Craziness runs in the blood of creatives.
With each new piece, an artist must run the risk of being ridiculed. Yet art that truly pushes the envelope emerges not from the confines of sanity — it’s born on the borderlands of madness.
That’s the energy that runs through “Go Loco,” a new exhibit opening Saturday at Mash Gallery on La Cienega. Gallery owner and artist Haleh Mashian has curated a free-spirited and daring collection that showcases the eye-popping, idiosyncratic work of several up-and-coming L.A. artists alongside her own rich and textured pieces.
“Go Loco” celebrates unpredictability. The exhibit includes traditional paintings that cleverly transcend their two dimensions, like Megan Dune’s “Loud Mouth,” as well as mixed media pieces that defy definition, such “Plush Mugwamp-O-Lounger,” which combines a William S. Burroughs character, a lounge chair, and “a film noir protagonist’s guide towards obtaining drugs and sex,” according to artist Aaron Shepherd.
“For him, the wilder, the better,” Mashian says of Shepherd, whose work explores the boundaries of gender. “And he has no inhibition when it comes to his own sexuality, putting it out there. It’s just wild. I just love the courage.”
Mashian’s urge to experiment is seen throughout her own heartfelt pieces, each brimming with color and emotion. Her paintings are deeply layered and highly tactile, mixing disparate surfaces and materials. Her “Trees” series is made of plastic, plaster and resin but the trees themselves feel organic. Her tree “Vivace” invokes romance and nostalgia with abundant glitter and iridescence.
“I didn’t want to have a stale gallery where you know what you get every time you go,” Mashian said.
It’s only been a year since she brought her gallery from its original location in DTLA to the doorstep of West Hollywood while the world was still in the throes of the pandemic.
“WeHo was the only city that still kept alive,” Mashian recalls. “Its lights stayed on.”
The public is invited to attend “Go Loco”‘s opening reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 10. RSVP here.
Mash Gallery is located at 812 N. La Cienega Blvd.
