Virtual Tour of February 2022 Exhibitions

Thinkspace presents a virtual tour of “Intersections” featuring new work from Alvaro NaddeoManuel ZamudioSean Banister, and Gustavo Rimada. Along with Andrea Aragon’s “Somas Magicas” showing in Gallery Two, and new works from Marie Claude MarquisEshinlokun Wasiu, and Alex Face in our viewing room.

Virtual Tour: https://players.cupix.com/p/H0t97I9j

Virtual tour created by Birdman

Photo Tour of February 2022 Exhibitions

Thinkspace presents a photo tour of “Intersections” featuring new work from Alvaro Naddeo, Manuel Zamudio, Sean Banister, and Gustavo Rimada. Along with Andrea Aragon’s “Somas Magicas” showing in Gallery Two, and new works from Marie Claude Marquis, Eshinlokun Wasiu, and Alex Face in our viewing room.

Continue reading Photo Tour of February 2022 Exhibitions

Opening Reception of February 2022 Exhibitions

Thank you to all those who attended the opening reception of “Intersections” featuring new work from Alvaro Naddeo, Manuel Zamudio, Sean Banister, and Gustavo Rimada. Along with Andrea Aragon’s latest solo exhibition “Somas Magicas” showing in Gallery Two, and our Viewing Room showcasing new works from Marie-Claude Marquis, Eshinlokun Wasiu, and Alex Face.

All exhibitions are on view at Thinkspace Projects now through February 26th.

Continue reading Opening Reception of February 2022 Exhibitions

Coming up on February 5 at Thinkspace

Gallery One | SEAN BANISTER, ALVARO NADDEO, GUSTAVO RIMADA and MANUEL ZAMUDIO | Intersections
Gallery Two | ANDREA ARAGON | Somas Magicas
Viewing Room | MARIE CLAUDE MARQUIS | Thinking of You
Viewing Room | ESHINLOKUN WASIU | New Works
Viewing Room | ALEX FACE | New Works

On view February 5 – February 26, 2022

Opening Reception:
Saturday, February 5 from 5pm-9pm | artists will be in attendance
– Masks are required during your visit –

Thinkspace Projects is thrilled to present an all-new group exhibition and all-new solo show simultaneously, continuing their 2022 momentum. Each artist’s work is unified by storytelling, displaying an array of memories and experiences within the walls of the gallery.

In Gallery One, four artists join forces for Intersections, filling the space with complementary and contrasting works from Sean Banister, Alvaro Naddeo, Gustavo Rimada, and Manuel Zamudio. The exhibition is incredibly relevant, drawing on themes of time, identity, and blurring boundaries to explore true connection.

Southern California-based artist Sean Banister uses this show as an expansion and continuation of his work in 2020, delving into the identity of humans as storytellers and collectors. Having developed a strong interest in how the items we interact with and collect help us to craft our own self-narratives, Banister explores how this affects image and individuality, from the way one sees themself personally to the way they exist and are viewed in the world.  While each of his pieces for “Intersections” is unique, together they all act as facets of the same experience of living in our current time.

Alvaro Naddeo approaches Intersections with the desire to create work that mixes personal memories with the collective memories of our society. In pulling textures from the places Naddeo has personally been and incorporating them into greater social and political commentary, he is able to tell stories that may not have previously been told. He works to give space to the marginalized and the minorities, “those who can see and smell everything good that America has, but are never allowed to get there.”

Gustavo Rimada brings the perspective of his own ancestry to the show. This body of work is part of an on-going series from Rimada, which tells a story about how our ancestors connect with us. “Whether it’s celebrating Dia de los Muertos in my work or telling old folk stories about our ancestors returning to nature, my goal is to create a space where you can feel the connection and spirit between nature and the afterlife.” This series is heavily influenced by his culture, emphasizing the connection between humans and nature from the day they are born to the day they pass away. With these works, Rimada aims to translate that journey, aiding viewers in understanding.

Manuel Zamudio also brings the theme of life and death into his collection, focusing on the transition between them. He maintains the post-apocalyptic world that he had built with his previous solo show here at Thinkspace, but delves into architecture and urban landscape as a foundation for the exploration of the afterlife. With new-age ghost-inspired characters Zamudio explores the delicate line between life and death, which grows thinner every day. He highlights the fragile boundaries between body and soul, life and death, day and night, living in the transitions. 

In Gallery Two, Andrea Aragon fills the space with her latest solo show Somas Magicas. Aragon draws upon her own experiences and surrounding community to create breath-taking oil paintings that do not sugar coat the human experience. Aragon’s goal is to present an awareness and give a perspective of individuals whose story has yet to be fully told, reaching a broader audience than they might on their own. The artist hopes her works sheds light on how similar we are as inhabitants of this earth, and how we can benefit from just a little bit more understanding. With each piece, Aragon evokes compassion.

