With its large interior space featuring three exhibition rooms, Corey Helford Gallery is known to host some spectacular opening receptions – and their next event will not disappoint! Corey Helford Gallery prepares to celebrate British artist Ben Ashton’s largest ever solo show alongside a special group exhibition for Mattel’s 80thAnniversary. The two events will span across all three rooms, starting with a joint opening reception on Saturday March 15. Free and open to the public, this is not to be missed.
Known for his re-imagining of traditional portraiture to create paintings with a surreal, contemporary twist, Ben Ashton’s new series builds beautifully on all his creations that came before. Pushing past the boundaries of traditional canvasses, Ben’s paintings are often also recognized by the incorporation of the unique and intricate wooden panels designed and handcrafted by the artist himself. The works in Or You Could Panic – Ben’s first solo at Corey Helford Gallery, taking place in Gallery 2 – push further through the lens of modern anxieties and cutting-edge technology to create something entirely new. Inviting us to explore Ben’s own complicated response to being as an artist in the modern world, we are equally left to devise our own conclusions about the future of art and technology intertwined.
Elsewhere in the main room and Gallery 3, Toys As Art, Art Inspired By Toys: Mattel’s 80th Anniversary Group Exhibition celebrates a monumental milestone, honouring 80 years of Mattel’s iconic brands bringing inspiration and creativity to generations worldwide. Featuring new works inspired by the toy maker’s legendary history, this large group exhibition will feature new and original one-of-a-kind artworks from 80+ of the top artists in the New Contemporary art scene. Full artist lineup below.
Read more about Ben Ashton’s solo exhibition Or You Could Panic and Toys As Art, Art Inspired By Toys: Mattel’s 80th Anniversary Group Exhibition below.
Ben Ashton: Or You Could Panic
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TOYS AS ART, ART INSPIRED BY TOYS: MATTEL’S 80th Anniversary Group Exhibition
Dates: March 15 – April 19, 2025
OPENING RECEPTION: March 15, 2025 | 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm
COREY HELFORD GALLERY
Main Gallery, Gallery 2 & Gallery 3: 571 S. Anderson St. Los Angeles, CA 90033
Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
(310) 287-2340
Toys As Art, Art Inspired By Toys: Mattel’s 80th Anniversary Group Exhibition will be accompanied by a series of curated events hosted at CHG while the show is on display, including:
- Saturday, March 22nd from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Meet featured artist Gary Baseman for a signing of his UNO deck and hear about how toys and growing up in Los Angeles influenced his art, plus join in for UNO Game Play.
- Saturday, March 29th from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm: Hear a diverse panel of artists share childhood stories featuring their favourite Mattel toys, as well as discuss their creative process, inspirations, and more.
- Saturday, April 5th from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm: Re-connect with your inner-child through a playful workshop hosted by Case Kenny (author, mindfulness expert, and host of the popular podcast New Mindset, Who Dis?) + UNO Game Play.
The artist roster for Toys As Art, Art Inspired By Toys features:
Adam Wallacavage, ADD FUEL, Ana Bagayan, Andrea Guzzetta, Andrew Brandou, Annie Montgomerie, Anthony Ausgang, Anthony Sunter, Bennett Slater, Bob Dob, Brady Willmott, Brandi Milne, Camilla d’Errico, Case Maclaim, Cey Adams, Chen-Dao Lee, Chishi Morimura, Christopher Ulrich, Christybomb, Clémentine Ball, coarse, DABSMYLA, Dan Lam, Dave Bondi, Dave Shuten, Dena Seiferling, D*Face, Eric Joyner, Ewa Prończuk-Kuziak, Fidia Falaschetti, Gary , aseman, Ginger Chen, Handiedan, Harald Austad, Hikari Shimoda, Iris Kim (Inner-City Arts), Jasmine Becket-Griffith, JD King, Jennybird Alcantara, Jim McKenzie, Johnny KMNDZ, Jun Makita, Junko Mizuno, Kellesimone Waits, Kelogsloops, Kent Williams, Kiera Evans (Inner-City, rts), Kii Arens, Korin Faught, Lucy Sparrow, Luke Chueh, Madeline Chae (Inner-City Arts), Marc le Rest, Marilyn Garcia (Inner-City Arts), Marion Peck, Mark Ryden, Mark Todd, Matthew Dutton, Miss Mindy, Natalia Fabia, Nate Frizzell, Nathan Ota, Nettie Wakefield, ouar, ONCH, Paul Frank, Pip & Pop, Richard Ahnert, RISK, obert Palacios, Sas Christian, Scott Hove, Sean O’Meallie, Shantell Martin, shy.jpeg, Simone Legno, Soey Milk, Sun-Mi, Sylvia Ji, Tarina Tarantino, Tarntara, udadung, The London Police, Travis Lampe, Victor Castillo, Xue Wang, Yoko d’Holbachie, Yokoteen, Yumiko Kayukawa.
