An exhibition of five new paintings by acclaimed Los Angeles painter Todd Hebert
An exhibition of five new paintings by acclaimed Los Angeles painter Todd Hebert
Todd Hebert, Bubbles & Snowmen
Project room: Martin Durazo - Empathy Design Company #1: Protomatic Philm Phestival,
Phlea Market, and Showroom phor Home and Health
Mark Moore Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of five new paintings by
acclaimed Los Angeles painter Todd Hebert.
In this series of work, Hebert uses his signature airbrush technique to juxtapose
bubbles and snowmen in contrasting planes of perspective. He positions these
precisely formed characters in unpopulated backyards that are "too strangely lit,
too moody and impossible, to reflect the real world," as Jessica Hough from the
Aldrich Museum muses, "we naturally want to bring the image into sharp focus so that
we can see all of what we think is there. But then we realize that the beauty and
appeal of the paintings is in part due to this gossamer fog that cloaks the
landscape."
These pictures display images traditionally associated with whimsy and childhood
play, allusions to the sublime pleasures of suburban life. However, Hebert purposely
leaves them void of reference to nostalgia. He uses elements found in cinematic
photography to bring viewers into the paintings and across their surfaces, creating
succinct narratives of looking and seeing. While reading like elaborately staged
film stills, these scenes remind one of Los Angeles legend John Baldessari's
conceptual based paintings that play with the nature of meaning and notions of art
theory.
Hebert holds a BFA from the University of North Dakota and an MFA from the Rhode
Island School of Design. Receiving the Emerging Artist Award from the Aldrich
Contemporary Art Museum in 2005, his work is included in numerous public and private
collections throughout the United States, including the Weisman Foundation, The
Cartin Collection, The Nueberger Berman Collection and the Los Angeles County Museum
of Art. Hebert lives and works in Los Angeles.
Our project room will feature the first solo exhibition of Martin Durazo's new
installation work at this gallery
The exhibition will consist of a two-part installation taking place in the gallery's
interior project space and in front of the gallery between two travel trailer
campers. The work is an exploration of coded manipulations in consumer culture and
is presented in satire of systematic healing through consumption of material objects
and entertainment. The interior space will contain various monitors and a single
projection with new and older original video works as well as commercial
pornographic material. Additionally the environment will have materials and objects
that manipulate lighting sources and marry conventions of club atmosphere, day spa
chic, and seedy peepshow claustrophobia. The external section of the exhibition is
intended to frame boundaries for a flea market with vintage modernist furniture and
other odd and random selections from area collections and prop houses. The trailers
will also continue nuances contained in the interior gallery space.
Durazo graduated from the prestigious UCLA MFA program in 1998. Recent exhibitions
have included solo shows at La Verne University Art Museum, Pomona College Museum
of Art, Art Basel Miami Beach, The Armory Show, New York, ArtForum Berlin as well as
shows at Suzanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, POST and Raid Projects.
Image: Todd Hebert
Opening reception: Jan 6th, 5 - 7 pm
Mark Moore Gallery
2525 Michigan Avenue, A-1 - Santa Monica
Gallery Hours 10 AM to 6 PM Tuesday - Friday, 11 AM - 5 PM Saturday