The opening of Conjoined 2 at Copro Nason Gallery
Saturday night I attended the opening of Conjoined 2 in 3d at Copro Nason Gallery in Santa Monica. The large group show was curated by dark artist Chet Zar and includes an impressive roster of sculptors, mixed media assemblage builders, toy makers and a few painters. Ranging from classically inspired to contemporary surrealism to pop art, the theme seemed to be skin crawling grotesqueness with many pieces eliciting cries of thrilling disgust. It was as much a display of mad scientist constructed monstrosities as a group art show.
The opening was a mad house! A thick crush of people massed around all of the art and it felt oppressively claustrophobic. But when you navigated your way through the crowd you were rewarded with some extreme weirdness.
Here's a handsome devil. I failed to note who did this gnarly piece, and it isn't up on Copro's website yet. But it definitely disgusted me and I had to resist touching to see if the material oozed.
Close-up of part of The Fast Supper by Jason Hite. This piece is mixed media and electric and really, really unappetizing. It brings to mind Jabba the Hut and the Matrix and makes me squirm. So appetizing.
Humpty Something by Chet Zar is oil on canvas. Humpty Dumpty is freaky with his squirmy spider legs, wrinkles, creases and folds. The translucent ghost is eerie and beautiful. I love love love the custom frame with skull corners.
A close-up of the frame for Chet Zar's Humpty Something
I like Lustmord by Tas Limur a lot. My favorite part is the incredible frame covered in crushed animal bone fragments. The repurposed material gives the frame a gorgeous texture and color.
An Age of Innocence by David Richardson is cast bronze with a black granite base. David Richardson is a master of metal and this piece is outstanding. Details like the pajama fabric texture and the protruding spine around the back really give the piece a forlorn, demented character.
Chow Monstro by Johnny Chow is a prefabbed plastic doll with skull, glass eye and meat cleaver. This just makes me smile. I love the juxtapositions at play.
Angelus Domini (top) by Craig La Rotunda is a beautiful modern reliquary. The grotesque sculpture by Simon Lee is a monstrous creature covered in human privates and sinewy arms. The back is covered in saggy breasts and another face. Shivers!
Lil Devil by Neil Winn is cheeky and seductively naughty. He's like a gremlin devil.
La Llorona: Mother of Tears by Black Mass is a mixed media piece with hauntingly beautiful resin dripping eyes.
The Lookout by David Simon 1/3 scale bronze feels heavy with pain and sadness. She has no arms to cover her nakedness.
Dahlia Jane, Joanne Augustine, Dan Harding and Tatomir outside Copro Nason
Conjoined 2 can be seen at Copro Nason through February 11. For more information or to see previews of most of the work, visit their website.
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Love the pieces by the two Davids – Richardson and Simon. Very cool. Looks like a fascinating exhibits.