Paranormal Portraits

ON VIEW
October 3 – November 7, 2020

“The Machine Man #7”

Click here for sample of exhibit images

Downtown Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery is proud to announce their next major solo show with world renowned Nigerian artist Arinze Stanley, entitled Paranormal Portraits, will premiere on Saturday October 3rd in Gallery 2.

Inspired by his personal experiences growing up in Nigeria and the current state of society around him, Stanley is driven by creating drawings that trigger a degree of emotional connection between the viewers and his artworks. Using his works as a form of social and political activism, Stanley hopes to use his art to speak for those who can’t speak out for themselves.

In their artist profile, CNN’s Emmy and Cannes Lions-winning global media company, Great Big Story, shared: “You’re not alone if you do a double-take when you see one of Arinze Stanley’s drawings—his portraits are so lifelike, they are often mistaken for photographs. The Nigerian-born artist has no formal training and works with charcoal and graphite pencils, capturing everyday people and their emotions in extraordinary detail. Arinze uses his art to comment on issues affecting Nigeria as well as the rest of Africa, speaking for people who can’t speak for themselves.”

Regarding his new series, Stanley shares: “My art is born out of the zeal for perfection both in skill, expression and devotion to create positive changes in the world. I draw inspiration from life experiences and basically everything that sparks a feeling of necessity. I find myself spending countless hours working on an artwork to stimulate deep and strong emotions, in order to connect more intimately with my viewers. Most times, it’s almost like I lose control of my pencils and the art flows through me to the paper. I work with my Principle of the Three P's: Patience, Practice, and Persistence. These have guided me over the years towards perfecting my craft.”

He adds, “When viewers approach my artworks, I usually get asked how I chose my subjects and the expressions they depict, but the more these questions are asked, the more I realize that I don't have the answers, rather my art is a reflection of how I perceive the realities in my society ─ a simple language of my feelings. In my opinion, artists are custodians of time and reality, hence why I try to inform the future about the reality of today and through these surreal portraits seen in my new body of work, Paranormal Portraits, navigate my viewers into what is almost a psychedelic and uncertain experience of being black in the 21st century.”

Paranormal Portraits opens Saturday, October 3rd in Gallery 2, alongside a group show featuring Handiedan, Hikari Shimoda, Ian Francis, and Kai and Sunny in the Main Gallery and a two-artist show featuring Mayuka Yamamoto and Erika Sanada in Gallery 3. Corey Helford Gallery is located at 571 S. Anderson St. Los Angeles, CA 90033 and normal hours are Tuesday – Saturday, from 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm.

Please note: In order to keep our family of artists, collectors and staff safe, and in compliance with the COVID-19 state-wide mandate, the physical gallery will remain closed until further notice but can be reached via email at jch@coreyhelfordgallery.com.

About Arinze Stanley:
Arinze Stanley Egbengwu was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1993 and graduated from Imo State University with a Bachelor of Engineering in Agricultural Engineering. Starting at the early age of six, Stanley had always been enthusiastic about drawing realistic portraits on paper. Being exposed to his family's paper conversion business, Stanley grew to love and use paper and pencils as his toys at a very tender age. Over the years he gradually taught himself how to master both pencils and paper in harmony, as a medium to express himself through what he calls his three P's: Patience, Practice, and Persistence. The three P’s have guided him throughout his journey as an artist.

Working in a genre of art known as Hyper-realism and drawing from personal experiences growing up in Nigeria, Stanley is driven by creating art that triggers a degree of emotional connection between viewers and his works. Also, gearing his works toward social and political activism, he hopes to use his art to speak for those who can’t speak out for themselves.

Stanley’s debut group show was held in Nigeria in 2016 and since then he has exhibited internationally, both in the UK and all around the U.S., plus he’s participated in notable art fairs around the world including: ART MIAMI, SCOPE ART FAIR and 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair.

Stanley’s work has been profiled by CNN’s Great Big Story, BBC News, VICE, Huffpost, Juxtapoz, Afropunk, and This Is Colossal, among many others.

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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