EVER SURREAL
Opening: Saturday, August 1st, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Exhibition: August 1st – September 1st, 2015
Artists:
Andrew Brandou, Casey Weldon, Jeong Woo-jae, Jeremiah Ketner, Leila Ataya, Martin Hsu, Naoto Hattori, Nicole Bruckman
Window Installation by Amy Van Gilder & Nicole Bruckman
On Saturday, August 1st, Flower Pepper Gallery is pleased to present Ever Surreal, a wonder filled collection of works by Andrew Brandou, Casey Weldon, Jeong Woo-jae, Jeremiah Ketner, Leila Ataya, Martin Hsu, Naoto Hattori, and Nicole Bruckman. Ever Surreal brings together a select group of artists whose fantastic and surreal works are incredibly executed and exude magic. Participating artist Leila Ataya says of her works, “I would like to entice you in a surrealistic ambiguity through the narrative of the portrayed objects and especially fruits as they have always been looked at as more than just a source of food, constantly intertwined and tangled with religion, life, sex, and many other aspects of life and human nature. Paintings are filled with double meanings and symbolic hooks of the concepts within the subject.” Just as Leila Ataya creates enticing and pristine works ripe with symbolism, artist Naoto Hattori’s stream-of-consciousness paintings leave you feeling as though you have just awaken from a sublime dream. "My vision is like a dream, whether it's a sweet dream, a nightmare, or just a trippy dream. I try to see what's really going on in my mind, and that's a practice to increase my awareness in stream-of-consciousness creativity. I try not to label or think about what is supposed to be, just take it in as it is and paint whatever I see in my mind with no compromise. That way, I create my own vision," says Naoto Hattori.
All of the artists for Ever Surreal will create 4-6 new pieces for this exhibition, resulting in a collection of work that will transport the viewer to a fantastic realm where the line between dreams and reality will become obscured. Whether it’s the vivid candy colored works of Casey Weldon and Jeremiah Ketner, or the hyper realistic works of Jeong Woo-jae, each piece contains an element of surprise ripe with wonderful juxtapositions. In the interview with Arrested Motion, Casey Weldon says, “The color palette I work with has been gradually getting darker, and I was getting really into recreating the glowing and reflecting colors of bright lights. The subject matter has been more about dying man made media, like television, radio, and print, and having them lost in the overgrowth of the constant of nature. It’s more natural than magical. Maybe supernatural.”
The reception is open to the public and on view until September 1st, 2015.
VIP Preview Link: www.flower-pepper.com/vip-preview
To request the password, please email: contact@flower-pepper.com
Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1006046172753447/