Corey Helford Gallery Presents Four-Artist Group Show Featuring Jang Koal, Krista Huot, Lauren YS and Tina Yu (1/12-2/16)
Group Show Featuring Jang Koal, Krista Huot, Tina Yu, and Lauren YS
OPENING RECEPTION
January 12, 2019 | 7pm - 11pm
ON VIEW
January 12–February 16, 2019
On Saturday, January 12, downtown Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery is kicking off the new year with their first group show featuring new works from Korean painter Jang Koal, Canadian artist Krista Huot, New York-based artist from China, Tina Yu, and Los Angeles-based artist Lauren YS in Gallery 2.
Jang Koal’s new show, entitled Velvet Heart, is her visual expression in describing the mixed and sometimes complex emotions we all feel on a day-to-day basis. Koal shares, “I’ve been visualizing my personal familiarity with my emotions. Emotions are generally divided into broad categories, such as: sadness, anger, happiness, etc. But there are more specific words that can be used when describing feelings of guilt, abandonment, despair, depression, loneliness, boredom, etc. So, I’ve thought about what emotions I’m feeling when, for example, I’m feeling sad and how that feeling could actually be anger, or a mix of emotions. It can be hard to express your feelings if you don’t have the vocabulary to describe how you feel. So, I wanted to express those mixed emotions visually.”
Krista Huot’s enchanting new series, entitled Lumen Naturae, is inspired by storybook illustration, folk art, animation and kitsch. Her paintings explore the emotional relevance of archetypes in folklore.
Huot shares: “The Lumen Naturae is an alchemical concept that teaches that there is a divine light embedded within nature, which will always be present no matter how dark it may become. Darkness cannot exist without light, as there must be light in order to perceive darkness. Light cannot exist without shadow. It is in the balancing and integration of these two opposing forces that we achieve wholeness and enlightenment. Esoteric law teaches As Above, So Below. We see this play out in the world around us, an example being when we observe the orbit of planets around our sun, as well as on a subatomic level, with the circulation of electrons around a nucleus. However, the reverse is also true: As Below, So Above. Humanity has found itself in a dark age. By completing the inner work necessary to enlighten and transform our consciousness, we free our own divine spark of spirit and we help do our part to free the light of the collective. If enough individuals on our planet were to complete this Great Work, we would create an evolution within our species. With this new body of work, I am exploring the alchemical transmutation from darkness to light. I am depicting traditional esoteric symbolism using a storybook aesthetic, in order to communicate this narrative.”
Kristina Huot "Lumen Naturae" (oil on birchwood, 18"x24")
Lauren YS’ new show, entitled Miscreants, brings to life imagined characters from her world who inhabit the desires, challenges and ideals of the contemporary young femme as the artist sees them -- often a strange balance between beauty and darkness, creepy and cute. These paintings depict chimerical, nymph-like characters getting into mischief, being productive, and grappling with real-life afflictions through a fantastical lens. In "To the Races," a nymph-girl flies from the voting booth on the back of a bat (sporting an "I Voted" sticker). In "Crossing Off," one of YS’ characters perches on object resembling a Japanese daruma, whose eye she has crossed out with a knife. A daruma is bought with only one eye, and the buyer makes a resolution--when they have fulfilled that resolution, one is meant to cross out the other eye. This painting is representative of productivity and self-sufficiency. In "Poison Pick," a character with one breast rides the back of a glowing scorpion through a ring of flames. It's commonly said that if scorpions are threatened by fire, they will sting themselves to escape burning. This painting was made while the artist was caring for a friend whose breast was removed because of breast cancer--this visual metaphor is meant to symbolize choosing an evil in order to avoid a greater one; a visual metaphor for picking one's poison.
(L-R): Tina Yu “Bad Luck” (polymer clay, Swarovski crystals (rhinestone flatbacks & beads), wood panel & epoxy resin, 8”(l) x 8”(w) x 11”(h) approx.), Jang Koal “Humming” (natural pigment on Korean Hanji paper, 45.7" x 17.7"), and Lauren YS “Twin Trouble” (acrylic on canvas, 24” x 36”)
In her new show, entitled 动物世界 Animal World, Tina Yu wants the viewer to ask themselves, “What have we done to our planet and to the animal kingdom?” She explains: “Over the years, not only are we slowing destroying our beautiful planet with pollution, which has a significant impact on a lot of species, but we’re also exploiting animals for fashion, cosmetics, and entertainment.
