On Saturday, June 10, Downtown Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) will unveil “Of Dreams, Birds and Bones,” the seventh solo exhibition and first in Los Angeles from Brighton, UK-based artist Mary Jane Ansell.
The Award-Winning portrait artist has developed a distinctive technique which draws influences from a multitude of sources, and her appreciation of a refined technique invokes classical portraiture but with a resolutely modern viewpoint. For a number of years, she has worked with a small group of models, each of whom embody recurring characters and particular qualities that evolve, adding further layers of narrative to the works.
Regarding her new collection, Ansell shares: “The genesis of ideas often takes place in the shadowy in between of sleep and wakefulness. Images emerge alongside a long forgotten refrain from a childhood rhyme, ‘one for sorrow, two for joy…’ waking more, the radio tunes to another news flash…reports of momentous and confusing times, thoughts grasped then lost as opposing forces pull back the tides…‘three for a girl, four for a boy’ work begins and life has other plans, they feed in, inevitably, ‘five for silver, six for gold’ the paintings become respite and a place of healing ‘seven for a secret never to be told.’ The months etched in oils, they reveal their own language and transcend it.” She adds, “This show is dedicated to my mother, Kate Ansell, who died in 2016.”
The exhibition opens on Saturday, June 10 and runs through July 8 at the gallery located on 571 S. Anderson St. (Enter on Willow St), Los Angeles, CA 90033. Ansell’s collection of all-new works will be hosted in Gallery 1.
About Mary Jane Ansell:
Born in England in 1972, Mary Jane exhibits internationally, with group and solo exhibitions in the UK, Asia and USA.
She has been selected four times for the prestigious BP National Portrait Award, held annually at the National Portrait Gallery in London, as well as the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and Threadneedle Prize.
Mary Jane’s work has been featured on the covers of numerous magazines, including American Art Collector andInternational Artist; plus, a number of recent novels, including The Gilly Salt Sisters by New York Times bestselling author Tiffany Baker. One of her more celebrated collectors is musician Adam Ant who featured two of her paintings on the cover of his album: Adam Ant is The Blueblack Hussar In Marrying The Gunner’s Daughter.
Her work is featured in private and public collections worldwide, including the National Portrait Gallery London and the Brighton and Hove Museums UK.
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Author: Fran
Founder and editor of Urbanite. Street Art lover who after the finishing her MA thesis on the Mexican and Norwegian muralist movement in the 1920-50s, developed a fascination for street art and graffiti that eventually led to collaborations with different art blogs, including the creation of this one.
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