Thinkspace Projects is excited to wrap up the year with an incredible lineup of new works by Fandi Angga Saputra, Oscar Joyo, Antonio Joseph Ainscough, Arnon Neiysoongnoen, Willem Jacques Hoeffnagel, and Berk Visual. Honoring the surreal, vibrant ideations, each artist shares their distinct styles, interpretations, and immersive creative narratives. Join us in experiencing these exceptional collections!
If you’re still looking to be inspired, Thinkspace Projects also offers a full schedule of events, interviews, and much more to keep you and your creative needs fully immersed. Be sure to follow their blog Sour Harvest to stay updated on all the artsy things you love! With just a few clicks, you can browse through an extensive selection of art. Take a moment and visit their online store to view all available inventory, created by talented artists from around the world!
Thinkspace Projects Presents
Fandi Angga Saputra, Oscar Joyo, Antonio Joseph Ainscough, Arnon Neiysoongnoen, Willem Jacques Hoeffnagel, Berk Visual
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 9, 2023 | 6-10pm
with DJ, refreshments, live painting, video projections and more
Exhibition Dates: December 9, 2023 – January 6, 2024
Thinkspace Projects
4217 W. Jefferson Blvd. |
4207 W. Jefferson Blvd. | 4217 W. Jefferson Blvd. | Los Angeles, CA 90016
#310.558.3375 | Tues. – Sat. Noon to 6PM
thinkspaceprojects.com
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About the Thinkspace Projects //
Thinkspace Projects was founded in 2005; now in LA’s burgeoning West Adams District, the gallery has garnered an international reputation as one of the most active and productive exponents of the New Contemporary Art Movement. Maintaining its founding commitment to the promotion and support of its artists, Thinkspace Projects has steadily expanded its roster and diversified its projects, creating collaborative and institutional opportunities all over the world. Founded in the spirit of forging recognition for young, emerging, and lesser-known talents, the gallery is now home to artists from all over the world, ranging from the emerging, mid-career, and established.
The New Contemporary Art Movement, not unlike its earlier 20th Century counterparts like Surrealism, Dada, or Fauvism, ultimately materialized in search of new forms, content, and expressions that cited rather than disavowed the individual and the social. The earliest incarnations of the Movement, refusing the paradigmatic disinterest of “Art” as an inaccessible garrison of ‘high culture’, championed figuration, surrealism, representation, pop culture, and the subcultural.
By incorporating the ‘lowbrow,’ accessible, and even profane, an exciting and irreverent art movement grew in defiance of the mandated renunciations of “high” art. Emerging on the West Coast in the 90’s partly as a response to the rabid ‘conceptual-turn’ then championed on the East Coasts, the Movement steadily created its own platforms, publications, and spaces for the dissemination of its imagery and ideas.
FANDI ANGGA SAPUTRA
UNEN-UNEN (Gallery I)
Thinkspace Projects presents Fandi Angaa Saputra’s UNEN-UNEN.
Exploring proverbs that have become a guide for the next generation, Fandi Angga Saputra’s solo exhibition was inspired by words imparted by his elders. Proverbs are well-known sentences containing wisdom, truth, and traditional principles—embedded in a metaphorical and memorable form passed down from one generation to the next.
The exhibition title, Unen-Unenthe Javanese word for proverbs stemming from the word “unen” meaning sounds-reflects on how Fandi frequently recalls the precious advice given by his father and elders, given his responsibility now to provide, lead, and set an example as the head of his own family. He often encounters life situations that resonate with unen-unen he has heard before in his younger days, helping him make important life decisions that affect himself and his family. To a certain extent, the exhibition also acts as a tribute to Fandi’s late father, someone who he now felt would have been a person who understood the ups and downs of his current position.
Drawing on this reflection of proverbs, Fandi incorporates the influence of nature, specifically flora and fauna, which inspire all subjects in his paintings. Fandi distorts or invents imaginary creatures in his work to represent how a child’s mind can perceive nature as magical. He invites the audience to guess what living things they see in his works. This way, his works are a dynamic space for the audience to imagine and lose their focus—to become a child again for a moment. Child-like characters with larger heads than their bodies symbolize people who faced difficult problems early in childhood. They embody people forced to grow up psychologically faster their bodies cannot catch up. Their childhood is taken away, and the void left is replaced by responsibilities for themselves and their families.
Fandi Angga Saputra (born 1996) lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. After graduating from the Indonesian Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta (Fine Arts major in 2020), Fandi started drawing as a hobby and tried several styles before focusing on painting. His painting also has been exhibited in Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and The Philippines. The surrealist paintings of Fandi are deeply inspired by his childhood memories in a village, where he liked to play outside and enjoy nature. As time went by, the increase in industrial development, lack of green space, modern life, and the destruction of nature made those memories fade. Working in acrylic on canvas with a fresh color palette, Fandi is fascinated by the beauty of the natural world. Fandi hopes his paintings recall and clarify memories like these, conjuring a love for nature. Because once we love nature, we will want to protect it too.
