Thinkspace Projects presents:
‘SMOL 3.0’
Annual Small Works Group Exhibition
MATTHEW GRABELSKY | @grabelsky
‘Kiddos‘
PONY MA | @ponyhorsema
‘Take the Bitter with the Sweet’
‘The FRESH Series: Session Sixteen’ | Spotlight on Local Creatives
Curated by Cannibal Flower | @thisiscannibalflower
Featuring new works from:
Roger Betka | @rogerbetka
Jordan Tacker | @aarttrash
Juri Umagami | @umagamijuri
Opening Reception:
Saturday, August 8 from 6-10PM
no RSVP needed
Thinkspace Projects | @thinkspace_art
4217 W. Jefferson Blvd.
LA 90016
On view August 8 – September 5, 2026
‘SMOL 3.0’
Annual Small Works Group Exhibition
‘SMOL 3.0’ sees us keeping our dear Shawn’s vision alive by making ’SMOL’ an annual showcase. We’ve always been a champion of starting your collection out with smaller works and all of us here at the gallery still actively collect smaller pieces. I like to think that Shawn is looking down smiling and is proud of our family as we march into the unknown that is the future ahead, without our gallery mom here to guide us.
‘SMOL’ showcase works sized 12×16 inches and under. We want to give young collectors and those on a budget the chance to get something nice for themselves, as well as encouraging all to collect smaller works as they bring so much joy into your home. The show title ‘SMOL’ plays off of the popular internet slang for something that is small in size and so cute that you just want to squeeze it, much like the works showcased in this special annual showcase.
Opening Reception:
Saturday, August 8 from 6-10PM
Participating Artists:
Raymond Argumedo | @raymond.argumedo
Allison Bamcat | @allisonbamcat
Paul Barnes | @paulbarnesart
Rachel Bensimon | @rachelbensimon_art
Ezra Brown | @ezrabr0wn
Stephanie Buer | @stephanie_buer
Darel Carey | @darelcarey
Anthony Clarkson | @anthonyclarksonart
Jess Currier | @jesscurrierstudio
Christina Dias | @chromaven
Crisselle | @crissellem
Domina | @dominatheartist
Amanda Estrada | @love_mana_art
Katie Gamb | @katie_gamb
Paul Garcia | @paul_garcia_art
Giorgiko | @giorgiko.la
Kris Goto | @kgotoart
Shinnosuke Hariya | @shinnosuke_hariya
Sally Hastings | @sally_hastings_art
Briana Hertzog | @brianahertzog
Kazuhiro Hori | @chardinchardin
Brandon Hurley | @bhurleyarts
Cody Jimenez | @codyjimenezart
Blake Jones | @blake_jones
KATBING | @katbingart
Sean Keeton | @seankeetonart
KOLA DPW | @kola_dpw
Caia Koopman | @caiakoopman
Jolene Lai | @jolenelaiart
MJ Lindo-Lawyer | @lauraleigh_paints
Angel Lesnikowski | @angel.lesnikowski
Jesus Lopez | @jlopez94art
Troy Lovegates | @troy_lovegates
Steve Martinez | @stevemartinezart
Shane Mesquit | @shanemesquit
Dustin Myers | @dustinmyersart
Naoshi | @naoshisunae
Amy Ning | @amyningvisuals
The Obanoth | @theobanoth
Máté Orr | @mateorrpaintings
Kevin Perrault | @kevin.perrault.art
Francesca Quintano | @francesca_quintano
RJ Quiralta | @rjquiralta
Roxy Peroxyde | @roxyperoxyde
Jane Tardo | @jane_tardo
Melly Trochez |@melly_trochez
Jacqueline Valenzuela | @pieldemazapan
Roos van der Vliet | @roosvandervliet
Brad Woodfin | @bradwoodfin
Anka Yanovna | @artbasealpha
On view August 8 – September 5, 2026
MATTHEW GRABELSKY | @grabelsky
‘Kiddos‘
We are excited to welcome back Matthew Grabelsky for his seventh solo exhibition with our gallery. ‘Kiddos’ will feature a collection of 15 new oil paintings by Los Angeles-based artist Matthew Grabelsky. His works combine a hyperrealistic painting technique with a surreal penchant for unlikely juxtapositions. By contrasting the platitudes of the day-to-day with the presence of the extraordinary and unlikely, Grabelsky stages the unexpected within the most unassuming of circumstances.
