Subverting well-known iconography from around the world, Australian artist Ben Frost returns to Corey Helford Gallery to bring a dash of dark humour to the Main Gallery’s walls.
You would be forgiven for thinking that Ben Frost’s works were just small paintings upon the back of well-known product packages. Seeing the final, grand scale works leaves a unique impression, exemplifying his expert skill at creating larger-than-life upscales of his original drafts. Through a mash up of styles and juxtaposing themes, Ben’s often controversial works overthrow the initial connotations linked to everyday brands, elevating them with pop culture twists and parodies. In doing so, he also reclaims products which many have a complicated reliance upon, from medications and quick sugar fixes to the quick and easy shopping mogul Amazon. In a modern world saturated with branding, Ben Frost brings a refreshing tonic through his confrontational social commentary.
The process of my work begins with a small package, perhaps a cereal box, a pharmaceutical package, or a fast-food container, onto which I hand-paint unlikely characters that misbehave and unabashedly engage with the very substances they promote.
Ben Frost
“I enjoy breathing life into these characters and encouraging them into depictions of indulgence and defiance against the mega-corporations they serve.” Ben explains. “From mischievous candy characters engaging in hedonistic escapades to pharmaceutical mascots embracing their vices, each scene confronts the often-uncomfortable realities of society’s frenzied consumption. These miniature pieces are then scaled up into larger paintings on wooden assemblages, to create oversized re-interpretations of the original package.
“The use of large individual timber panels, often bolted together along packaging ‘fold lines’ adds a tactile element to the artwork that invites viewers to engage in its construction. Its size and almost sculptural nature elevate the idea of a package as a throw-away vessel that once contained a commodity, to the status of a cultural artifact. The banality of a bar code, a specific warning label, fold line or a batch number now almost totemic and laden with symbolism and significance.”
Ben Frost: This Way Up
Opening reception: May 18, 2024 | 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Exhibitions Dates: May 18 – June 22, 2024. Open to the public and free of charge!
Corey Helford Gallery
Main Gallery, 571 S Anderson St, Los Angeles, CA 90033
Tel: (310) 287-2340
https://coreyhelfordgallery.com
Visiting Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
For inquiries, contact the gallery via [email protected]
In my new exhibition ‘This Way Up‘ I explore the visual language of advertising and branding to question our relationship with the products we consume. By juxtaposing everyday packaging with beloved cartoon characters and mascots, I aim to highlight the absurdity of our materialistic culture and the ways in which it shapes our identities and values.
Ben Frost
From press release – About Ben Frost
Australian contemporary artist Ben Frost is best known for his bold, irreverent Pop Art. His instantly recognizable take on pop culture twists up everyday iconography from the world’s biggest brands.
Exhibiting internationally for the past two decades, Frost’s solo shows span London, New York, Sydney, Los Angeles, Toronto, Singapore, Berlin, Miami, Torino, Bangkok, and San Francisco. His work has been featured extensively across media institutions such as the BBC, Wall Street Journal, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar. In addition, Frost has collaborated with fashion designers and brands, including working with Jeremy Scott to produce his Moschino Fall/Winter Capsule Collection 2018, launched at Milan Fashion Week, and partnering with Carolina Herrera for a limited-edition release of her ‘212 Pop!’ fragrance.
Frost has also worked on projects with Pearl Jam, Rossignol, Mambo, Livid Music Festival, and J&B Whiskey. He is currently based in Melbourne, Australia, where he shares a studio with his fashion designer partner, Nixi Killick.
Open to the public and free of charge, This Way Up is set to debut on Saturday, May 18th from 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm in the Main Gallery, alongside a solo show by Troy Brooks, titled BLOOM, in Gallery 2 and a four-artist show featuring new works by Annie Montgomerie, Josh Keyes, Sylvia Ji, and Yuka Sakuma in Gallery 3. All three shows will be on view through June 22nd.
About Corey Helford Gallery:
Established in 2006 by Jan Corey Helford and her husband, television producer/creator Bruce Helford, Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) has since evolved into one of the premier galleries of New Contemporary art. Its goal as an institution is supporting the growth of artists, from the young and emerging, to the well-known and internationally established. CHG represents a diverse collection of international artists, primarily influenced by today’s pop culture. Collectively, their artists encompass style genres such as New Figurative Art, Pop Surrealism, Neo Pop, Graffiti, and Street Art. Located in downtown Los Angeles in a robust 12,000 square foot building, CHG presents new exhibitions approximately every six weeks.
