Corey Helford Gallery Presents Jon Ching, Lori Nelson, and Susanne Apgar (1/25-2/29)
Three-Artist Show
OPENING RECEPTION
January 25, 2020 | 7pm - 11pm
ON VIEW
January 25 – February 29, 2020
“Reciprocity” by Jon Ching
Click here for sample of exhibit images
Downtown Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery is proud to announce a three-artist show featuring mini-solo’s from self-taught Hawaiian painter Jon Ching, Brooklyn-based Lori Nelson, and Toronto-based Susanne Apgar opening January 25th in Gallery 2.
John Ching, devoted to his art practice and creative detailed realism, is inspired by the interconnectedness of nature including the minute idiosyncrasies of flora and fauna. New creatures and symbioses emerge in his meticulously rendered oil paintings, exemplifying the endless potential of life on Earth.
Regarding his new series, entitled Succession, Ching shares: “I present the world recovering after the Anthropocene, the age of humans. In the wake of the irreversible imprint we left on the planet, a world of fractured ecosystems and unrecognizable habitats, everything must adapt, finding a new balance. The surviving flora and fauna regenerate with novel feats of evolution as biodiversity explodes once again, establishing a new natural world. In these works, I continue to define ‘flauna,’ creatures in the liminal zone between animals and plants. As the lines between biological kingdoms, and even elements, are blurred, overlapped, and intersected, new connections and adaptations are made. Water is at its most abundant in the post-Anthropocene, further encouraging the blending of organisms across habitats. Still, some creatures remain relatively unchanged, providing an anchor to our present time.
Succession is part warning, part lesson, and all hopeful. Regardless of whether we choose to reflect on and accept the lessons painstakingly learned from our past in order to find ecological harmony, the natural world will endure and undoubtedly produce beauty and magic as it always has. The aspiration of a beautiful and bountiful planet Earth is constant in my work - the hope that we not only bear witness to Earth’s potential but to aid in achieving it sustainably. As with many artists inspired by the natural world, addressing the tension between humans and nature is inevitable. These works, which are among my more elaborate and complex, are my newest contribution to this important conversation.”
Lori Nelson, armed with a technique utilizing wide, chunky strokes and understated colors, tackles timeless issues like change, fear of technology and isolation. Nelson’s newest show, entitled Betwixt, focuses on the anxiety, wonder, and exuberance of breaking out of childhood. She shares, “For the past six years I have been simultaneously witnessing my offspring’s adolescence and painting about tween/teen monsters. This is not a coincidence. Many people believe that being young and horrible is a phase that once navigated, can be tidily left behind. I was obligated to relive my own cringiest era as my children became monsters right before my eyes. Unexpectedly, I experienced their pain doubly as it mirrored so closely my own familiar old pains. Now, with our household all safely past the most difficult of the years joining childhood with adulthood, I can now look at the whole ordeal of adolescence as a pretty universal microcosm of life. The magical years of youth will always be of interest to me as condensed and distilled versions of the human experience.
When I paint my Cryptotweens, I acknowledge not only the legions of young people who mistakenly believe themselves to be uniquely monstrous but also the older people who still possess that little beast inside, at once shy and brash, with the potential of a surprise reawakening.”
Susanne Apgar’s newest works, entitled Course Correction, explore the nature and trajectory of personal and romantic relationships: optimism and hope for the future, ignored red flags and signs of trouble, commitment and personal sacrifice, followed by casualness, coldness and ultimate disposal. Apgar shares, “The commodification of love, a result of the shallowness of consumerism, leads to eventual heartache. Connections that seem deep one moment are quickly reduced to hashtags the next.
I express the beauty of love combined with absurd pain, through the depiction of real and imagined botanicals. Love and beauty are universal truths, yet often, lurking behind the façade, lies something quite sinister and damaging. The beauty of florals obscures the hidden, inherent risks of love and vulnerability. We want to exist in the splendor and excitement of new love, while the foundations are neglected. We want easy and fun while ignoring the effort required to build something lasting. In the end, it is all disposable – like flowers received from a lover, only to wither and die and be thrown away. We create false narratives to avoid pain, to trick our minds.
My work reveals the reality of love after the withdrawal from dopamine-overload. Tending to the Garden of Love is relentless and exhausting, yet the knowledge that all flowers fade is too much to bear. These paintings reflect the obsessive mind, narrowing in, focusing on every detail – real or imagined – all created out of fear. The course correction of life is never ending.”
Opening night for this three-artist show is Saturday, January 25th from 7:00pm-11:00pm in Gallery 2, alongside a group show, entitled The Influence of Fellini: A Surreal 100th Birthday Celebration, in the Main Gallery and a solo show from Marion Peck, entitled Red Clown, Blue Clown, in Gallery 3. Corey Helford Gallery is located at 571 S. Anderson St. Los Angeles, CA 90033 and normal hours are Tuesday – Saturday, from 12pm - 6pm.
About Jon Ching:
Jon Ching grew up steeped in natural beauty on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i, which formed the foundation of his deep fascination with the natural and wild world. A self-taught painter, Ching’s devoted art practice and detailed realism is inspired by the interconnectedness of nature. While dedicated to the minute idiosyncrasies of flora and fauna, Ching’s work is a surreal imagining of what limitless wonders and combinations nature can produce. New creatures and symbioses emerge in his meticulously rendered oil paintings, exemplifying the endless potential of life on Earth. His work is often driven by his personal desire to find balance between the human and natural worlds, exploring themes of symbiosis and searching for connections, physical and metaphorical, across nature’s kingdoms. Ching’s ultimate hope is to inspire love and admiration for the universally unique beauty and intrigue of our world.
About Lori Nelson:
Armed with a technique utilizing wide, chunky strokes and understated colors, Lori Nelson tackles timeless issues like change, fear of technology and isolation. Remarkably, the paintings have a very modern feel, which creates a great juxtaposition to the classic style of the work. What is most remarkable about her art is the life she gives to the environments: each tree, blade of grass, and handheld device seems to have a developed personality of their own. The end product is a meta experience, making the person in the painting just another part of what is really a portrait of the entire scene.
About Susanne Apgar:
Susanne Apgar’s artistic impulses appear to have been triggered or perhaps galvanized by a simple surrealist coffee-table art book in her childhood home. Amazed and obsessed by the peculiar images like a fur-covered cup and spoon, long legged elephants and outed inner visions, her path was set. Permission granted. Susanne was born in New Jersey and raised in Montreal. After completing a BA, she studied Illustration and Design at Dawson College followed by Fine Arts at Concordia University. She generally works in oils and is currently spending time on gallery work, teaching and freelancing in editorial, advertising and book illustration. Her paintings are exhibited in galleries across Canada, the U.S and Australia. She currently works out of Toronto.
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 (The Conners, Anger Management, The Drew Carey Show, George Lopez) 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.
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. CHG is located in Downtown Los Angeles in a robust 12,000 square foot building presenting new exhibitions approximately every six weeks.
For more info and an upcoming exhibition schedule, visit CoreyHelfordGallery.com and connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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