Barcelona, Sweden and the US splash in COLORS at Artspace Warehouse
New show COLORS opened on September 21st with a packed opening reception to a constellation of artists. Headlining the show are three new artists: Swedish-American Hanna Cousins, Johnny Taylor of Tennessee and Barcelona-born Raul de la Torre.
- (1888PressRelease) September 24, 2011 - A native of Barcelona, the now LA-based artist Raul de la Torre is bringing a global exhibition history as a reflection of his ingenious melding of acrylics and matching thread weaving.
Raul's experimentation with different materials, textures and techniques in each of the paintings has been a point of discovery and a major part of Raul de la Torre's artwork. His body of work is split in two series: CIUTATES (Cities) and FILS I COLORS (Threads and Colours).
The major motivation for the idea behind his more recent series CIUTATS was his city of origin, Barcelona, its infrastructure and architecture which is unique among the cities of the world and easily recognizable. His attraction to the great cities of the world and the urban life was the incentive to portray other cities such as Tokyo and Paris. His artworks portray the different aspects of the cities as a human creation with their different levels of physical and social existence. In the artist's words: "Man created the city and in turn the city has molded the actions and ideas of the human race. I have intended to mold the city, to create my city, to put in order the urban chaos in a reduced physical space. Forget that the cities in which we live have been formed with asphalt, cement, human misery, forgotten revolutions, buried bones. I transform them into a conglomeration of texture and color put onto the frontier of canvas and paper."
LA artist Hanna Cousins is a recent graduate of UC Santa Barbara, whose artworks mix fabric, ribbons and paint as a fusion of her Swedish-American upbringing. Hanna was born in New York in 1989 and raised in Los Angeles. Upon graduating from University of California, Santa Barbara with a bachelor's degree in art Hanna was nominated and received two Dole Awards from the faculty.
The characteristics of her artwork are a reflection of the fusion of her Swedish-American upbringing. The artworks mirror the two cultures as they become intertwined and projected onto a canvas. Her distinctive style began to take shape and intensified after returning to Los Angeles from her year of living abroad in Sweden.
Hanna strives to juxtapose bold, abstract shapes and color with characteristically "conservative" and reserved patterns. She works to find the balance between the to realms of traditional styles and techniques with confident more extraverted and modern interpretations.
LA artist Johnny Taylor hails from Tennessee and his pop art comprises an edgy cartoon style with graffiti elements. Johnny was born on September 26, 1971, in Helena, Arkansas, Johnny Taylor grew up in and around Memphis, Tennessee. Early inspirations were MAD Magazine, Star Wars, and the rock band KISS-an art/film/music troika of influences that would remain consistent. When he entered school, Johnny drew variations of these subjects ad infinitum. This interest in drawing led to a job producing a weekly comic strip at age 10. Thus encouraged, the young cartoonist determined that he would always make art.
Taylor began painting as a student at the University of Memphis (BFA, Art History, 1996). On New Year's Eve of 1992, he made a resolution to paint three paintings a day, every day, for the entire year. By the end of 1993, Taylor had begun exhibiting the fruits of his labor. Showing paintings regularly ever since, he has not strayed far from the hard-edged cartoon style that marked his initial efforts. Primarily painted in acrylics, Taylor's output has tapered somewhat from his earlier, dizzyingly prolific period.
Other artists were in attendance with new works: multi-faceted Ashleigh Sumner brought her new piece on oxidized steel, STRONG, to complete her abstract urban landscape collection; Hilary Bond on the heels of her success with having her works prominently displayed on national television show on CBS, 2 Broke Girls, was part of the opening with new works on green hues: GHOST WOMAN and GREEN MAN ; artists Judy Zimbert contributed with her new oils, CHEESCAKE and DQ; while Clara Berta has unveiled a mesmerizing new piece at the opening, CITY FULL OF RAIN. Many other artworks are on view from these artists and the other European artists which are part of the permanent collection.
COLORS, like features, follow the changes of the emotions. - Picasso
About Artspace Warehouse: Artspace Warehouse is one of the world's leading galleries for savvy contemporary art collectors. Founded over thirty years ago in Basel, and now with galleries in Cologne, Zurich and Los Angeles, Artspace Warehouse specializes in guilt-free international urban, pop, graffiti, photo and abstract art
Collectors find it appealing to buy a piece of original art at the same price as designer clothing and derive pleasure from it every day in their surroundings. The price range typically varies from $200 to $2,000, while a special collectors section offers exclusive paintings of well-known artists starting at $2,000.
New paintings arrive weekly and the selection varies all the time.
###
space
space
Satisfied Users & 
Approved Press Releases
Print
Email
Report Spam