

Opening: October 29th 6-8pm

Kopeikin Gallery
2766 La Cienega Blvd (just north of Washington) - Los Angeles
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 - 5:00
Free admission

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