From press release // Toys As Art, Art Inspired By Toys: Mattel’s 80th Anniversary Group Exhibition:
Downtown Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) is excited to announce its next major collaboration, Toys As Art, Art Inspired By Toys: Mattel’s 80th Anniversary Group Exhibition, in partnership with Mattel Creations, Mattel, Inc.’s collaboration platform that invites artists and creators to reimagine the company’s rich intellectual properties.
Mattel Creations collaborates with artists, designers, and pop culture icons to create unique collectible versions of Mattel’s toys that appeal to both adult collectors and art enthusiasts. To celebrate the anniversary milestone, the El-Segundo, CA-based company and CHG are bringing together a diverse range of established and emerging artists, each with a unique story to tell, to reimagine Mattel’s toys into compelling works of art, weaving personal narratives and childhood memories into a rich tapestry of creative interpretation.
From the “Godfather of Pop Surrealism” Mark Ryden and art icon Paul Frank to the award-winning interdisciplinary artist Gary Baseman and world-renowned London-based multimedia artist D*Face, these artists will explore how Mattel’s iconic brands (including Barbie®, Hot Wheels®, Fisher-Price®, American Girl®, Thomas & Friends™, UNO®, Masters of the Universe®, Matchbox®, Monster High®, MEGA®, Polly Pocket®, and more) have shaped imaginations and inspired creative journeys across generations.
This exhibition stands as both a celebration of Mattel’s legacy and a testament to the transformative power of play in shaping artistic expression. In addition, this joyous experience will also offer attendees an exclusive glimpse into the company’s history with the Mattel Creations space in Gallery 3. Each wall will feature a vibrant, artistic, and engaging display of Mattel’s most popular brands, taking audiences on a journey of origin stories and creative processes behind their toys, as well as the artistry and craftsmanship of their present-day reimagined collectibles.
From press release // Ben Ashton: Or You Could Panic:
Known for blending classical painting techniques with experimental distortions, the artist’s work explores themes of identity, history, and the impact of artificial intelligence on creativity. With a fascination for portraiture’s historical role as a symbol of power, Ashton subverts these traditions by introducing glitches and disruptions that destabilize the imagery. These elements challenge viewers to reconsider the legacies of the past and their implications for the present. In his recent work, Ashton has embraced learning models to create figures and compositions that feel both familiar and unsettling. Drawing on datasets of his previous paintings, portraits of his family, and imagined settings, these AI-influenced works reflect his ambivalence about technology’s role in art and society.
Or You Could Panic is a new collection of paintings on hand-shaped panels, exploring my ambivalence toward artificial intelligence and its growing impact on the art world and society. The title captures that tension – this feeling that maybe we should panic, but also the futility of doing so.
In many ways, this series is a culmination of everything I’ve done so far – while the paintings feature people who don’t exist, wearing costumes that have never been made, in realities that can’t be inhabited, their existence is rooted in an intimate and specific identity. Through exhaustively training learning models on my family, my past works, and my imagined settings, I’ve created something that feels familiar yet deeply unsettling.
Ben Ashton
“I’ve always been drawn to portraiture for its role in history as a symbol of power and status.” Ben continues. “But by distorting and disrupting these traditions – adding glitches and warping the imagery, I aim to make the past feel unsafe, even absurd. It’s my way of grappling with how societies look backward in times of uncertainty, how that nostalgia can lead us to dangerous places, and my frustration with the inevitability of these historical cycles. This exhibition is a reflection of my own questions and anxieties about where we are headed, it’s about the tension between history and the future, tradition and technology. Whether to panic or not – I’ll leave that up to you.”
About Corey Helford Gallery //
Established in 2006 by Jan Corey Helford and her husband, television producer/creator Bruce Helford (The Conners, Lopez vs. Lopez, Anger Management, The Drew Carey Show, and George Lopez), Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) has since evolved into one of the premier galleries of New Contemporary art. Its goal as an institution is to support 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 and collectively encompassing style genres such as New Figurative Art, Pop Surrealism, Neo Pop, Graffiti, and Street Art.
