Bret Hansen

The EDGE of earth

April 12 — April 18

Opening Reception: Saturday, April 13, 2024. 6-9PM

Los Angeles-based painter Bret Hansen presents an exhibition of paintings completed during and after the pandemic. His work delves into feelings of disorientation, isolation, and ultimately hope brought on by societal and personal upheaval.

His pandemic series employs a clinical, hard-edged style to depict horizons, mountains and clouds. Marked by fluorescent suns and melting skies, the paintings suggest a vantage at the edge of oblivion, capturing a moment when Los Angeles seemed like civilization’s final enclave.

Hansen’s post-pandemic works delve into the emotional terrain of a romantic breakup, using fiery reds to navigate the stages of heartbreak and recovery. Through depictions ranging from demonic ex-partners to fallen figures seeking reorientation within modernist settings, the artist explores themes of balance, stability, and the quest for personal equilibrium.

In contrast, serene yet somber representations of Los Angeles’s Silver Lake hillsides offer a peaceful reflection on place and belonging, marked by tranquil greens and blues. These works stand in quiet dialogue with the earlier series' intense emotional and apocalyptic narratives.

Incorporating a graphic design sensibility, the artist’s approach to painting emphasizes clean lines, geometric shapes, and a vibrant, synthetic palette. Elements like artificial paint drips and pixellated stars form a visual language that bridges a digital aesthetic with painterly expression. Hansen’s canvases reflect our struggle to find footing in a world turned upside down and our persistent, sometimes defiant, drive to seek out light and balance amid chaos.

Bret Hansen (b. 1970) is a painter and graphic designer based Los Angeles. His design career spans art direction roles in publishing, branding and advertising at firms in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He received his MFA in design from Virginia Commonwealth University and later taught design courses at Pratt Institute’s graduate program in Manhattan. Hansen’s paintings blend painterly expression with a graphic design sensibility and explore themes of alienation, disorientation, authenticity and hope.

ARTISTINTHEWORLD/André Smits
Bath-LA-Room

Thursday May 2nd, 4-8pm (Popup reception)

ARTISTINTHEWORLD is a journey through the art world with the aim of connecting artists and art professionals in an infinite photo archive. Embracing this world with a broad gesture, a careful tribute from amazement at all the beauty and exuberance along the way. An important part of this series is the concept of the romantic Rückenfigur, everyone always has their back to the camera. In this way, the photos provide an intimate glimpse into the studios. The photographed characters act as guides and invite the spectators into their world. It is also a moment of contemplation.

With this upcoming popup show of his ARTISTINTHE WORLD series here in LA at Keystone Art Space, he will mark his third visit to Los Angeles with a series of over 100 photographs. This exhibition will include two Bath Room murals that serves as a map of all the connections he has made, filled with names and arrows, and how people he met are connected, who introduced him to whom, and an exhibition with the photos.

André Smits is a photographer and painter based in Goes (NL). He started ARTISTINTHEWORLD in 2008. The series now has around 6300 photos. In the beginning he made a lot of work in the Netherlands, but in recent years other destinations have been added such as New York, Tehran, East Jerusalem, Ramallah, Beijing, Sydney, Taipei, Naples, Beirut, Berlin, Antwerp, Dresden, Paris, Los Angeles, Kiev, Tbilisi, Casablanca and London.

First came his photographs, then drawings, then murals, and now he has added in another component to his work, of creating exhibitions in different areas. They work a like social sculptures. It is beautiful to do a mural with all the names and invite the artists. It is always amazing how people connect, and how great that is.

STRANGE TERRAIN
Gregory King

May 4-12, 2024
Opening reception: Saturday May 4, 6-9pm

Keystone Art Space is pleased to present Strange Terrain, a solo exhibition featuring works by California artist Gregory King. The work in this collection is informed by King’s lifelong political concern for the tension between humans and the environment, and with our scientific progress, as the age of climate change has taken root.

King elaborates in a statement: “We are making the Earth alien to us. We have the technological means to do miraculous things as much as we can render our world uninhabitable, but too often we hope someone else is minding the situation as we doomscroll on our phones and buy shares in AI companies. The conflict between the creative and the destructive within us grips me, as a far better–and healthier–world feels so close to realization at times. From gob smacked awe at such achievements as the James Webb Space Telescope to abject fear when we reach an annual global heat record, I feel conflicted about making art, as it seems like such a small gesture in the face of it all. But we are also at the dawn of AI, which poses dangers to the work of artists, so my emotions are tempered by the need to make, rather than to collapse in paralysis. And, perhaps ironically, I have wanted to make patient, time-consuming work with oils and canvas again–after a long hiatus from painting–as a rebellious response to the invasion of AI in image-making. What feels healthy to me is to re-invest in my natural abilities, and accept ‘imperfections’, rather than adopt the uncanny smoothness that so much AI-assisted visual media possesses. And while a lot of my older work was leading more and more into abstraction, I’m currently interested in exploring representation, where a poetic ‘storytelling’ impulse guides a narrative taking place within and between pieces. This ‘narrative’ wavers between the personal/private and outward, more socio-political propositions, but it is set within a world beset by environmental and technological pressures." 

About the Artist
Gregory King has made visual art, films, and music since the late 20th century, using a highly arcane methodology that cycles through concepts of time, physics, spiritual practice, the urban environment, technology, and climate change. He was a member of the innovative ‘indie classical’ band Rachel’s, with whom he toured the US and Europe from 1994 to 2006. He has shown his work at galleries, museums, alternative spaces and film festivals in many large cities, and holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute, and an MFA from Hunter College. He lives in South Pasadena, California with his wife and son.

Keystone Art Space 
OPEN STUDIOS 
Saturday May 18, 2024
4pm - 9pm

Keystone Art Space Open Studios is a unique experience for art lovers and collectors of all levels to engage and connect with emerging and established artists in Los Angeles. Keystone artists welcome visitors into their workspaces to get a behind-the-scenes look into the creative process and purchase works directly from the artist.

Always vibrant and fun, guests are encouraged to wander the halls, personally interact with artists in their studios, mingle with other art enthusiasts, and enjoy the works skillfully produced every day at this fine arts complex.

Keystone Art Space has over 50 artist studios featuring painting, illustration, printmaking, jewelry, photography, sculpture and more. Don't miss this opportunity to explore the studios and connect with our talented artists. Mark your calendars and celebrate the arts on May 18!

Keystone Art Space is located at 338 South Avenue 16 Los Angeles, CA 90031

For more information go to keystoneartspace.com