“The planet is going to Hell in a Handbasket with a population explosion heading to critical mass and pollution of the land, air and sea making life for every living creature a peril…”
Copro Gallery presents Jeff Gillette‘s fifth solo show within the gallery, sharing his views on the “Worst Case Scenario” on the modern world. Combining brand new works alongside renowned older pieces, Jeff also brings into the mix a selection of sculptures delving deeper into the post-apocalyptic ‘Dismeyland’. The Disney dystopia has never been so morbidly enticing.
Worst Case Scenario
Opening Reception:
Saturday June 9, 2018 | 8:00 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
Exhibition Dates:
Saturday June 9 – Saturday July 7, 2018
Copro Gallery
2525 Michigan Ave. T5, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Jeff Gillette’s creations may not be overtly pleasing to the eye or soft to the heart, yet their existence provides a fresh alternative the tides of light and endearing imaginative realism by reminding us about the state of reality for many in the modern world. “Worst Case Scenario” is the clouded mirror held up to the utopian artificiality which has crept into the cracks of everyday life, tearing down the plastic shrubs and plastic smiles to unveil elements of truth that lie just around the corner.
Often visiting the slums of India to continue his series of self-labelled ‘Slumscape’ paintings, Jeff hasn’t missed the irony of corporate logos being used as the building blocks in shanty town architecture. “When I visit third-world slums and landfills I take lots of photographs and videos, painting from them in my garage studio in Orange County within earshot of the nightly Disneyland firework shows,” Jeff describes. Perky Disney characters within the slum-like Dismeyland echo the juxtaposition experienced in Jeff’s studio as he paints. His acrylic and oil paintings and mixed media sculptures can perturb as the world’s well-loved Disney characters exist in a place so unlike the universe they were born in. However, Jeff Gillette’s paintings also represent his attraction for one very important element of the human race that should not be forgotten: our mentality to survive.
From press release:
Jeff Gillette VS. Banksy
In the spring of 2015, Jeff received a message via Facebook from the manager for Banksy, the omnipresent yet invisible English street artist known for exploring war, political corruption, hope and revolution. Banksy, through his manager, asked Gillette to provide him with six large “Dismayland” paintings for an exhibition he was mounting in England, which also included works by British art provocateur Damien Hirst. Gillette worked laboriously on the requested pieces, sent them off to the UK in the early summer, and all of them sold very quickly. Soon after, he received an invitation to visit and help install a large, secretive installation that Banksy was setting up in Weston-super-Mare, UK three hours from London. After Gillette’s two plus decades of laboring over his slum dwellings juxtaposed with Disney characters he witnessed Banksy’s life-size “Dismaland” bemusement park — which featured rides and displays, evocative of Gillette’s own “Dismayland.” The “Dismaland” Castle, particularly, appeared derivative of Gillette’s castles but Jeff quickly adds that he and Banksy share similar sensibilities. However, a commentator on the UK’s Channel 4 International remarked on August 21, 2015 — at the bemusement park’s opening — that “Dismaland was in part inspired by the work of Jeff Gillette, who’s been subverting Disney for years.””
For more details on Jeff Gillette’s solo show, contact Gary Pressman, Gallery Director at coprogallery@live.com or call 310-829-2156.
Help! (2018)
Mickey Billboard Sculpture
Minksy Dollar (2018)
Bandra Green
Dismayland Castle
Disney Castle Landfill Mice
Dhisneyland Castle Mahim
Mega Landfill
Bio Morph 1
Mickey H Bomb Blue
Mickey H Bomb (2018)
