On Saturday, January 21st, 2017, Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles presents their first group show of 2017 with “Sensory Overload” in Gallery 2, featuring 30 international artists expressing their creative stimuli. The opening reception will be hosted Saturday, January 21st, 2017 from 7-11pm at Corey Helford Gallery. The reception is open to the public, and the exhibition is on view through February 18th, 2017.
Sensory overload occurs when one or more of the body’s senses experiences over-stimulation from the environment. There are many environmental elements that impact an individual. Examples of these elements are urbanization, crowding, noise, mass media, technology, and the explosive growth of information, especially in today’s social media-addicted culture. The selected artists channel the visual overload of their surroundings, depicting images of clutter and chaos in nature, society, and in the mind. Their collective new works, ranging from oil painting to sculpture, will open the audience’s mind to how we each experience the same world.
Chicago-based artist Nicole Gordon depicts the ever-presence of technology with her colorful, apocalyptic landscape, entitled “Aquarium.” Gordon shares: “We often experience the world virtually and indirectly which creates an inherent disconnect between ourselves and our environment. We risk the inability to find beauty in the tangible world. Without the quiet moments that inspire creativity and growth we may lose our ability to relate to ourselves and others.” John Brophy points to the highs and lows of its occupancy in our lives with a dash of humor. His oil portrait of Hello Kitty, entitled “Kawaii Jihad,”combines the power of cute with the threat of violence, and boils down sensory overload to basic motifs. Says Brophy, “One of the most poignant conflicts we experience in our emotional lives today is empathy versus apathy. We are equally captivated by the adorable kitten videos we see on Facebook and the appalling suicide attacks that are now regular features on the evening news. We can’t seem to take our eyes off of these hyper-normal images.”
For others, creative stimulants come from within, an overwhelming noise of thoughts and emotions that we bear. Austrian artist Alex Kiessling defines sensory overload as “the moment where all distractions influencing a human being become so vibrant, that the only consequence for the consciousness is a complete shutdown and/or a reset,” which he illustrated in her trippy acrylic portrait of a meditating woman, entitled “Transparent.”New York-based Roland Mikhail represents this dilemma as an ethereal stallion in his profound, acrylic painting, “Horse II”; he shares: “These are the hidden things our animal bodies carry as they’re poured by life through our culture, into our homes, our families, and finally our bodies. We may make our way through this world with all its sensory forms, but it’s easy to forget just how powerfully this world makes its way through us.”
Participating Artists:
ADRIAN COX , ALEX KIESSLING , BEN FROST , CHIE YOSHII , EWA PROŃCZUK-KUZIAK , GOSIA , HANNAH YATA , JOEY BATES , JOHN BROPHY , KRIS LEWIS , KRISTEN LIU-WONG , LAUREN MARX , LAURIE HOGIN , MIKAEL TAKACS , NAOTO HATTORI , NICOLE GORDON , PAMELA WILSON , PETER GRONQUIST , ROLAND MIKHAIL , RUNE CHRISTENSEN , SASHA IRA , STICKYMONGER , TARA MCPHERSON , TEIJI HAYAMA , THREE , TOM BAGSHAW , WINNIE TRUONG , YOKO D’HOLBACHIE , YOUNG CHUN , YUKA SAKUMA
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 re-located in December 2015 to a robust 12,000 sq. ft. building in Downtown Los Angeles, seven times larger than its original space, 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 sq. ft., providing total immersion for its attendees. New exhibitions are presented approximately every four weeks.
For more info and an upcoming exhibition schedule, visit coreyhelfordgallery.com
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