Mostly using the traditional medium of oil painting on canvas, Brike’s art focuses on the internal space and state of a human soul – dreams, longing, love, pain, the vast range of emotions that the human condition offers and the transcendence of them all, the growing up and self-discovery. Her work is her poetic visual autobiography.
Growing up under Soviet occupation had a profound effect on everything from Brike’s work ethic to her subject matter and aesthetic sensibilities. A self-described “reclusive and dreamy child,” Brike showed burgeoning talent at a very young age. By 15 years old she was participating in international exhibitions, later going on to receive her Master of Arts degree from the Art Academy of Latvia in 2005.
Brike’s surreal and haunting imagery is informed by everything from Russian Realism and Soviet animation to her Grandmother’s religious postcards featuring biblical works of the European masters. Her subject matter is culled from folklore, fairytales and children’s book illustrations. The subjects of her oil paintings embody a fantastical quality, illustrating what Brike viewed as the “forbidden…imagery of Western pop culture” which took on a “mystical, almost religious tone for Soviet children.”
Over the past 15 years, Brike has created 13 solo exhibitions and been part of nearly 100 other projects and group exhibitions in established and emerging galleries in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Russia, Finland, Belorussia, Switzerland, Australia and several parts of the United States. She currently lives in Riga, Latvia.
Corey Helford Gallery Presents
Jana Brike
Soulsearching
Downtown Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery is proud to announce Soulsearching, the next solo show from Latvian surrealist painter Jana Brike, opening Saturday, August 10th in Gallery 3.
Mostly using the traditional medium of oil painting on canvas, Brike’s art focuses on the internal space and state of a human soul – dreams, longing, love, pain, the vast range of emotions that the human condition offers and the transcendence of them all, the growing up and self-discovery. Her work is her poetic visual autobiography.
Regarding her new series Soulsearching, Brike shares: “The Soulsearching series consist of all new oil paintings. Through exploring what femininity means to me and transcending the darkness of some personal life experiences, I create paintings that are autobiographical, in the form of visual poems that are about connection to your own body, to your own soul, and to your own path, about numinous quality of everyday life and of nature, about exploration and curiosity for the most natural things to all living things. Life and death, and rebirth and life after death, create an important cycle and theme in these paintings. As does ecstasy, the shining of pure joy of living. Mysticism, magic, and dreams are mixed with ‘real’ life in an inseparable entanglement. It is all a Soulsearching – shifting through your own mysterious depths in search for your truest self and your own replies to life’s most important questions.”
Adding, “To me painting is a strange medium, where countless hours, days, weeks, sometimes even years of constant energy flow and dedicated work are used to depict one single frozen moment in time. This time and energy is my personal Soulsearching time. That alone can give that metaphysical feeling of a window into a world where time just flows differently and one second of the protagonist’s time is a million years in our reality.”
Soulsearching opens Saturday, August 10th from 7pm-11pm in Gallery 3, alongside Ryan Heshka in Gallery 2.
The gallery will also be hosting a solo show with HERAKUT in the Main Gallery, which opens Saturday, August 17th. Corey Helford Gallery is located at 571 S. Anderson St. Los Angeles, CA 90033 and normal hours are Tuesday – Saturday, from 12pm – 6pm.
About Jana Brike
Jana Brike was born in Riga, Latvia in 1980. Growing up under Soviet occupation had a profound effect on everything from Brike’s work ethic to her subject matter and aesthetic sensibilities. A self-described “reclusive and dreamy child,” Brike showed burgeoning talent at a very young age. At ten she was enrolled in Latvia’s most prestigious arts elementary school where she spent at least 5 hours of each day painting. By 15 years old she was participating in international exhibitions, later going on to receive her Master of Arts degree from the Art Academy of Latvia in 2005.
Brike’s surreal and haunting imagery is informed by everything from Russian Realism and Soviet animation to her Grandmother’s religious postcards featuring biblical works of the European masters. Her subject matter is culled from folklore, fairytales and children’s book illustrations. The subjects of her oil paintings embody a fantastical quality, illustrating what Brike viewed as the “forbidden…imagery of Western pop culture” which took on a “mystical, almost religious tone for Soviet children.” She has also explored other mediums like drawing, animation, mixed media sculpture, installation and digital art.
Over the past 15 years, Brike has created 13 solo exhibitions and been part of nearly 100 other projects and group exhibitions in established and emerging galleries in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Russia, Finland, Belorussia, Switzerland, Australia and several parts of the United States. She currently lives in Riga, Latvia.
About Corey Helford Gallery
Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) was first established in 2006 by Jan Corey Helford and her husband, television producer and creator, Bruce Helford (The Conners, Anger Management, The Drew Carey Show, George Lopez) and has since evolved into one of the premier galleries of New Contemporary art. Its goals as an institution are the support and growth of young and emerging, to well-known and internationally established artists.
CHG represents a diverse collection of international artists, primarily influenced by today’s pop culture and collectively encompassing style genres such as New Figurative Art, Pop Surrealism, Neo Pop, Graffiti and Street Art. CHG is located in Downtown Los Angeles in a robust 12,000 square foot building presenting new exhibitions approximately every six weeks.
For more info and an upcoming exhibition schedule, visit CoreyHelfordGallery.com and connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.