Long Beach Modern

880.00

2018
Ink on paper
Unique piece
21,5 x 28 cm

Framed in 1,5 x 1,5 cm beech wood frame

Only 1 left in stock

Portrait-Danny-Heller

DANNY HELLER (Northridge, California, USA, 1982)

Heller earned a BA in Art, with an emphasis in painting and collage, from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

He has exhibited at major galleries and museums in the United States, including the George Billis Gallery (New York and Los Angeles) and the Laguna Art Museum, and his work has been featured in prestigious journals such as JuxtapozAmerican Art CollectorLA Weekly and the Spanish publication Arquitectura y diseño.

Having grown up in Los Angeles, where designer homes and cars abound, his work has gradually centred on mid-century American imagery, especially architecture.

Heller’s work displays an almost photographic realism and obsessive love of detail, proving beyond a doubt his talent for capturing the California colours, light and air as well as the most iconic shadows and corners of Los Angeles’s dark side.

Many of his pieces have made their way into prestigious collections, including those of the Long Beach Museum of Art, the Palm Springs Architecture and Design Center, and Fondation Colas in Paris.

 

Description

The spectacular work of the California realist painter Danny Heller finally arrives in Europe and La Fiambrera is proud to present this, his first international solo exhibition. His vision of California Cool reflects a glamorous, mid-twentieth century style in architecture and design. Heller’s work features the iconic houses of Joseph Eichler (real estate developer and urban planner) with their characteristic terraces, entrances and swimming pools, the futuristic arches of the Los Angeles International Airport theme building, or the butterfly roofs of William Krisel homes. This exhibition seeks to reflect not only how the West Coast developed with regard to aesthetic identity but also to capture a broader sense of “cool” culture.

“I’m interested in the reality of the American environment and how buildings that were once acclaimed for being innovative in terms of design and planning remain standing and also others that have been forgotten or have disappeared altogether.” Heller tells us. “Focusing mainly on mid-century identity while playing with light and exaggerated angles, I use a particular colour palette to compose what I hope will be attractive works that capture architectural elements. I use a realistic style of painting to celebrate those occasions in which design and environment combine harmoniously. This often makes me a reporter who documents great American architecture of the past that is threatened by supposed progress. At the same time, some of my paintings are very personal as I tend to focus on scenes from my own childhood or snapshots of the times that my parents and grandparents lived through. By painting such historically and personally significant scenes, my aim is to connect with a presumed past and the remains of these times that actually still exist. Especially now when values constantly change and the past is demolished to make way for the new. We run the risk of losing our collective history and that deprives us of a proper basis on which to build the future. “