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DANNY HELLER
WONDERLAND October 15 - November 12, 2022 Opening Reception: Saturday, October 15th, 4-7pm |
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
GBGLA is pleased to present Wonderland, the gallery’s seventh solo exhibition of paintings by Danny Heller. Well known for his paintings of mid-century residential and commercial architecture, Heller focuses on a new subject for the current series: influential projects around Los Angeles from the 1920s through early 1940s. The exhibition is on view through November 12.
In these paintings, Heller covers monumental and lesser-known works starting with Frank Lloyd Wright and tracing his design principles through his son Lloyd Wright, and students Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, and John Lautner. Heller uses his refined artist’s eye and virtuosic ability with oil paint to emphasize the groundbreaking hard-edged geometries used in these designs. Light and shadow play off the structures - creating new geometries - which further emphasize these architects’ outside-the-box thinking.
This series is a glorious homage to a vibrant era of architecture in Southern California and depicts the staggeringly forward-thinking designs of some of the most innovative architects of the 20th century. Heller writes, “My goal is to evoke how striking these creations are; how they were groundbreaking for the time, but continue to inspire today.”
Los Angeles, in both its landscape, light, and in the freedom that it embodies, continues to provides a unique and inspiring environment for artists. In his paintings, Heller pays close attention to how many of these projects are a collection of simple squares and rectangles cantilevered over LA’s unique terrain. The shadows cast by verdant plant life around the buildings, the hints of glorious Los Angeles vistas in the distance, the reflections in a pool - all these brilliant details come together to capture a ground breaking era of pioneering design and create masterful paintings.
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. In 2021, The Hilbert Museum of California Art acquired a painting for their permanent collection. 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 Desert Hot Springs, CA.
ARTIST STATEMENT 2022
“Wonderland:” the word instantly conjures images of fantastical worlds; spectacular environments of colors, shapes, and lighting; a menagerie of images both inspiring and disorienting. It is a fitting word to describe the boon of development and architectural innovation that took root in Southern California in the 1920s. The father of American Architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright, would go on to flourish in the warm Mediterranean climate of Los Angeles during this time, bringing with him steadfast principles in design, but adapting them to a new environment. He would also bring with him a group of students that would contribute their own design sensibilities to his philosophies of organizing space and the use of materials. One can trace a common thread from Frank Lloyd Wright through his disciples, ever evolving over time, which defined the look of architecture as the region approached the midcentury’s Modernism style. Altogether, their advancements in the field would forever change how we envision the built space.
In this latest series, I want to trace how these seminal projects in early Modernism adapted to unique parameters, often influenced by the cultural backgrounds of their respective architects, and how they brought about a bold new mindset of design. I cover monumental and lesser-known work starting with Frank Lloyd Wright and trace his design principles through his son Lloyd Wright, and students Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, and John Lautner. My paintings pay close attention to how many of these projects started as a collection of simple shapes, squares and rectangles, jumbled up and cantilevered over hills, in order to create a dynamic living arrangement specific to each client. One can see the strict lines and rigid architectural forms often set against and within the natural world around them. My goal is to evoke how striking these creations are; how they were groundbreaking for the time, but continue to inspire today. They are an astonishing achievement where creativity meets practicality – a daring venture into the improbable. The fact that so many of these homes developed in the same geographical region lends a dreamlike quality to the area. Fitting, as Los Angeles has long been considered the City of Dreams – but I see it more as a “Wonderland.”
In these paintings, Heller covers monumental and lesser-known works starting with Frank Lloyd Wright and tracing his design principles through his son Lloyd Wright, and students Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, and John Lautner. Heller uses his refined artist’s eye and virtuosic ability with oil paint to emphasize the groundbreaking hard-edged geometries used in these designs. Light and shadow play off the structures - creating new geometries - which further emphasize these architects’ outside-the-box thinking.
This series is a glorious homage to a vibrant era of architecture in Southern California and depicts the staggeringly forward-thinking designs of some of the most innovative architects of the 20th century. Heller writes, “My goal is to evoke how striking these creations are; how they were groundbreaking for the time, but continue to inspire today.”
Los Angeles, in both its landscape, light, and in the freedom that it embodies, continues to provides a unique and inspiring environment for artists. In his paintings, Heller pays close attention to how many of these projects are a collection of simple squares and rectangles cantilevered over LA’s unique terrain. The shadows cast by verdant plant life around the buildings, the hints of glorious Los Angeles vistas in the distance, the reflections in a pool - all these brilliant details come together to capture a ground breaking era of pioneering design and create masterful paintings.
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. In 2021, The Hilbert Museum of California Art acquired a painting for their permanent collection. 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 Desert Hot Springs, CA.
ARTIST STATEMENT 2022
“Wonderland:” the word instantly conjures images of fantastical worlds; spectacular environments of colors, shapes, and lighting; a menagerie of images both inspiring and disorienting. It is a fitting word to describe the boon of development and architectural innovation that took root in Southern California in the 1920s. The father of American Architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright, would go on to flourish in the warm Mediterranean climate of Los Angeles during this time, bringing with him steadfast principles in design, but adapting them to a new environment. He would also bring with him a group of students that would contribute their own design sensibilities to his philosophies of organizing space and the use of materials. One can trace a common thread from Frank Lloyd Wright through his disciples, ever evolving over time, which defined the look of architecture as the region approached the midcentury’s Modernism style. Altogether, their advancements in the field would forever change how we envision the built space.
In this latest series, I want to trace how these seminal projects in early Modernism adapted to unique parameters, often influenced by the cultural backgrounds of their respective architects, and how they brought about a bold new mindset of design. I cover monumental and lesser-known work starting with Frank Lloyd Wright and trace his design principles through his son Lloyd Wright, and students Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, and John Lautner. My paintings pay close attention to how many of these projects started as a collection of simple shapes, squares and rectangles, jumbled up and cantilevered over hills, in order to create a dynamic living arrangement specific to each client. One can see the strict lines and rigid architectural forms often set against and within the natural world around them. My goal is to evoke how striking these creations are; how they were groundbreaking for the time, but continue to inspire today. They are an astonishing achievement where creativity meets practicality – a daring venture into the improbable. The fact that so many of these homes developed in the same geographical region lends a dreamlike quality to the area. Fitting, as Los Angeles has long been considered the City of Dreams – but I see it more as a “Wonderland.”
VIEW EXHIBITION
Billis Williams Gallery opened as George Billis Gallery Los Angeles in 2004. Tressa Williams joined as director in 2009 and became partner in 2021. Billis Williams Gallery builds on the Billis legacy and shows emerging to mid-career artists with a special focus on Southern California painters. The gallery is dedicated to exhibiting exceptional work in richly varied visual vocabularies ranging from abstraction to photorealism.
Billis Williams Gallery
2716 S. La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034
[email protected]
www.BillisWilliams.com
Billis Williams Gallery
2716 S. La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034
[email protected]
www.BillisWilliams.com