OSCAR JOYO
Ubuntu (Gallery II)
Thinkspace Projects presents Oscar Joyo’s Ubuntu. A continuation of his show with the gallery last year, HYBRID, this exhibition appreciates and reimagines the artist’s time in Malawi and current experiences in Chicago.
Oscar Joyo (b. 1992) is a Malawian-born, Chicago-based artist. His artistic style blends Afrofuturism with Afrosurrealism. Oscar’s passion for art ignited during his childhood in Malawi, where he began drawing cartoons. This love for art accompanied him to Chicago, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Life Drawing from The American Academy of Art in 2015. Shortly after graduation, he honed his distinctive technique and style, characterized by tribal patterns and vibrant portraiture.
His primary medium is acrylic, dominating most of his portfolio, yet he also explores other media to enrich his pieces. Oscar credits his chromesthesia (the ability to see colour through sounds) for influencing his use of diverse colour gradients and intergalactic colour schemes. He pays homage to his Malawian heritage by infusing patterns that animate his paintings.
Since evolving his approach to portraiture, Oscar has expanded his scope by integrating figures, environments, and diverse techniques, broadening his interpretation of the world. Drawing from personal experiences as an immigrant and a Black man in modern society, he incorporates elements from his fondness for anime and music into his figures.
Oscar is currently an active artist and muralist. His artworks have been displayed in various Chicago galleries, including Vertical Gallery and A Very Serious Gallery. Additionally, his pieces have been showcased in galleries such as UHF Gallery and the Congressional Art Exhibition in South Korea.
His creations serve as a tribute to his African heritage and reflect a hopeful vision for a better future for people of colour.
ANTONIO J. AINSCOUGH
Chimera (Gallery III)
Thinkspace Projects presents Antonio J. Ainscough’s Chimera. In a world filled with misleading facades and self-deception, Chimera invites viewers to dive into the intricate maze of existence, where the illusions we create often lead to harmful behavior and consequences, both for ourselves and the world.
Antonio J. Ainscough (b.1997) is a Chicago-based painter focused on resonating with the universal melodies of identity, relationships, and the enigmatic journey of self-discovery. His work speaks a language that is universally understood, inviting viewers to traverse their own experiences of emotion and reflection. He received his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree in Painting from Eastern Illinois University in 2020. Ainscough has exhibited in numerous group shows both across the US and internationally.
CHEESE ARNON
Reflection (Gallery IV)
This project with Thinkspace is considered a collection of all the experiences I have encountered, both positive and negative. It reflects my own identity through various artworks. Before reaching this point, I have experienced both happiness and sorrow. To overcome the hardships, it required tremendous perseverance and years of dedicated work, even though nobody saw it. Today, I am ready to showcase to the world that if you strive for success, it will come. However, success comes hand in hand with sweat and tears. Prior to this, nobody knew me, but I always believed in myself and remained confident that one day people would appreciate my work just the same.
The character of the fox symbolizes the ability to adapt well in any situation, no matter how dire. Regardless of how villainous the circumstances may be, the fox can still survive. Therefore, I praise the fox as the main character in my story, as it truly reflects my own identity. It hasn’t been easy to come to this point. It has taken time, perseverance, and resilience. I am grateful to everyone who loves this fox character.
Arnon Neiysoongnoen (aka Cheese Arnon) was born in 1986 in Thailand. He embarked on his artistic journey in the realm of traditional arts. He embraced a self-taught methodology, immersing himself in the teachings of established artists who came before him, and fearlessly experimenting with a wide array of techniques.
Throughout his artistic career, Arnon has remained versatile, continuously honing his skills across various formats. One of his notable creations, “The Fox,” serves as a testament to his versatility, as it beautifully showcases a multitude of art styles in a carefully arranged composition.
Just like the cunning nature of a fox, Arnon’s artistic approach is characterized by wit, improvisation, and the ability to thrive even in the harshest of circumstances. He effortlessly flows with the inherent imperfections of his chosen medium, allowing them to become integral parts of his designs. Furthermore, he fearlessly creates cracking surfaces to accentuate his artistic vision, transforming what could be perceived as flaws into captivating elements of his work.
WILLEM HOEFFNAGEL
New Works (Viewing Room)
Willem Jacques Hoeffnagel is is a painter from the Netherlands. Born in 1995 in Arnhem, he has always been interested in drawing and painting from an early age. After leaving a bachelor in entrepreneurship in Amsterdam, Willem enrolled in ArtEZ Zwolle to study illustration design. During that time he focused on his personal style while also experimenting with new techniques and ideas.
The recognizable figures that feature in Willem’s work have been close to him for more than a decade. Using the figures as a placeholder for a person, whether himself or someone else, it allows him to portray a scene or part of a small story to the viewer without putting to much attention to who it’s meant to be.
BERK VISUAL
Channel Surf (The Doghouse Gallery)
Berk Visual boasts a big personality that can be felt through every extension of his work. This authenticity even rings true on social media, where Berk and his friends throw flea market pop-ups, immersive art installations and are constantly twisting up new ideas. Berk seems to thrive on creative projects whether it be music, fashion, animation or food.
