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5 ART GALLERY PREMIERES ACCLAIMED FRENCH STREET ARTIST PRO176 FOR FIRST TIME IN LOS ANGELES
PRIVATE RECEPTION
November 10, 2018 | 6 - 9pm
ON VIEW
November 10 - December 10, 2018
5 ART GALLERY
8250 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA 90046
5 Art Gallery, new to the Los Angeles scene since April, is proud to announce its first ever solo exhibition, When Eyes Begin to Talk, by well-known French street artist Pro176. Featuring 15 never-before-seen acrylic paintings on canvas, When Eyes Begin to Talk will be the artist’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles. The opening reception will be held November 10, 2018, from 6pm - 9pm, and the work will be on view until December 10, 2018. He will be performing live art during the opening reception. The gallery exhibition will open following the completion of his first LA mural.
In When Eyes Begin to Talk, Pro176 will continue to work in his signature mid-century comicbook style, but will focus more heavily on the aesthetics of Neo Cubism.
“I’m glad to show my art in the US again, and for the first time in LA, because my style will be so familiar to this audience,” says Pro. “The reason I chose this title, ‘When Eyes Begin to Talk,’ is because my goal with this show is to see in real life the kind of impact my work has on people—how their eyes ‘talk’ as they are viewing it.”
Pro176 has been pursuing art in some form since he was five years old, teaching himself to draw by copying the works of Jack Kirby’s comicbook illustrations from the 1940s, 50s and beyond. The aesthetic would come to influence him for the rest of this life. In 1991 he picked up a can of spraypaint for the first time and has worked obsessively ever since—fighting (slowly) to make his way into the gallery scene. Pro176’s work has been shown all over the world, at GGA Gallery in Miami, Galerie Matthew Namour in London, Arcade Art Gallery in Taiwan, London’s Pure Evil Gallery, and more. Previously, he did a fullscale mural at Wynwood, and the city of Miami uses his designs on their metro bicycles.
A new, limited-edition giclee print will be released in conjunction with the exhibition. Following the closing of When Eyes Begin to Talk, 5 Art Gallery will premiere their next solo show in January with Zenoy.
5 Art Gallery is located at 8250 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA 90046, kiddy-corner to the pink Paul Smith building.
Artist:
In his early childhood, Pro176 was obsessed with comic books from across the Atlantic that his mum used to buy him. Teaching himself how to draw by copying the famous illustrator Jack Kirby, comics were his first lectures in art, forming a huge influence on his work.
After first observing the work of Mode2 and Colt during “89 Youth for Equality,” he made a decision to dedicate his life to painting. He would spend days mastering his craft, working letters and styles to extract their fullest potential. He attempted to acquire academic artistic education, but was denied because of his “general bad grades.”
In 1997, he co-founded the Ultra Boys International, which claimed a new form of Graffiti informed by the aesthetics of Marvel comic books, futuristic abstract mathematics, alphabetical constructivism and the brutality of refined Picasso’s facial Cubism.
In 2010, the artist met with Seen, also known as the “Godfather of Graffiti,” who taught him to use brush and acrylics, giving his works a more polished look. An artist who significantly influenced his early years in graffiti, Seen has become a true mentor to him.
8250 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA 90046
