Jeremy Geddes – “Periphery” @ Thinkspace Projects [Los Angeles]

On Saturday, January 11th, one of the first great art exhibitions of the new year opens at Thinkspace Projects in Los Angeles. Jeremy Geddes has long been one of our favorite contemporary artists, and, with his new solo exhibition, the Melbourne painter will showcase a series that has been in development for the last 5 years. A master of his craft and, undoubtedly, a perfectionist, his studies alone blow the majority of artists out of the water. In his show, “Periphery,” some of these studies will be featured alongside original oil paintings and graphite drawings.

This new collection features Geddes‘s trademark of utilizing impeccable photorealism as a foundation to defy laws of nature, suspend time, bend physics, and push through into otherworldly planes of surrealism. There’s a tendency to blend light, beautiful, natural elements with hard unforgiving man-made architecture and concrete. A miraculous buoyancy and airiness regularly permeate landscapes and subject matter as harsh and cold as urban alleyways, parking structures, and jagged shrapnel spewing from controlled demolitions.

Whether his pieces suggest the aftermath of some major occurrence, offer a freeze-frame mid-event, or stall the separate components prior to interaction in some atmospheric Jello mold, there is often a soothing meditative snowglobe effect to even the most explosive and, otherwise, precarious scenarios. As we continue to be bombarded with turmoil and anxiety in this world, there’s a reoccurring hope of pausing the cyclone for even a microsecond, simply for a chance to gain some perspective. Geddes‘s work has always managed to provide that for me, bypassing the whirring cerebral aspect altogether and suggesting that there are greater unseen elements at play holding it all together. Whether you believe that or not, just the reminder that we can tap into that feeling lends credence to the concept and, more importantly, provides remarkable comfort. Rather than offer an alternative to chaos, the artist offers a glimpse into the inexplicable beauty woven into it.

Read Jeremy‘s artist statement below.

“Periphery’ is my first solo show in over a decade, featuring paintings and drawings that reflect my interests and intuitions over the last five years. These works bear witness to my attempts to capture subtle emotional notes, solidify ephemeral ideas into paint or graphite, often while challenging myself with one daunting technical aspect or another.

The title ‘Periphery’ speaks to a few separate notions, a comment on being an Australian painter in the US art scene, and also an exploration of the uncanny, that peripheral state where something feels almost right, yet distinctly not right.

What occurs in my paintings and drawings isn’t necessarily subtle, it’s often a bold and unmissable distortion of reality, but within these normative fractures is always the thought ‘What if it was like this only for a second? What if you only glimpsed this aberration out of the corner of your eye, but the moment you looked again, everything was back to normal, undisturbed? What would you make of that? What story would you tell yourself about what had just happened?’”

The opening reception will nru from 6-10pm. It’s free, all ages, and Jeremy Geddes will be in attendance.

Check out preview images for the exhibition below the following event details…

WHAT:

PERIPHERY
Solo Exhibition by Anthony Geddes

WHEN:

Opening:
Saturday, Jan 11th 2025
6pm-10pm

WHERE:

THINKSPACE PROJECTS
[Main Gallery]
4207 W. Jefferson Blvd. + 4217 W. Jefferson Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016
(310) 558-3375

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Opening is ALL AGES w/NO COVER
Artist will be in attendance
Show on view until Saturday, Feb 1st, 2025
Gallery hours: Tues – Sat. noon – 6pm