J. CHRIS NEAL

Band of Vices is pleased to welcome J. Chris Neal back to Los Angeles with his As I Am: Recent, Revisted & Re-imagined works. His first solo show occurred at the Pounder-Kone Artspace in 2006. Detroit-born J. Chris Neal is a Brooklyn-based artist whose paintings on canvas and works on paper explore gender, race, and sexual identity using collage and assemblage strategies that create provocative juxtapositions of the human body. Neal is fusing the genres of landscape and portraiture and placing the subject of modern life on a heroic scale, as well as embarking on a path of spiritual self-discovery and enlightenment. Neal is mining and making sense of personal territory, societal constraints, and a myriad of cultural influences, the amalgam of which makes his work incredibly fluid, dynamic, and authentic. There is a constant search for answers, wondering how our society can make the world a fairer, more just place. The arc of his oeuvre is laden with learning from his experiences and advancing those lessons in an intelligent, recognizable manner that the viewer appreciates and understands. He acknowledges that there is strength in heralding change, in standing up for uniqueness and to not be afraid of potential or perceived ridicule. Neal’s paintings unpack and give context to our evolving contemporary society.

In her first gallery showing here in Los Angeles, Band of Vices introduces Edyta Pachowicz Ortiz. She is a recent transplant from Atlanta, via Poland. (Yes, long story). Having had an extensive knowledge of her previous works, Gallery Director Terrell Tilford has been consulting with Ortiz on developing a new series of works, often challenging the artist to delve into subjects, styles and medium she hadn’t previously considered. Her paintings in this show representyet another dimension of her journey,that were commissioned by the gallery, specifically for this show.