WHEN:
September 14 — November 2, 2024
WHERE:
1700 S Santa Fe Ave
Los Angeles
CA 90021
TICKETS:
For more information and tickets visit the Vielmetter website.
A spokesperson describes the event as follows:
"...the exhibition comprises twelve new paintings expanding on the artist’s richly painted portraits of porcelain souvenirs he originally acquired at a gift shop in New Orleans. O’Neal’s shadowy tableaus zero in on figurines of Black musicians, examining their forms and objecthood, and relating them to each other in various configurations. Painted in lushly layered hues, O’Neal’s works explore a complex and at times sinister darkness that references a long history in portraiture. The small figurines, mostly known as sentimental souvenirs, are enlarged in the paintings, hinting both at the objectification and commodification of Black creativity within a capitalist system. The objects thus become a symbol of the exploitation of people of African descent, representing the history of the extraction of cultural production of music, art, spirituality, knowledge, and other forms of creative labor among the diasporas. Dark and mysterious at first glance, the works are often void of any additional context, the tchotchkes themselves being the focal point against a monochrome background as if on a stage, accompanied by theatrical lighting. Masterfully composed dapples of light suggest a reflection on the porcelain or indicate a shimmer of a polished surface..."