As an added bonus, in our viewing room we’re excited to showcase a small new collection of plates from longtime gallery favorite Marie Claude Marquis, alongside new works from recent Thinkspace Family new comers Eshinlokun Wasiu and Alex Face.

About Sean Banister
Sean Banister is a SoCal artist. Working as a high school teacher for the past 18 years, he has always been a passionate learner and works to bring that excitement for learning to the classroom. Banister is largely a self-taught artist, having pursued a degree in English and taken a just few very encouraging classes at the local community college to get back into drawing and painting after a long time away. In his work, Banister often chooses objects and their human counterparts to be the subject of his work, drawing out the relationships between them. Banister’s work draws out the narratives stored in the items in his paintings to reveal feelings we have about who we are and how we chose to exist.

About Alvaro Naddeo
Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Naddeo has lived in Lima, New York City, and is currently based in Los Angeles. These urban environments shaped his memory and permeate most of his work. Naddeo’s father is an illustrator, and as a child he spent many hours drawing and watching him work. Constantly encouraged by his father, he was both inspired and intimidated. At 17, the intimidation got the best of him and he quit, choosing to pursue a career in advertising as an Art Director. This allowed him to exercise his interest in art, without requiring mastery with the pencil or brush. Twenty years later, while living in New York City he found himself inspired to once again pick up the brush. Now he is back to painting, this time Naddeo is not quitting.

About Gustavo Rimada
Born in Torreon, Mexico, Rimada and his family immigrated to California when he was seven years old. Raised in Indio, California, he began taking art classes at a young age and attended The Art Institute in Santa Monica California. After September 11th 2001, Rimada was inspired to join the Army, serving three years before returning to his true love, art. Rimada painted on any surface he could find, canvas, shoes, bags, etc, eventually finding the tattoo culture that inspired him to further pursue his passion for painting. When Rimada is not painting, he is a devoted father and family man.

About Manuel Zamudio
Zamudio is a painter, a muralist, and a storyteller. Born in Mexico City, Zamudio made his way to the talent-rich city of McAllen, Texas in 1992 at the age of 5. While dealing with the challenges that often come with assimilating to a starkly different culture at a very young age, Zamudio found refuge by immersing himself in art.  As a self-taught artist, he started perfecting his technique by replicating comic books, without knowing or understanding the human figure and the concepts of color schemes. As he grew older, he started taking an interest in the urban culture of South Texas, learning color schemes, perception, shadow, and so on from local graffiti artists. Now, Zamudio has taken his passion into a new path: storytelling.  He has displayed his artwork in numerous galleries and museums in the United States and Mexico.  His new line of work has been immensely inspired by great works of cinematography, street art, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi novels. His new work explores new methods of how to bring cinematography onto the canvas. Zamudio is a painter, a muralist, and a storyteller.

About Marie Claude Marquis

Excited to have a collection of 25 new insults on antique plates from Canada’s Marie Claude Marquis on view this February in our viewing room for her mini show Thinking of You.

MC Marquis is an artist whose practice is rather multidisciplinary. Touching both graphic design and visual arts, she is inspired by souvenirs, nostalgia, pop culture, Québec identity and her own emotions which she expresses with humor, a feminine touch and a colorful sensitivity.

In her gallery work, Marie-Claude has mastered the art of re-appropriation in giving found objects new meaning. That way she can give these objects a second life, prolong their existence and reduce her own environmental impact. Mainly by typographical interventions, she always finds a way to give new meanings to these antiques. The result of her work is often humorous, sometimes irreverent but always keeps a big focus on aesthetics

About Andrea Aragon
In Gallery Two, Andrea Aragon fills the space with her debut solo show Somas Magicas. As an artist and first-generation Mexican American, Andrea Aragon has chosen oil painting as an avenue to illustrate and shape the human experience within her community. She draws upon the community around her, the majority of which can be categorized as lower to lower middle-class America. Aragon uses her ongoing knowledge of political, cultural, and social understandings to entice a juxtaposed narrative that invites the viewer to tap into their self-consciousness, ultimately creating raw and relatable works.

About Esihinlokun Wasiu
Eshinlokun Wasiu (b. 1998, Lagos, Nigeria) is a full time surrealist artist who sees life’s challenges as a tool for creating his masterpieces. And has been prolific in producing works that speak about the society and its effect on the people around. Culture, identification and power of humanity are a few aspects of his current research and artistic practice.

