Event Coverage: Opening Reception for Aise Born’s “Worth The Weight”
Thursday, September 22 marked the opening reception of Aise Born’s solo exhibition at The Container Yard, in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District, titled “Worth The Weight.” Lights were dim and warm, live music bounced off the dense brick walls of the abundant gallery space, and the atmosphere was elevated with Aise’s opulent artwork.
A Los Angeles native, Aise has established himself well into both the gallery and street scenes- evolving through a spray can as a muralist, to developing his intricately stylized and embellished paintings, which have held space at the A+D Architecture and Design Museum, Art Share L.A., and the California African American Museum. His most recent work outside of this solo show can be seen within the massive UTI Crew’s 30th Anniversary Mural at the Westbrass building in Los Angeles. “Worth The Weight” exhibits a variety of work from over the years, and across several different mediums, including unique collaboration pieces with artists Augustine Kofie and Cache Uno. Aise stated:
“My paintings exist to defy physical boundaries and illuminate the essence of One connection among all life on Earth. As the essence of One is found in the natural environment (Nature), I focus on using a one-stroke technique, that captures the morphological process of plant life, demonstrating the fluid movements of an organism. In my studies, I’ve found many variations of sequences and have been fueled by observing representations of natural elements and their intricacies. I consider the order in which organisms naturally grow, replicating the efficiency, ingenuity, and rhythm of the intrinsic possibilities in Nature. My mental process unites the molecules of a pattern together, and the magnificence of their assorted arrangements prevail. I practice using the human form and illustrating enriched motifs that adorn the subject and radiate the essence of One.”
Curated by Lester P. Grant. Grant, the show beautifully opened the door for a societal discourse between Aise’s observations in our world, and the ethereal aesthetic of his brush strokes, calligraphy, and lush, hand-painted filigree. Grant shared
“The art is jaw dropping; Ash Chan and his crew at The Container Yard welcomed us with open arms and we are lucky to have April Rushing as our publicist. Aise is a genius and finally the world is starting to respond to that. We had almost 25% in pre-sales of the collection before opening night. After opening we are at about 45% in sales and we have an amazing month of artist talks and curator /collectors private tours ahead of us. It’s an amazing and exciting time for Aise. It is a long time coming and so well deserved.”
The show is up until October 22nd, and can be viewed by appointment only. Please contact Lester P. Grant at lester.tgc@gmail.com or 323-671-9362 for inquiries.
Check out our photo coverage below. All photos by Michelle Homami. Follow Michelle on Instagram.
