SAVE THE DATE & PREVIEW: Pool y Marianela “Kidstianism: A New Plastic Religion,” plus Click Mort “Posthumorous / Post Mort ’em,” and Dan Barry “Passing Time” at La Luz de Jesus Gallery – February 2nd

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Friday night is the opening reception for Pool y Marianela + Click Mort + Dan Barry at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. See more details below about the artists and their work. Hope to see you there!


Pool y Marianela
“Kidstianism: A New Plastic Religion”

Argentine artists, Marianela Perelli and Pool Paolini, turned 33 models of Barbie and Ken into religious icons for an exhibition called “Barbie, the Plastic Religion“. The show featured Barbie as the Virgin Mary and Ken as Jesus Christ and included religious figures from Catholicism, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism with versions of Barbie as Joan of Arc, Mary Magdalene and the Virgin of Lourdes. The show provoked widespread controversy in several languages from Argentina to France. As a result, the artists were invited by Mattel and Les Art Decoratifs to display four of their pieces in the museum of decorative arts in the Palais du Louvre, Paris, and were also received in the Vatican by Pope Francis who accepted a gift of their Barbie, “Our Lady of Lujan“.

For their latest show, Pool y Marianela return to the tropes of religion and escapism via Kidstianism, which transforms popular dolls and action figures into religious icons and also includes paintings and a Barbie rosary! The centerpiece of this sure-to-be-controversial exhibition will be a life-sized, full-body, edible Christ cake, which will be sold by the slice.

Pool y Marianela – Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Pool y Marianela – Kitty

Pool y Marianela –G.I. Joe

Pool y Marianela –Baphomet Hordak

Pool y Marianela –Rosary of the Holy Barbie


Click Mort 1954-2017
“Posthumorous / Post Mort ’em”

 

Artist Christopher Doran, aka Click Mort, used to leave oddly shaped, altered toys on the shelves of stores in Los Feliz. He began purchasing ceramics off the internet, painstakingly “dismember” them then put them back together in what he called a “recapitiation”, turning the once cute figurines into a surreal, almost deranged mini-sculptures.

Click passed away last October. He was a native of Los Angeles, was a musician who played with The Cramps for a few months and later, The Loafin’ Hyenas but for most of his musical “career”, played solo, at home…

Click Mort was more than just an artist on our roster. He was a dear friend,” says Matt Kennedy, the gallery’s director. La Luz de Jesus also published Doran’s book, The World’s Best Loved Art Treasures. Director James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy), a collector of Doran’s work, wrote in the book’s introduction: “The thing that represents my soul best of all is an alligator’s body with a little nurse girl’s head on it. At least one person in the world — namely Click — finds that lovely. I know he does because he spent countless hours crafting it. – Matt Kennedy, Gallery director, La Luz de Jesus as quoted in Catherine Wagley’s article about Click for the LA Weekly

Click Mort –Pickle-Headed Knee Ride

Click Mort – Cabbage Holding Birds

Click Mort – Dog with Infant and Marinara Sauce


Dan Barry 
“Passing Time”

The artworks in Dan Barry’s Passing Time exhibition have been created in 2017. On one level they are a reflection of the fragility of human life, loss, transitions, and anxiety. And, on another, the series chronicles the artist’s daily personal response to the general climate of dread and chaos found in current world events. For those who choose to take the time to engage with these mixed media drawings, it is Barry’s hope that some of the works utter a delicate whisper, while others deal a more brutal blow.

As with previous series of artworks, the creation of each art object, from beginning to end, is a purgative and meditative process for Barry. Creation begins with the collecting and gathering of antique frames, found paper and ephemera – close to home and on the artist’s trips abroad. Finding inspiration in these collected objects, images and surfaces, Barry begins to combine them, creating layers of images, textural beauty, applying meticulous drawing techniques – thus building up a history of marks. The resulting art objects contain surreal visions and personal narratives. Although left intentionally ambiguous in narrative, it is the artist’s goal to provide the viewer with enough signifiers of meaning, and hopefully an emotional charge, thus allowing you to derive your own personal meanings.

“For as long as I can remember I have been an explorer, a collector, an image maker, an artist and a story teller with a self revelatory urge. My artworks have always been a reflection, and ambiguous journal, of what is happening in my life, mind and surroundings at any given time.

I grew up on a farm in a rural part of the American midwest. At a young age I began digging in old dumps, exploring abandoned farmhouses, gathering and surrounding myself with found images and objects. After completing my chores, I spent a lot of my free time day dreaming, making art and environments. At the age of 15, I became an antique dealer. The money that I earned buying and selling antiques allowed me to attend a private high school and a small liberal arts college where I studied cultural anthropology and fine art. These formative experiences directly influence my love for worn, distressed and perfectly stained surfaces.

Using collected imagery, found objects and meticulous drawing techniques, I create layers of images, textural beauty and meaning set in a world of humor and at times fragile vulnerability. The creation of each art object, from beginning to end, is a purgative and meditative process. The resulting art objects contain surreal visions and personal narratives. Although often ambiguous, it is my intention to provide enough signifiers of meaning, and an emotional charge, allowing the viewer to derive their own personal meanings found within my art objects.” – Dan Barry

 

Dan Barry – Anxiously Awaiting

Dan Barry– Beautiful Delusion

Dan Barry– I Remember You


Exhibition:
Artists: Pool Y Marianela, Click Mort & Dan Barry

Opening Reception:
Fri. Feb. 2, 8-11 PM
Runs through Feb. 25

Address:
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90027

 

 

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