Through this show, I want to raise awareness and open people's eyes to animal cruelty. Animals can't speak for themselves, so we need to be their voices. Don't forget we ARE animals.
I've always believed that animals are the purest spirits on this planet and I dress them in lolita style outfit to represent their innocence. The storyline behind my pieces are the animals who died -- from being hunted, abandoned, tortured, starved, tested on for cosmetics, and forced to entertain -- come back to life as zombies and monsters to protect their species and seek revenge on those who made them suffer.”
The group show opens on Saturday, January 12 from 7pm - 11pm in Gallery 2. The reception is open to the public and the exhibit will be on view through Saturday, February 16. The space is open Tuesday - Saturday, 12pm - 6pm. Corey Helford Gallery is located at 571 S. Anderson St. Los Angeles, CA 90033.
About Jang Koal:
Jang Koal produces enticing narratives populated by a host of daring female characters by blending cartoon-like forms with Eastern painting techniques. Although she has a background in illustration work, Koal started out in painting and employs age-old techniques, using multiple layers of paint on traditional Korean paper, hanji. Cat-like eyes, strong lashes, bright red lips and pale white skin are trademark features of Koal’s powerful figures, the protagonists in a world where exploration and discovery are key. Koal’s first solo exhibition was held in Seoul in 2016
About Krista Huot:
Krista Huot spent her formative years in the forests of British Columbia, where she was trained in fine arts and animation. She has spent over a decade working in the animation industry, most recently painting the backgrounds for season five and six of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Her paintings explore esoteric archetypes and symbolism, using inspiration from storybook illustration, folk art, animation and vintage kitsch. Huot's work has been shown at galleries internationally.
About Lauren YS:
Lauren YS is a Los Angeles-based artist whose work is influenced by multiple stages of focus, both geographically and in practice. With dynamic bouts in academics, literature and writing, teaching, illustration, and animation leading up to her arrival in the urban art sphere, the influences of these phases of her own career add up to a robust style of murals and fine art. YS’ work is influenced by dreams, mythology, death, comics, love, sex, psychedelia, animation and her Asian-American heritage.
YS has completed a residency and solo show at Nychos' Rabbit Eye Movement studio in Vienna and has since shown work and live-painted at various international art festivals and institutions. Festivals include Art Basel Miami, Pow!Wow! Hawaii, PangeaSeed SeaWalls (New Zealand), Pow!Wow! Long Beach, Wallskar Festival China. Outdoor and indoor mural locations include the Long Beach Museum of Art and the World Trade Center in New York. She has shown work in galleries nationwide and in International cities including Vienna, London, Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney.
About Tina Yu:
Tina Yu is a New York-based artist from China with a BFA from Pratt Institute. After developing an obsession with sculpting in college, she decided to pursue her passion and bring her creations to life. Yu’s aesthetic would best be described by “Double C” – cute and creepy. Drawing inspiration from her childhood, the fashion world, movies, animals and nature; Yu brings her own flair to the age-old medium. Two questions are sometimes raised about her work: “Why are they nude?” and “Why is the head so big?”. She believes that sometimes we forget the fiction and fantasy aspect of art. While one can see the influence of Japanese anime/manga on some of her pieces that feature big heads and kawaii facial expressions; Yu explains that this is influenced by her embracing insecurities she had growing up about her size and the size of her head. While she is happy just bringing her babies through sculpting, she hopes to one day tell their story and bring it all to life in a movie or series.
About Corey Helford Gallery:
Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) was first established in 2006 by Jan Corey Helford and her husband, television producer and creator, Bruce Helford (Anger Management, The Drew Carey Show, George Lopez, The Oblongs) and has since evolved into one of the premier galleries of New Contemporary art. Its goals as an institution are the support and growth of young and emerging, to well-known and internationally established artists, the production and promotion of their artwork, and the general production of their exhibits, events and projects.
CHG represents a diverse collection of international artists, primarily influenced by today’s pop culture and collectively encompassing style genres such as New Figurative Art, Pop Surrealism, Neo Pop, Graffiti and Street Art, and Post-Graffiti.
After nine years in Culver City, CHG relocated in December 2015 to a robust 12,000 square foot building in Downtown Los Angeles, where it continues to host exhibitions within the heart of the city’s art community. The current space boasts three separate galleries, each of which house individual artist and group exhibitions, whereas the main gallery offers 4,500 square feet, providing total immersion for its attendees. New exhibitions are presented approximately every five weeks. For more info and an upcoming exhibition schedule, visit CoreyHelfordGallery.com and connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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