Eshinlokun Wasiu studied Business Administration at Yaba College of Education, Nigeria. His interest in art, as well as his career began while he was a kid with the support of his mother. Inspired by issues relating to him and those who are around him, he began creating works that reflect the everyday struggles of people, with the hopes of making a change in people life and way of thinking. He exercises himself by using of charcoal and acrylic paints to create silhouette that seem to have been in bond and value.

Eshinlokun is reintroducing the “ Surrealism “ movement in a way the world will appreciate in a different form. His also part of the title deed art collective curated by Ken Nwadiogbu 2019/2020. Also had a residency at AAF ( African Artists’ Foundation ) in the year 2020

Eshinlokun Wasiu is constantly revitalizing his practice by challenging modes of Black representation. His oeuvres do not just encompass various forms of drawing using acrylic and charcoal, but most recently transcends into photography, sculpture, installation and performance art.

About Alex Face
Patcharapol Tangruen (aka Alex Face / b. 1981) is a well-known and influential graffiti artist in Thailand. Alex studied architecture at Bangkok’s King Mongktut Institute of Technology and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts. An interest in architecture led Alex Face to explore and wander the streets and back alleys of Bangkok for abandoned buildings, sites that he eventually used as a canvas to develop his street art.

Using Alex Face as his alter ego, the artist attempts to create a link with the urban population, the underprivileged of Bangkok and the surrounding provinces. His iconic character showcases the adventures of a disillusioned child in a baby rabbit costume who looks wise beyond his years, at first glance appearing cute, but all the time worrying about the future of our world.

About Thinkspace                               
Thinkspace was founded in 2005; now in LA’s thriving West Adams District, the gallery has garnered an international reputation as one of the most active and productive exponents of the New Contemporary Art Movement. Maintaining its founding commitment to the promotion and support of its artists, Thinkspace has steadily expanded its roster and diversified its projects, creating collaborative and institutional opportunities all over the world. Founded in the spirit of forging recognition for young, emerging, and lesser-known talents, the gallery is now home to artists from all over the world, ranging from the emerging, mid-career, and established.

Though the New Contemporary Art Movement has remained largely unacknowledged by the vetted institutions of the fine art world and its arbiters of ‘high culture,’ the future promises a shift. The Movement’s formative aversion to the establishment is also waning in the wake of its increased visibility, institutional presence, and widespread popularity. Thinkspace has sought to champion and promote the unique breadth of the Movement, creating new opportunities for the presentation of its artists and work. An active advocate for what is now one of the longest extant organized art movements in history, Thinkspace is an established voice for its continued growth and evolution, proving their commitment by expanding its projects beyond Los Angeles, exhibiting with partner galleries and organizations in Berlin, Hong Kong, London, New York City, Detroit, Chicago, and Honolulu among many others, participating in International Art Fairs, and curating New Contemporary content for Museums. Committed to the vision, risk, and exceptional gifts of its artists, the gallery is first and foremost a family. From the streets to the museums, and from the “margins” to the white cube, Thinkspace is re-envisioning what it means to be “institutional.”

‘Real Life Is Fragile’- A Special Exhibition Featuring Ten Creatives from West Africa, Curated in Co-Operation with Artist Ken Nwadiogbu | July 3 – July 10 at Thinkspace

Jimbo Lateef

‘Real Life Is Fragile’
On view July 3 – July 10 in our main gallery

Opening Reception: Saturday, July 3 from 5-9pm

This July at Thinkspace Projects, in the West Adams district of Los Angeles, we are honored to host a special group show bringing together ten creatives from West Africa. Curated in co-operation with artist Ken Nwadiogbu, this exhibition serves as a spotlight to help expose just a fraction of the amazing talent coming out of West Africa, in particular the countries of Nigeria and Cameroon. The artists featured offer a vast array of visual languages, all coming together to tell their stories in unique ways.

We normally take a small break in the summertime, but as we reflected back on the past 18 months we realized we’ve already had too much downtime and that this break in our program could be better spent highlighting some of the many incredible artists we’ve been exposed to since hosting Ken Nwadiogbu’s debut North American solo exhibition earlier this year.

This one-week only showcase will be open daily for all to come by and enjoy. We will be working with many of the featured artists further in 2021 and beyond, with Boris Anje returning this November for his debut North American solo exhibition. 

