Press Release - "Talk Like Strangers"
Nico Stone
”Web”
Acrylic on wood panel
32 x 26 inches
2019
info@part2gallery.com
pt.2: Oakland
Talk Like Strangers
Daisy Parris
Jesse Littlefield
Nico Stone
Sebastian Helling
Opening reception: Saturday, January 11th, 2020, 12-10 p.m.
Showing Through: February 7th, 2020
info@part2gallery.com1523b Webster St.Oakland, CA 94612
pt. 2: Oakland is pleased to present “Talk Like Strangers”, a group exhibition by Daisy Parris, Jesse Littlefield, Nico Stone and Sebastian Helling. London, Maine, New York, Oslo; the geographic distance between each of these artists is vast yet when their work comes together the viewer is invited to take part in what is obviously an intimate conversation between strangers about color, line, texture and form. In each of these works, the viewer almost recognizes a familiar shape or idea yet it’s exact definition alludes us. For one artist, distilling something personal out of the universal helps her to navigate her own anxieties while for another playing with familiar shapes is about the surprise of an unexpected outcome. Whatever the diverse personal intentions of each of the artists, the viewer experiences both the particulars and universals of the work in a way that is distinctly human.
Daisy Parris (b. 1993, Kent, England)
Daisy Parris graduated from Goldsmiths in 2014 and went on to do a residency at the HFBK in Hamburg, Germany. Her work has been exhibited in London, Germany, America and Sweden and she has recently had solo shows at The Chopping Block Gallery and The Bomb Factory in London and Las Palmas Project in Lisbon. Daisy’s work explores what it means to be human. Her paintings are full of tension as she reflects on the internal struggles we face amidst the relentless worry, numbness and violent encounters of everyday existence. She uses text and hints of familiar structures to relay the sensation of navigating and surviving in the world as someone who is riddled with anxiety. She currently lives and works in South London, England.
Jesse Littlefield (b. 1977, Boston, MA)
Jesse Littlefield is a multimedia artist whose work bridges screenprinting, collage and abstract painting. Jesse has shown widely throughout the United States and Scandinavia including at Half Gallery in New York, NY, Zeiher Smith & Hortin in New York, NY and Brussels, at Galleri Jacob Bjørn, Aarhus, DK and at Gallery Steinsland Berliner in Stockholm, Sweden. Jesse lives and works in Portland, Maine.
Nico Stone (b. 1978, Boston, MA )
Nico Stone’s new body of work is comprised of digital drawings silk screened onto panels. He deliberately misuse Photoshop and screen printing, allowing for unpredictable results. Nico processes his drawings on Photoshop until pixels get blown out and something new begins to emerge. Artifacts of drawings are collected and combined intuitively, sharing authorship with chance or chaos. When the drawings are burned onto the silk screens, Nico plays with over and under exposing the screens, leaving ghost marks and imperfections. He create gestural marks by letting the surface history accumulate and working loosely when he pulls ink through the screen. Like surrealist automatic drawings, it is an improvisational process. Much like assimilating the fragments of a dream to illustrate some deeper truth, each painting fills out an imaginary world with its own unique iconography. Nico lives and works in Garrison, NY.
Sebastian Helling (b. 1975, London, England)
Sebastian Helling received his BA from the London College of Printing in 2001 and went on to receive an MA from the Royal College of Art, two years later. In 2011 he received his MA from the Statens Kunstakademi, in Oslo, Norway. Recent solo exhibitions include US/THEM, Blomqvist/QB, Oslo (2018), Then Play On, TW Gallery, Brisbane, I Run This [Full Stop], Island, Oslo (2016), Dive, QB Gallery, Oslo (2015), Gi Labb!, Galleri Lab, Oslo (2014) and Grande Days, Trafo Kunsthall, Asker (2013). He has exhibited in group shows in Norway, Sweden, Poland, the UK and USA, including at Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA, Nordic Contemporary, Paris, Ringsted Galleriet, Copenhagen, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, OSL Contemporary, Oslo and at Kronika, Poland. In 2015, Sebastian was awarded the residency at Hooper Projects in Los Angeles, CA. Helling lives and works in Oslo, Norway.
pt. 2: is a contemporary art gallery that opened its Oakland location in March of 2018 and its Los Angeles location in October of 2019. We feature monthly exhibitions by emerging and mid-career artists. pt. 2: Oakland is located at 1523 b Webster Street and has open gallery hours Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Opening receptions at pt.2: are always free and open to the public. To receive a preview of the exhibition please contact info@part2gallery.com.
Daisy Parris
”Untitled (Yellow Stripes)”
Oil on canvas
78.7 x 62.9 inches
200cm x 160cm
2019
info@part2gallery.com