On October 11 Copro Gallery unveils not one but FIVE solo exhibitions to celebrate the spooky season! Visitors can revel in an array of new paintings, from Simona Candini’s take on big-eyed Alice as she meets a host of new horror favourites, to Rachel Bensimon’s mini series exploring the embodiment of the elemental forces represented by the pentagram. EGO shares a personal selection of his macabre yet whimsical solitary outsiders, and Shane Pierce unveils his starkly dramatic paintings which continue the narrative theme of his dark travellers. Exploring themes of self-sabotage and paranoia, Matthew Kirscht manages to portray these themes with a unique lightness, blending vibrant colours and his surreal, storybook aesthetic.
As always, Copro Gallery promises a hell of an opening this weekend – what better way to start your Halloween festivities?
Simona Candini ‘Alice In Pumpkinland’ // Rachel Bensimon ‘Portals Of Awakening’ // Matthew Kirscht ‘They Will Steal Your Candy’ // EGO ‘Face Your Fears’ // Shane Pierce
Copro Gallery
Bergamot Station Arts Complex, 2525 Michigan Ave, #T5, Santa Monica, CA 90404, United States
Opening Reception: Saturday October 11 , 2025 – 6:00 – 10:00 p.m. Free and open to the public!
Exhibition Dates: October 11 – November 01, 2025
Phone: 310/829-2156
E-mail: Coprogallery@live.com
Simona Candini ‘Alice In Pumpkinland’
Celebrating Simona’s third solo exhibition with Copro Gallery, we see Simona Candini depict Alice as she steps beyond the fairytale and into the gothic. She encounters shadows and legends meeting dark literary icons including the infamous Dracula and Frankenstein amongst others. A world of wonder and dread where magic and darkness entwine…
Artist Simona Candini graduated at the Academy Of Fine Arts University of Bologna and currently based in Italy. Her works, showcased in galleries around the globe, embody a beautiful yet sometimes dark world inhabited by big eyed girls and improbable creatures. With a stirring of emotions translated onto each new work of art, Simona brings her love of the old fairytales and childhood imaginings to us in a unique and poetic way. She is a traditional artist and enjoys using oils, watercolour, acrylics, graphite and pencils on paper, canvas and wood boards. “My goal is to apply old master techniques onto my doll-like subjects. I’ve always worked in this direction, but now I feel I’m on the right path more than ever”. Simona hand paints and personalizes most frames to match her artworks and to make them unique with her signature style.
Rachel Bensimon ‘Portals Of Awakening’
In ‘Portals of Awakening’, Rachel Bensimon presents five new paintings, each embodying one of the elemental forces represented by the pentagram: earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. This series is both intimate and archetypal, a visual journey through personal transformation, symbolic storytelling, and emotional alchemy.
As I created each painting, I moved through memories, dreams, and personal mythologies. This has been one of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on, and I’m so grateful to offer these portals to you.
Rachel Bensimon
Toronto-born, New York based artist Rachel Bensimon creates evocative figurative paintings that blend memory, psychology, and the metaphysical. Her work explores the thresholds between the physical and spiritual worlds, where transformation, emotion, and symbolism intertwine. Through young female figures, animal archetypes, and elements drawn from nature and myth, she translates personal experience into visual poetry. A former fashion stylist who lived and worked in Paris, Rachel brings an intuitive sense of composition, colour, and texture to her art. Influenced by Balthus, Mark Ryden, and Leonardo da Vinci, she merges classical craft with dreamlike surrealism, cultivating a visual language that feels both intimate and otherworldly. Her paintings invite viewers into realms where emotion becomes atmosphere and the unseen comes to light.
EGO ‘Face Your Fears’
Copro Gallery celebrates EGO’s latest series of small works as he continues to investigate transitional states of being that border on the edges of this reality. The figures in these paintings are seemingly solitary outsiders, representing ghostly apparitions that may not exist, or barely glimpsed visions of the dead. Yet seen another way, these works may highlight those who are considered unimportant and/or overlooked by society. Using classical painting techniques to conjure intricately crafted portraits of macabre yet whimsical solitary outsiders, Ego feels a kind of kinship with these characters, as a socially-awkward extroverted introvert himself.
The seemingly melancholy, yet somehow also charming figures he dreams up appear to dwell in the spaces somewhere between the natural and metaphysical worlds. In his work there is often a juxtaposition between the grim and endearing, the modern and classical, the real and the surreal.
A self-taught painter, Ego’s distinctive style is informed by a lifelong fascination with popular culture (movies, music, comics, skateboarding, etc.), as well as a profound appreciation for the work of classical masters. From the masters he’s adapted the nuanced rendering of light and shadow, as well as the study of anatomy which he bends to fit the uniquely distorted nature of the denizens of his imaginary world. Living in the Pacific Northwest also influences the tone of his work. For a large portion of the year, it’s dark and rainy. While many find this depressing, Ego feels the gloom contributes to a lush and hazy landscape that seeps into the colours and subjects of his paintings. Through experimenting with different mediums, the technique which ultimately developed emulates the smoothness, depth and richness of oil paintings, using acrylic paint. Ego has shared these specialized techniques by teaching classes and workshops, as well as mentoring aspiring artists.
Matthew Kirscht ‘They Will Steal Your Candy’
‘They Will Steal Your Candy’ includes themes of self-sabotage and paranoia in a series of spontaneously composed scenes that draw on subconscious emotions. This show features a handful of paintings on panel and canvas in the spirit of the season of Halloween!
Matthew Kirscht is a self-taught artist currently living in Richmond Virginia. He has shown work in New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York, California and Missoula. Apart from his own line of Halloween themed artwork that began in 1996, he has illustrated dozens of Wacky Packages stickers for Topps, and explores themes of anxiety, paranoia, self-sabotage, and neglect in paintings featuring storybook style anthropomorphic animals and food.
Shane Pierce
Continuing the narrative theme of Shane’s dark travellers, night watchers and passengers, Shane Pierce unveils a selection of paintings for Copro Gallery this Halloween.
About Copro Gallery //
The gallery, located at Bergamot Arts, is divided into two exhibition spaces, sometimes featuring a single artist but often two or three. Large group exhibitions are also featured often in conjunction with outside curators. In following with its original mission, Copro Gallery participates in International Art Fairs and curates outside exhibits to help promote their artists.
Focusing on museum quality installations showcasing emerging artists, Copro Gallery also exhibits many established and master painters. Placing works in private collections throughout the world, Copro strives to assist collectors new and experienced in building the most exciting collections possible.