“Really humbled to have been part of the curatorial process of ‘Real life is Fragile’ exhibition. Featuring amazing African artists who continue to evolve their art and share the narrative of the fragile world we live in.“ – Ken Nwadiogbu

Featuring new works from:

Ayanfe Olarinde 
Boris Anje
Chigozie Obi
Eshinlokun Wasiu 
Elizabeth Ekpetorson
Jimbo Lateef
Ken Nwadiogbu
Michelle Okpare
Patrick Akpojotor 
Yusuff Aina Abogunde 

Ayanfee Olarinde bio:
Born in 1996, Ayanfe Olarinde is a self-trained visual artist currently employing scribbling techniques as well as photography in creating intricately detailed and multi-layered images. In 2018, she graduated from the university of Lagos with a BSc in Microbiology.

In her work, Olarinde explores and drives conversation around self image, identity formation, social reality, collective history and mental health while probing popular culture and the inefficiencies of the government in contemporary society. Drawing from imperfections in her personal, continuous journey for acceptance, Olarinde’s engagement  with the scribbling technique serves as a way to interrogate emotion while also exploring fluidity in form. Working across various media including ink, acrylics, wire and found objects she creates richly textured drawings, paintings, collages and sculptures engaging with personal history and experiences in her artistic journey.  As an evocative artist influenced by her passage through life, her oeuvre has evolved to include works in photography and digital art. She is particularly interested in exploring conceptual photography as a tool for understanding the psychology of her subjects.

Boris Anje (aka Anjel) bio:

Boris Anje (aka Anjell was born in 1993 in Bamenda, Cameroon and is known for his lively Neo-Pop Art paintings of contemporary African dandies. Working from hand-picked photos of stylish young men and women, Anjel modifies their outfits by changing the colors and textures, alters the light sources to deepen the shadows and heighten the reflections, and contextualizes his striking black subjects in the realms of global consumerist culture and African symbolism.

“I want to give value to the black body,” Anjel declared from his studio in the Cameroon coastal city of Douala. “I’m trying to give some kind of attention, some kind of attraction, to the person of color.”

New to Anjel’s recent body of work is his use of symbols from the Adinkra alphabet, which is a contemporary way of writing some of the languages spoken in Ghana and Ivory Coast, including Akan, Dagbani, Ewe and Ga. The Adinkra symbols are sometimes utilized in the logo designs of entrepreneurial brands, where the symbols are used to represent sayings, proverbs or concepts, such as wisdom, strength, unity, wealth, love and peace.

Chigozie Obi bio:

Chigozie Obi (b. 1997 Nigeria) is a multi-dimensional visual artist who obtained a bachelors degree of Visual Arts from the Creative Arts department, University of Lagos in 2017. Her work is consistent in the use of vibrant colors and figures to portray emotions and stories formed from personal/shared experiences and focuses on the representation of Black people in their diversity. 

Her work has been featured in several group exhibitions and she was one of the recipients of the inaugural Tilga Fund for Arts Grant (2020) and the Art.ng Grant for Visual Artists (2020), one of the nominees for The Future Awards Prize For Art (2020), one of the shortlisted artists for The Alpine Fellowship Art Prize (2020) and recently concluded her residency with Bethany Arts Community, New York, USA (2020).

Her work authenticates her keen interest for the human aspect of life, the body, beauty standards and the strive for self-acceptance. She aims to create sustained conversations about people and society – the cultural narratives adopted and how it affects people in it, especially women.

Elizabeth Ekpetorson bio:

Eleez Chioma Ekpetorson (b. 1991 Nigeria) is a non-binary artist from Nigeria, and holds a painting degree from the University of Port Harcourt.  After an internship with the Universal Studios of Art in Lagos, Nigeria, Ekpetorson is now pursuing her independent practice. Her figurative work is about self-acceptance, embracing one’s self unconditionally, without fear or exception. In telling her story, a large portion of her work is dedicated to the struggles of being a woman in this modern age, emboldening them through her art. Ultimately her work is about humanity and letting every human be able to breathe and let go of any prejudices that they may encounter.

Eshinlokun Wasiu bio:

Eshinlokun Wasiu (b. 1998, Lagos, Nigeria) is a full time surrealist artist who sees life’s challenges as a tool for creating his masterpieces. And has been prolific in producing works that speak about the society and its effect on the people around. Culture, identification and power of humanity are a few aspects of his current research and artistic practice.

Eshinlokun Wasiu studied Business Administration at Yaba College of Education, Nigeria. His interest in art, as well as his career began while he was a kid with the support of his mother. Inspired by issues relating to him and those who are around him, he began creating works that reflect the everyday struggles of people, with the hopes of making a change in people life and way of thinking. He exercises himself by using of charcoal and acrylic paints to create silhouette that seem to have been in bond and value.

