IPSUM

Edward Cella Art & Architecture presents IPSUM, a four person exhibition featuring artworks by Neha Choksi, Patricia Fernández, David McDonald and Jeffrey Vallance.

The artists in this exhibition create conceptual and narrative objects that pursue themes of identity, absence, history, and spirituality. Questioning an artificial division within the production of so-called self-portraits, this exhibition reflects on the physicality of being. From the sublime to the absurd, each artist distinctly places themselves into their work, portraying a personal framework for the viewer to investigate.

Neha Choksi explores themes of identity and place, life, and death by referencing time and space in a series of works that utilize sunsets and lunar eclipses. As a bi-cultural artist living in Mumbai and Los Angeles, Choksi is caught between two completely different worlds, which is often reflected is her artistic practice. Choksi received an MA in Classics from Columbia University and a BA in art from UCLA. She has produced solo exhibitions for Project 88, Mumbai; and Carl Berg Projects, Los Angeles; recent group exhibitions include Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena; Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Melbourne; and Whitchapel Gallery, London. Her work is included in notable public and private collections in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Patricia Fernández has produced a series of objects and images that challenge established truths within the context of personal family history. Her archaeological excavation of her Spanish upbringing is both political and psychological, exploring the instability of memory and the reliance upon a murky family history for the construction of identity. Fernández was born in Burgos, Spain and currently resides in Los Angeles. She received a BFA from UCLA and an MFA from Cal Arts and was featured in the Hammer Museum’s LA Biennial in 2012 and produced recent solo exhibitions for LAXART, Los Angeles, and Commonwealth & Council, Los Angeles.

David McDonald’s sculptural abstractions are considered by the artist as a collection of self-portraits. McDonald’s pursuit in this new body of work reflects a career-long search for “self,” not as a visual portrait or personal history but rather as a personal internal analysis. McDonald received an MFA from Cal Arts and has produced solo exhibitions for Carter and Citizen, Los Angeles; Jancar Gallery, Los Angeles; group exhibitions include Torrance Art Museum, Torrance; ACME Gallery, Los Angeles; University Art Museum, Long Beach; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles. In 2013, McDonald received a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.

Jeffrey Vallance’s paintings and drawings invoke the lives of others in an effort to reveal culturally cherished values and belief systems. Vallance has collected personal objects since he was a child, and displays these objects in ways that allow the viewer to draw connections between the artwork and the context of his life experience. Vallance received an MFA from Otis College of Art and Design and lives and works in Reseda, CA. He has exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; and Centre d’édition contemporaine, Genève. In 2004 Vallance received the John Simon Memorial Foundation Fellowship. His works are held in such public collections as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, and Moderna Museet, Sweden; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Vatican Museum, The Vatican, Rome.