Disillusioned is a collection of new paintings by Jeff Gillette, featuring dystopian landscapes that blend imagery of slums, ruins, and waste with ironic references to idealised pop culture icons.
Showing in tandem with Gillette’s work is sculptural art by his wife, Laurie Hassold. Continuing the theme of “Apocalypse Soon,” Hassold explores what the natural world might look like after the extinction of mankind, imagining life forms evolving from the remnants of our civilisation.
Opening reception: Saturday Nov 23rd, 6 - 9pm.
This exhibition will run from Nov 24th - Dec 13th and will coincide with Jana Brike's Children Of The Sun, Luke Chueh's It Is What It Is, Jale Soysals Red Reflections, and Larysa Bernhardt's Sublimations.
Disillusioned explores the sublime beauty of non-traditional landscapes: landfills, derelict or destroyed buildings, and third-world slums. Gillette finds profound visual interest in the potential ‘worst case scenario,’ provoking reflection on why things are the way they are. Is our reality (as 1700s polymath) Leibniz suggested, “the best of all possible worlds”? Or, (as German philosopher) Schopenhauer argued, is “existence a mistake?”
In his paintings, Gillette illustrates the dichotomy of these concepts by juxtaposing elements of “The Happiest Place on Earth” against “The Heaviest Place(s) on Earth”.
Jeff Gillette is a Southern California-based artist known for his dystopian ‘slumscapes’. His subversive style, which connects pop culture with economic disparities, emerged prominently in his 2010 exhibition Dismayland, possibly serving as the inspiration for Banksy's 2015 theme park exhibition, Dismaland. Drawing inspiration from his worldwide travels, Gillette says his work focuses on a grim reality, where the present feels hopeless and the future seems bleak. His striking critique of the global socio-economic landscape continues to resonate, with exhibitions spanning Los Angeles to Singapore.