A group exhibition curated by Casey Gleghorn at No Gallery – 1115 S, La Brea Ave. LA CA 90036. Opening reception: June 15, 6-9pm.
Nine artists. More Hollyweird than Laurel Canyon. More freeway soot than fairy dust. The guts beneath a glossy finish. Traces of what makes this city run and the fragments it leaves behind. Above all, the jerky energy that keeps it moving—and keeps it fresh. Molly Tierney’s giant flag is right at home in the sprawl, balanced by Arielle Falk’s delicate, disintegrating banners. Bjorn Copeland and Erin Trefry muscle their way through post-industrial and post-consumer yet very personal landscapes of things, making assemblies with equal parts violence and tenderness. Phil Wagner and Jesse Draxler hold up shiny mirrors that reflect back fragments, while the scumbly messes made by Spencer Lewis and Paul Pascal Thériault remind us ways Kim Jones’s Mud Man lingers in Los Angeles still. Shagha Ariannia’s video installation pulls together elements of these visual languages, pairing them with critique that crosses the border from the regional to the national: is “freedom” only ever jerk-off nonsense or is its pursuit a permanent effort and a permanent stain? These works bristle and strain, wallow and stretch, singing scratchy songs that make a curious harmony.
Exhibited together for the first time, the nine LA artists in No Gallery’s inaugural show each have distinctive practices that take unpredictable detours. In dialogue with one another, they exhibit the instinctive, restless drive of the city’s most compelling culture-makers. Tapped into what is making us tick while holding fast to quixotic visions, they cut a clear path for the gallery to follow as it makes its place in LA.
No Gallery is a new gallery in Los Angeles. This exhibition was curated and organized by director Casey Gleghorn.
Shagha Ariannia (b. 1984) – BFA University of California, Irvine; MFA California Institute of the Arts. Highlights: Vincent Price Art Museum, Los Angeles (2017); KCHUNG TV as part of the Hammer Museum’s Made in LA 2014; 18th Street Art Center (2013); Commonwealth and Council (2012)
Bjorn Copeland (b. 1975) – BFA Rhode Island School of Design; Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Highlights: Various Small Fires, Los Angeles (2015); Cooper Cole, Toronto/SF (2016 and 2015); China Art Objects, Los Angeles (2015 and 2007); Jack Hanley Gallery, NYC/SF (2009 and 2008)
Jesse Draxler (b. 1983) – BFA College of Visual Arts, St. Paul, Minnesota. Highlights: Lethal Amounts, Los Angeles (2018); Booth Gallery, NYC (2017 and 2016); The Unit, London (2015); The New York Times; McQ Alexander McQueen; The New Yorker; The Atlantic
Arielle Falk (b. 1983) – BA Eugene Lang College. Highlights: Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton (2018 and 2014); Safe Gallery, Brooklyn (2017); Pablo’s Birthday, NYC (2015); Auxiliary Projects (2013); Franklin Furnace Fund Grantee (2011)
Spencer Lewis (b. 1979) – BFA Rhode Island School of Design; MFA University of California, Los Angeles. Highlights: Harper’s Apartment, NYC (2019 and 2017); Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles (2016); Edward Cella Art + Architecture, Los Angeles (2014); Hayworth Gallery, Los Angeles (2006)
Paul Pascal Thériault – BFA Art Center College of Design, Pasadena; Walter Hopps Residency, Pasadena, CA. Highlights: What Pipeline, Detroit (2016); Grice Bench, Los Angeles (2016); Park View, Los Angeles (2015); Bergen Kunsthall, Norway (2014); Nathalie Karg, NYC (2014)
Molly Tierney (b. 1986) – Pasadena City College; Artist-in-residence, PCC Video and Photography; JJU Collective, Altadena. Highlights: James Wright Gallery, Los Angeles (2019); Gas Gallery, Los Angeles (2018); Pasadena Hastings Branch Library (2018); Vacant Projects (2015-present); founder, JJU Collective
Erin Trefry – Maryland Institute College of Art; Parsons, Paris; The New York Studio Program (A.I.C.A.D.). Highlights: Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Los Angeles (2019); Big Pictures, Los Angeles (2018); BBQLA, Los Angeles (2017); Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions(LACE)
Phil Wagner (b. 1974) – BFA Illinois State University; MFA San Francisco Art Institute. Highlights: Steve Turner, Los Angeles (2017); Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco (2016); Untitled Gallery, NYC (2015, 2012, 2010); Parker Jones Gallery, Los Angeles (2011)
Artists: Shagha Ariannia, Bjorn Copeland, Jesse Draxler, Arielle Falk, Spencer Lewis, Paul Pascal Thériault, Molly Tierney, Erin Trefry, Phil Wagner