On Saturday, September 23, Downtown Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) will premiere the long awaited new solo exhibition from world-renowned UK-based multimedia street artist D*Face, entitled “Happy Never Ending,” in Gallery 1.
As one of the most prolific contemporary urban artists of his generation, D*Face (a.k.a. Dean Stockton) has been at the forefront of his practice since his initial breakthrough in 2005. Working with a variety of mediums and techniques, he uses a family of dysfunctional characters to satirize and hold to ransom all that falls into their grasp – a welcome jolt of subversion in today’s media-saturated environment.
His ambition is to encourage the public eye not just to “see” but to carefully consider the surroundings of our day-to-day, and society’s increasingly bizarre fascination with celebrity culture and mass consumerism.
Regarding his new works, D*Face shares: “For me, this work is about the tragedy of losing someone you love. Not just in the physical sense of death but also in the metaphorical way that romance has become such an artificial thing in recent years. Courtship used to be a craft, something careful and considered; the marriage was an everlasting bond of trust and commitment. Today though, romance is comparable to a shop bought commodity - instantly attainable at the touch of a button or swipe of a screen. In a constant search for someone or something better, people treat others as if they were mere objects - infinitely attainable and instantly disposable.”
By rethinking, editing and subverting imagery drawn from decades of materialistic consumption - currency, advertising, and comic books, D*Face transforms these now iconic motifs, figures and genres in order to gain new insight into today's conspicuous society. Describing his work as aPOPcalyptic, D*Face seeks to pick up where the masters of 80s American Pop left off - to establish a very real, albeit tongue and cheek criticism of our consumer dominated world.
D*Face adds: “With this new series of work I wanted to re-kindle the lost romance of a bygone era, back when, even in death, the memory of a loved one could last an eternity and a marriage went beyond just a symbolic gesture. For the show, I want to construct a mini chapel where we can actually hold a real ceremony and a graveyard in which I want people to leave mementos to the people they have lost. If romance is truly dead, then I want to resurrect it for the modern age.
The influence I’ve taken from pop-masters like Roy Lichtenstein allows my work to give the clearest possible narrative. At the same time, it offers something more, something beyond the surface of the work - a darker side to pop that resonates with a society of today.”
The opening reception for “Happy Never Ending" will be hosted Saturday, September 23 from 7-11pm in Gallery 1 at Corey Helford Gallery. The reception is open to the public and on view through October 21.