The appearance of the animal head feels distantly totemic, an archetype for something primordial, ancient, and psychologically motivated. Fascinated by the persistence of animal imagery in mythology and communal cultural imaginaries, Grabelsky superimposes its presence onto his depictions of the contemporary world. For the artist, the animal becomes a manifestation of the inner workings of the hidden subconscious, literally revealing the latent identities and motivations lurking beyond the composure of the human mask.
Technically inspired by 19th Century academic and naturalist painters, Grabelsky creates these unlikely, surreal scenes with a staggering degree of realistic detail. The contrast created between the visual verisimilitude of the works, and the surreal improbability of their content catches the viewer in a prolonged moment of convincingly suspended disbelief.
Artist Statement:
I titled this new body of work “Kiddos,” and it features paintings of kids with animal heads doing things that kids do. Childhood is a particularly primal period of all of our lives. A time that is all about the id, when strong emotions and passions reign supreme, before every decision becomes thought out and overanalyzed. It’s also a time, or it was for me anyway, when most of who we become as adults, our character and interests, is established. As such, I thought it would be interesting to explore this age through the lens of my animal-head motif using it a way to see into kids’ minds.
I’ve painted kids with animal heads before, but previously almost all of them have been set on the New York City subway. For this show, I decided to depart from that location. I’ve placed the characters in settings that relate to the animal that they are portrayed as. A dog at a dog park, a squirrel in a tree, an elephant in a pool, etc. Like in my subway paintings, where the clothing, details in the train car and station, and objects they hold relate to the animal, here the settings and clothing link with the animal. These details are meant to tell a story in a humorous way about who these kids are.
Stylistically, these paintings take my work in a new direction. I’ve been thinking a lot about image making in the age of AI and what laboriously and lovingly making oil paintings by hand means to do. For me, it’s all about process. My ideas develop and change as I work on a painting, and the final piece goes in directions that are almost always richer and more interesting than my original thought. I wanted to show that in the works, so while I rendered the central figures in my customary way with precise detail, I let sections of the underpainting process show in parts of the picture away from the central focus. These paintings are thoughts, and this approach is meant to capture how they develop over time, all fixed in single painted image.
On view August 8 – September 5, 2026
PONY MA | @ponyhorsema
‘Take the Bitter with the Sweet’
We are excited to welcome back Pony Ma for his second solo exhibition with our gallery. ‘Take the Bitter with the Sweet’ will showcase 11 new acrylic on panel paintings from the Brooklyn-based Taiwanese painter. Using the iconography of pop culture and the surreal visual vocabulary of dreams, Pony Ma’s work evokes the uncanny images concocted by our subconscious minds. Each painting is a riddle, and each person’s experiences and memories interact with the symbols in my work to conjure a meaning as unique as each viewer. The mystery is the point: each painting is a mirror, inviting the viewer to recognize the inner workings of their minds which Pony has laid out on the canvas. Like the dreams and childhood memories that inspire them, Pony’s paintings are sometimes humorous, sometimes dark, always just beyond the reach of explanation.
Artist Statement for ’Take the Bitter with the Sweet’:
Last year brought some of the biggest challenges of my life. I faced constant financial uncertainty, suffered an elbow injury that required surgery followed by nine months of rehabilitation, and made the difficult decision to move away from a city I had called home for 19 years. Every decision and every obstacle drained my energy, and there were moments when I wanted to give up. During that dark time, the love and support of my family, along with the smile of my newborn son, became the reasons I kept moving forward. Little by little, that support began to outweigh the negativity and transform into motivation. Working on my paintings has become a safe place where I could shut out the noise, close the door on reality and escape to the haven I’ve created in my studio.
For this exhibition, I am not painting my struggles or giving a voice to my hardships. Instead, I invite you into my favorite place, where we can experience moments of peace and lightheartedness together, free from the weight of everyday challenges. Sometimes, taking the bitter with the sweet allows us to discover beauty even in life’s most difficult times.
On view August 8 – September 5, 2026
‘The FRESH Series: Session Sixteen’ | Spotlight on Local Creatives
Curated by Cannibal Flower | @thisiscannibalflower
Featuring new works from:
Roger Betka | @rogerbetka
Jordan Tacker | @aarttrash
Juri Umagami | @umagamijuri
