Gallery owner Steve Turner has an eye for fresh talent, and the buzz of excitement at his most recent opening is proof. The rooms were filled with Millennials having a good time. It seems that five hundred attendees understood that something important was happening, even if they couldn’t articulate what it was. Good art is like that. It fills the viewer with strong emotions more powerful than words.
In the main room pieces by Yung Jake stopped us in our tracks. Jake, a graduate of CalArts, has been making a name for himself as a rapper and visual artist. CARTOONS TOO, his current exhibit, is mostly comprised of full-sized portraits. In many cases two different works are installed side-by-side, setting up a dynamic between the pieces that forces the viewer to engage.
The other show, which fills two rooms, feature Hannah Epstein’s solo exhibition, MAKING BETS IN A BURNING HOUSE. Her wry attitude and breakout humor grab the viewer by the throat.
Epstein works with bright-colored yarn of wildly different textures, which she loops in the fashion of rug hookers. This technique is unexpected in the world of contemporary art. Like the truthsayer who sat at the loom in an ancient myth, Epstein shows us something that should be obvious, but isn’t. The honesty of her art brings us up short because it is contrary to conventional norms.
In her second room, Hannah introduces animation into her work. Suddenly the pieces move like a small light show. Epstein has given us a psychedelic folk tale that stimulates the senses.
To see the work of two urban myth makers, head over to the Steve Turner Gallery before they close on March 28th.
6830 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90038
