Art Show: NOUAR “Internally Yours” & Joshua Petker “Celluloid Constellations”

Corey Helford Gallery
presents new works by

NOUAR “Internally Yours”

Featuring a Special Mini-Exhibition in the Upstairs Gallery
by Joshua Petker
“Celluloid Constellations”

Opening Reception Saturday, June 11, 2011 from 7-10pm
On View June 11 – June 29, 2011

On Saturday, June 11, Nouar will unveil “Internally Yours”, the Los Angeles artist’s first solo exhibition at Corey Helford Gallery, and her most avant-garde to date.
The works in “Internally Yours” feature three-dimensional sugary confections, gelatin dessert molds and a bright, beguiling color palette that lure the viewer in. However, like Jeff Koons’ brightly-colored balloon animals, the characters have a significance beyond their deceptively innocent appearance. “For this show,” Nouar says, “I used food as a visual metaphor to symbolize how dangers are hidden, and how we don’t see them coming until it is too late.” For example, in her painting “Sweet Entrapment,” a bright-pink gummy bear smirks at the doe-eyed brunette trapped inside its stomach.

‘“Internally Yours” represents the idea of confinement, submission and eternity,” Nouar explains. “Sometimes, we find ourselves in situations we don’t want to be in. It feels like the world has swallowed us up whole.” In order for her characters to achieve a diaphanous appearance, Nouar sculpted and cast tinted plastic elements that she adhered to panels, adding depth and complexity to each oil painting. This utilization of dimension in “Internally Yours” marks a technical progression in her work.
The techniques used in this exhibition were inspired by the 2009 group show at Corey Helford Gallery, “The Multi-Plane Show”, for which artists were asked to paint transparent panes in order to achieve a three-dimensional effect.
“For my submission, I wanted to utilize the idea of actually being able to see through an object to see what is inside or behind it,” Nouar says. “After several attempts to tint the glass, I realized I would have to create a new transparent layer altogether. Thus I begun experimenting with sculpting and casting resin to achieve the effect I wanted in the final finished piece.”

Nouar’s exhibition in the main gallery is accompanied by Joshua Petker’s “Celluloid Constellations” in the upstairs gallery. For this exhibition, Petker expanded his interest in identity and celebrity, and focused on stars from Hollywood’s golden age.

“The first spark of inspiration came after a friend gave me a copy of Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon,” Petker says.
“The book is filled with torrid tales of violence and sex, and it led me to my familiar pondering about how one’s image transcends reality; how it belongs to the culture as a whole, and is thus open for exploitation and interpretation by anyone who feels a relationship with a celebrity’s image.”
Using acrylic and ink, Petker re-imagined Joan Crawford, Audrey Hepburn and Frances Farmer, among others, in his dreamy if haunting aesthetic. In his painting “Ginger Rogers Without Makeup,” the subject is decorated with bursts of color and unsettling smeared lipstick, but the composition is softened by the careful use of textured negative space.
The opening reception for “Internally Yours” and “Celluloid Constellations” takes place on June 11, 2011 at Corey Helford Gallery. The reception is free and open to the public, and both exhibitions will be on view through June 29, 2011.

About Nouar
In 2004, Nouar graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. She has since worked in many artistic
facets, including work as a background painter in the television animation industry, and as a freelance illustrator. As
a painter, her love of animation, food and vintage ephemera, coupled with darker personal narratives continually act as
an inspiration for her work, and her work has been exhibited in galleries worldwide. For more information about the artist,
please visit noirnouar.com.

About Joshua Petker
An active graffi ti writer from an early age, Petker painted as a street artist through college. While pursuing a degree in
History at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, his interest in the arts and Art History expanded beyond
graffi ti. After studying abroad in Florence, Italy during college, he became engrossed in fi gurative and abstract painting
and committed himself to making art his career. He has exhibited in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and the U.K.,
and Petker’s paintings are featured in private collections worldwide, including the United States, Japan, Australia, and
Europe. He lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. For more information about the artist, please visit joshuapetker.com.