Rusudan Khizanishvili // Never Ending Journey // 2018 // Acrylic On Canvas // 39 X 52 //
(Main Gallery)
“Anthropomorphism”
A two-person exhibition premiering works by Rusudan Khizanishvili and KC Ortiz
Exhibition dates: June 23rd - July 14th, 2018
Opening reception: Saturday, June 23rd, 7-10pm
Gallery hours: 1pm - 6pm
Tuesday - Saturday
New Image Art
7920 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90046
www.newimageartgallery.com
323 - 654 - 2192
New Image Art Gallery presents, Anthropomorphism, a two-person exhibition premiering figurative paintings by international artists, KC Ortiz and Rusudan Khizanishvili.
KC Ortiz and Rusudan Khizanishvili transform animals and the wild into a mystical and primal medium. Rusudan’s multi-color pallet and abstract elements emphasize the unruly nature produced by the metaphysical world. Ortiz’s limited color use and spatially lawless environment act as the primeval grounds for his subject matter to reveal its inner rage. Both artists create otherworldly scenes as a means of examining the boundaries of nature and humanity.
About the Artists:
Rusudan Khizanishvili is a figurative painter based in Tbilsi, Georgia. Most recently, she was the artist in residence at the Mark Rothko Art Center in Latvia. She participated in the 56th Venice Biennale at the Georgian Pavilion in 2015.
Her multi-layered paintings explore mysticism through an alternate reality where humans, animals, and afterlife merge. Khizanishvili’s vibrant, tangled dreamscapes invite the viewer into a parallel world full of fantastical beasts, bright fauna, primal masks, and abstract patterns. Her narrative-based paintings delve into a colorful mania where a new species of humans emerge from nature.
“I invite onlookers into multilayer portals through my imagery animals as symbolic door handles between cultures, nations, times and identities. They are also the door handles that give me a way to an unknown world, full of stories.”
KC Ortiz, b 1978 Chicago, IL, USA, is an artist living and working in Copenhagen, Denmark.
KC began his path in art at the age of 12 as a graffiti writer on the streets, rooftops, and CTA trains of his hometown, eventually being recognized as one of the graffiti “kings” of 1990’s Chicago.
His youth was often interrupted by short stints in the juvenile justice system for graffiti-related crimes. At 21 years old KC was incarcerated for 5 years in federal prison for drug smuggling. While incarcerated his political consciousness expanded and he developed an interest in photojournalism and philosophy.
He followed stories across the globe, fearlessly documenting under-reported issues and hidden conflicts from a secret CIA war in Laos to indigenous uprisings in Peru. For a decade KC spent weeks and months living among rebel groups in deep jungles and refugees fleeing chaos. From the streets of Chicago to the mountains of Burma he has witnessed and experienced human nature’s many varied extremes.
Driven by a desire to explore larger concepts and questions than he felt could be addressed with his camera, KC made the decision to leave photojournalism behind him in order to dedicate his time to painting in 2015.
KC’s current work explores the inner and outer conflict between individuals and society as they play out on the infinite stage of time and space. He examines the constant quest for freedom by the individual, both consciously and physically, in a landscape occupied by borders, obstacles, and distractions.
For inquiries on artwork please contact: info@newimageartgallery.com
KC Ortiz // KC Ortiz Studio Detail // 2017 //
Meegan Barnes // Booteus Maximus // Ceramics // 2018 //
OPENING JUNE 23RD
(Project Room)
“Booteus Maximus”
A solo exhibition featuring sculptures by
MEEGAN BARNES
Exhibition dates: June 23rd - July 14th, 2018
Opening reception: Saturday, June 23rd 7-10pm
Gallery hours: 1pm - 6pm
Tuesday - Saturday
New Image Art
7920 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90046
www.newimageartgallery.com
323 - 654 - 2192
New Image Art Gallery is pleased to present Booteus Maximus, a solo exhibition featuring LA based, ceramic artist, Meegan Barnes.
“Booteus Maximus” celebrates the female form with bold and glistening ceramic and bronze butt sculptures. Meegan Barnes inaugural solo exhibition melds together the female body and California culture. Barnes’ sculptures re-imagine iconic ancient artifacts, (such as the fertility goddess, Venus of Willendorf) through a lens of heavily influenced modern day pop culture. Barnes will premier her new body of work, which consists of 24 Kt gold-plated bronze, steel sculptures, and her signature ceramic booty vessels.
The politics of the derriere have become a 21st century phenomenon, from: Beyoncé’s gluteus Maximus, to butt implants, to the Kardashians infamous “real” booties. Butts have become the focal point in contemporary female sexuality. Barnes taps into the present day butt fetish and questions if self-enhancement is a form of feminine liberation.
Meegan Barnes has been developing her ceramic practice since 2007. She has been exploring the female figure and society’s ongoing obsession with curves. She graduated from California College of the Arts with a BFA in Illustration. She expanded her art practice after working in multiple fashion and editorial industries. Barnes currently works on her sculptures and ceramics full-time in her Los Angeles Studio.
For inquires on artwork please contact: info@newimageartgallery.com
