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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
George Billis Gallery is pleased to present "Tiki Modern," the gallery’s fifth solo exhibition of paintings by Danny Heller. The exhibition features the artist’s most recent body of photorealist oil paintings of Tiki-influenced architecture from Southern California. The exhibition is on view through June 22nd.
Danny Heller is best known for his paintings of Mid-Century Modern architecture and design. In the new body of work, Heller focuses specifically on the Tiki obsession that emerged in the 1940s. Tiki Modern is not just fun escapism, but a cultural design aesthetic with historical roots in midcentury Americana. The exhibit focuses on how the sleek, minimal Modernist architecture and design Heller typically paints took on a tiki flavor starting in the 1940s and continuing through the 1960s. With an aesthetic stemming from Polynesian influences observed during WWII’s Southern Pacific campaign, “tiki” had a strong hold on the cultural zeitgeist in post-war America. It communicated an optimism and easy lifestyle that a booming country was hungry for, much like the bright, vernacular Modern architecture of the time. It was only natural that the two would combine to create a whole new visual vocabulary that featured dynamic a-frame buildings, abstracted patterning, and heavy use of materials like natural woods and stone to communicate an earthen quality. As someone who grew up among these tiki relics in Southern California, Heller was drawn to investigate them and to center an exhibit on the continued relevance of tiki architecture and design today. As with all his work, Heller uses his painting to convey why the designs he focuses on have had such a long-lasting impact on our culture and how we can learn from it, value it, and ultimately preserve it.
Danny Heller received his BA in paintings from UC Santa Barbara in 2004 and has exhibited extensively throughout Southern California as well as in New York City, Denver, Chicago, Washington DC, and Boulonge-Billancourt, France. His work has been published in CA Home + Design, American Art Collector, Southwest Art, CA Modern Magazine, Atomic Ranch Magazine, and was profiled on KCET. He currently lives and works in Palm Desert, CA.
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Danny Heller is best known for his paintings of Mid-Century Modern architecture and design. In the new body of work, Heller focuses specifically on the Tiki obsession that emerged in the 1940s. Tiki Modern is not just fun escapism, but a cultural design aesthetic with historical roots in midcentury Americana. The exhibit focuses on how the sleek, minimal Modernist architecture and design Heller typically paints took on a tiki flavor starting in the 1940s and continuing through the 1960s. With an aesthetic stemming from Polynesian influences observed during WWII’s Southern Pacific campaign, “tiki” had a strong hold on the cultural zeitgeist in post-war America. It communicated an optimism and easy lifestyle that a booming country was hungry for, much like the bright, vernacular Modern architecture of the time. It was only natural that the two would combine to create a whole new visual vocabulary that featured dynamic a-frame buildings, abstracted patterning, and heavy use of materials like natural woods and stone to communicate an earthen quality. As someone who grew up among these tiki relics in Southern California, Heller was drawn to investigate them and to center an exhibit on the continued relevance of tiki architecture and design today. As with all his work, Heller uses his painting to convey why the designs he focuses on have had such a long-lasting impact on our culture and how we can learn from it, value it, and ultimately preserve it.
Danny Heller received his BA in paintings from UC Santa Barbara in 2004 and has exhibited extensively throughout Southern California as well as in New York City, Denver, Chicago, Washington DC, and Boulonge-Billancourt, France. His work has been published in CA Home + Design, American Art Collector, Southwest Art, CA Modern Magazine, Atomic Ranch Magazine, and was profiled on KCET. He currently lives and works in Palm Desert, CA.
Back to Artist's Page
George Billis Gallery opened its second location in the Culver City area of Los Angeles in 2004 and marks its 22nd year in the Chelsea arts district in New York City. George Billis shows work by both emerging and established artists. For more information please contact the gallery at:
2716 S. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
T: 310-838-3685
F: 310-838-3438
email: [email protected]
www.georgebillis.com
2716 S. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
T: 310-838-3685
F: 310-838-3438
email: [email protected]
www.georgebillis.com
