Cornceptual Popstraction
dal 5/11/2004 al 12/12/2004
Segnalato da
5/11/2004
Cornceptual Popstraction
cherrydelosreyes, Los Angeles
The artists in the show, Amir H. Fallah, Chris Grant, Nathan Mabry, Antonio Adriano Puleo, and Rob Thom, came to UCLA graduate school from five different backgrounds, and while their individual work was critiqued, lauded and ripped apart, their shared experience formed a serious (and humorous) friendship. The show is an affectionate reflection of their time together in the form of an artist book and exhibition that captures their work and lives
Amir H. Fallah / Chris Grant / Nathan Mabry / Antonio Adriano Puleo / Rob Thom
cherrydelosreyes is proud to present a book launch and exhibition for Cornceptual Popstraction, a fond farewell to the camaraderie of grad school from five promising young artists: Amir H. Fallah, Chris Grant, Nathan Mabry, Antonio Adriano Puleo and Rob Thom.
The artists of Cornceptual Popstraction, Amir H. Fallah, Chris Grant, Nathan Mabry, Antonio Adriano Puleo, and Rob Thom came to UCLA graduate school from five different backgrounds, and while their individual work was critiqued, lauded and ripped apart, their shared experience formed a serious (and humorous) friendship. Now that they have almost all graduated (one has seven months to go), the typical grad school question looms large--"What's next?" Their answer--Cornceptual Popstraction --an affectionate reflection of their time together in the form of an artist book and exhibition that captures their work and lives as graduate students. This full color 64 page book comes complete with a forward by their mentor and professor John Baldessari, and includes ten pages by each artist separated by collages of photographs, drawings and memorabilia that form the guiding principal behind their self-generated title. Part yearbook, art piece and object, the publication Cornceptual Popstraction is a visual romp through the complicated and beautiful world of five young, determined artists who became vital friends.
The exhibition Cornceptual Popstraction will have the artists1 work interface in ways that had previously existed only as verbal dialogue. While their individual media may be diverse, many investigations and themes are shared -- manipulation of nature and the natural world, stretching traditional figuration, earnest portrayals of the mundane as sublime, and fantastical expeditions into nostalgia, memory and science fiction.
Amir H. Fallah is currently an UCLA MFA candidate for May 2005. His work can also be seen in an upcoming exhibition at 4F gallery in Los Angeles. His paintings include flat, graphic passages mixed with faux, expressionist swatches of paint, Morrissey lyrics side by side with detailed patterning, and love notes to female painters professing his love for their work, all stacked precariously on top of each other.
Chris Grant received his MFA in 2003 from UCLA. Grant creates modular landscape sculpture based on a series of mathematical analysis dictated by the site specificity for a particular work. Initially working with numbers, the results however yield such work as an enchanting patch of forest fashioned from hand-cast tree tops and trunks as if an anime set became 3-D.
Nathan Mabry, UCLA MFA 2004, will be in the much-anticipated exhibition Thing at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles opening February 2005. Mabry is becoming a master of ceramic materials and methods; blending the historic with the popular in a playful manner. For example, his portrayals of anthropomorphic animals and ethnographic figures produce grand allusions usually found in literary fiction.
Antonio Adriano Puleo, UCLA MFA 2003, will have his first solo exhibition at cherrydelosreyes in February 2005. He is also working with Lucas Schoormans Gallery in New York. Puleo composes his complex, harmonious paintings and works on paper with collages of vintage fabrics, ornithological prints, gold leaf, acrylic, oil and fluorescent-patterned grounds. His discrete yet overarching narrative juxtaposes the nostalgic with the new creating a dynamic emotional and visual conundrum.
Rob Thom, UCLA MFA 2004, is represented by Black Dragon Society, Los Angeles. He has a solo show at LFL Gallery in New York during October. Thom1s exquisite, sometimes-eerie figurative paintings and drawings transport the viewer to places one might visit in fever-induced dreams or nightmares.
November 6 through December 12, 2004
An opening reception will be Saturday, November 6, 2004 7-9pm.
Note new extended hours: Friday - Sunday 11am - 6pm
Image: a work by Amir H. Fallah
cherrydelosreyes
12611 Venice Boulevard
Los Angeles