“Allure” an all new exhibition By Hush at Corey Helford gallery – Opening Reception: Saturday May 28th
One of the most sought-after street and fine artists, HUSH will be exhibiting all new work tomorrow, Saturday May 28th from 7pm-10pm at Corey Helford Gallery, and we are beyond excited as this will be his firs Los Angeles exhibition in 3 years.
For those that are not familiar with his signature pale, porcelain women and bold strips of wild, colorful patterns here is more from the CHG Press Release:
HUSH, inspired by detritus, uses futuristic silvers and blacks clothed in a chaotic collage of colour to create a sensual blizzard of femininity, power and loss. Painted in grayscale, often with the eyes blacked out, HUSH’s female faces are dehumanized. By reducing them to shells of sexuality, he perfectly encapsulates the transient nature of modern life as well as the timeless forces of passion and desire. In what appears to be a luxurious and opulent tale, the hidden truth may reveal otherwise. HUSH lets us in, “Classical Sirens and Japanese Geishas, be prepared to be seduced and discarded like a piece of old flypaper.”
By action painting these faces from history, he achieves “pure expressionism”. The collage-effect backgrounds are screen-printed and hand-painted, then the graffiti elements added by hand in the action painting style, sometimes over many months. The final layer of color replicates sheets of flyposters peeling from our city’s walls whilst the Bravura use of aerosol on the portraits lends the pieces a futuristic sheen, echoing the seductive promise of technological fulfillment.
“Some people think my women are serene, others that they’re dark. What is clear is the power of their sensuality”,
says HUSH. The portraits he paints are imposing and alluring, yet confrontational and unobtainable. The implication being that while the pleasures of modern life are fleeting, the succubus legend remains the most potent, rewarding, and perhaps destructive compulsion offered to man.
HUSH’s unique style is recognizable through its focus on the female form set within backgrounds filled with an expressionist’s freedom of layering and color. The serene balance of traditional painting is combined with a messier passion, influenced by the Western traditions of action painting and graffiti, culminating in a harmony that feels surprisingly natural.
The artist’s mark-making bears the distinct aesthetic of tagging, bringing the rough texture of street art into each piece. Swift gestural marks underlie splashes of paint, looping through lines and over bright combinations of color. With an in-depth technique that includes painting, screen printing and spray-painting, HUSH creates work that instantly draws the eye in and holds the viewer’s focus. Patterns ranging from geometric repetition to florals that conjure up images of royal tapestries and delicately decorated vases are not solely confined to the background but often take shape, forming graceful fabrics. In some works these shapes appear solidly, while in others the central figures are only lightly delineated from the waves of pattern, body and background blending, as if they are sinking into the colorful composition itself.
Along with Hush tomorrow night, CHG will also have solo exhibitions in Galleries 2 and 3 by Lori Nelson, Mab Graves, Yoko d’Holbachie and Amandine Urruty.
This will be a night for art lovers to linger and enjoy the exciting diversity of style and caliber of art that Corey Helford Gallery downtown proudly represents.
Where:
COREY HELFORD GALLERY
571 South Anderson Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033
(entrance to gallery is on Willow Street)
310 287 2340 | Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 12 – 6pm
coreyhelfordgallery.com