Eshinlokun is reintroducing the “ Surrealism “ movement in a way the world will appreciate in a different form. His also part of the title deed art collective curated by Ken Nwadiogbu 2019/2020. Also had a residency at AAF ( African Artists’ Foundation ) in the year 2020
Eshinlokun Wasiu is constantly revitalizing his practice by challenging modes of Black representation. His oeuvres do not just encompass various forms of drawing using acrylic and charcoal, but most recently transcends into photography, sculpture, installation and performance art.

Jimbo Lateef bio:

Jimbo Lateef is a Nigerian Visual Artist from Lagos, Nigeria (b.1999). He studied Art at Yaba College of Technology.

Lateef explore using modern calligraphy also known as contemporary calligraphy to represent his subject as an identity and style in art ranges from functional inscriptions and designs to fine-art pieces where the letters may or may not be readable, in my own aspect is not readable, it just a design that’s represents the forms of the subject.

Ken Nwadigobu bio:

Ignited by Trompe L’oeil, self-taught Nwadiogbu submerged himself in technique and skill in order to rise as a prominent artist in the Nigerian Hyperrealist movement. Nwadiogbu is constantly revitalising his practice by challenging modes of Black representation. He received his degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Lagos, Nigeria and continues to live and works as a full-time artist in Lagos, Nigeria. Nwadiogbu has been featured on CNN, BBC, and in Juxtapoz, Guardian, Wired, and Afro Punk.

By recreating his own realities as a young Nigerian, his work projects the experiences encountered by black lives around the globe. Nwadiogbu invokes a humanist connection to the ongoing issues of police brutality, racism, xenophobia, culture conflict and shock. Working with charcoal and acrylic he creates a hyperrealist narrative that demands socio-political thought and discourse, bringing the ideology full circle by emphasizing an understanding that we are more alike than different.

Michelle Okpare bio:

Michelle Okpare (b.1996) raised between Nigeria and Ivory Coast. She is a Nigerian artist who received her B.A in Fine Arts from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.

Okpare draws inspiration from her personal experiences and relationships with people. And, how one responds psychologically to happenings. Her works are a documentation of her life, feelings, complexity, and emotions exploring culture, mental health, personal and societal identity, and issues surrounding gender in African contemporary society.

Okpare is an expressionist artist working predominantly using crepe paper and discarded lace fabrics. Her usage of lace fabric is symbolic to her culture and traditions. Her choice of materials is attached to her childhood experience in Ivory Coast, she grew up creating flowers on Mother’s Day. Employing collaging and traditional painting techniques. She produces richly textured and layered paintings.

Okpare has participated in several exhibitions all over the world including She Impressions, South Africa, 2019, The Human Experience, South Africa, 2020, Liminality in Infinite Space, Nigeria, 2020.

Her work has also been featured on Sunday Times South Africa, Shoutout Los Angeles, Times Live South Africa, TVC News connect, Nigeria and Airmail News USA. She was documented as an innovative artist who creates luxury art out of recycled materials on Google Arts and Culture. She was awarded for the Online Art Project Turkey and The University of Florida Art in Medicine project in Nigeria.

Okpare currently lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria.

Patrick Akpojotor bio:

Patrick Akpojotor’s (b. 1982 Nigeria) work captures the heart of traditional, colonial, and contemporary architecture scattered across the Lagos cityscape. He creates anthropomorphic buildings with distinct personalities and attitudes, exploring how the built environment influences our sense of identity. His brightly colored canvases and detailed pencil sketches portray surreal staircases, windows, and the walls of imagined spaces which personify emotionally complex characters.

Akpojotor studied fine art at the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, and graphic design at the Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu. Akpojotor has received numerous awards including the first ArtXLagos Prize for emerging artists in 2016. Akpojotor had his solo exhibition “IF WALLS COULD SPEAK” in 2019. He has participated in several group exhibititions and workshops as a participant and a facilitator.

Patrick Akpojotor lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria.

Yusuff Aina Abogunde bio:

Yusuff  is a fast rising contemporary artist, born in 1997, in the state of Lagos, Nigeria where he currently resides. His artistic education in fine and applied arts was attained at the Federal College of Education, Akota, Lagos.

Yusuffs’ artistic practice is multidisciplinary; he is a painter, sculptor, digital/virtual arts. He calls his style of art “Ainaism”. Yusuff employs surreal figurative paintings in the style of pop art with motion lines to capture the struggles associated with the character “Eni-Yan”, who is always present in his works.

Eni-yan is a character Yusuff uses “to strip off the identity of a person, by using one face to represent all humans, as a symbol of unity and togetherness. Eni-yan is used to represent humans and our struggle”. The face of Eni-yan is inspired from sculptural wooden and metallic masks that have been present in different African cultures for centuries to millennium.

Ken Nwadigobu