Blaine Fontana "The Golden Record" & Thomas Doyle "Collateral Damage" Exhibition Recap

Showing at LeBasse Projects, “The Golden Record” is named after the Golden Records placed on the Voyager spacecraft sent across the universe in 1977 and has been created by Portland based artist, Blaine Fontana. Fontanaʼs series of paintings are set to portray a snapshot of humanity and history of humans on Earth. Simultaneously at LeBasse is Thomas Doyle’s first Los Angeles solo show, “Collateral Damage”, which explores the impact of memory through his Distillation Series that distorts reality by inverting houses and creating mini disappearing worlds.

LeBasse Projects
6023 Washington Blvd
Culver City
CA90232

LeBasse Projects is excited to present, The Golden Record, an exhibition of new works from Portland based artist Blaine Fontana. In this anticipated solo exhibition, Fontana returns to the gallery scene after a nearly three year hiatus from showing.

The show is titled after the Golden Records placed on the Voyager spacecraft sent across the universe in 1977. The sets of gold and copper plated records contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form who may find them. Fontanaʼs series of paintings are set to portray a snapshot of humanity and history of humans on Earth. The show will have a strong focus on humanity and its inherited argument between beauty and tragedy.

After an extremely successful few years showing in galleries from Los Angeles to Philadelphia,Fontana took a hiatus from exhibitions to focus on his commercial work and developing hisconceptual process as an artist. Reinvigorated by the robust art scene in Portland, Oregon, Fontana has been working on The Golden Record for almost a year and is looking to showcollectors a more serious and mature body of work.

About Blaine Fontana: Blaine Fontana graduated from OTIS College of Art and Design in with a BFA in Communication Art/Design. He finished at the top of his class with the “Best in Show” award that is presented upon Graduation and has since shown extensively in galleries internationally. In addition to his gallerywork Fontana has worked commercially for companies as diverse as Keep A Breast, Ocean Pacific, SCION, Toyota, KID ROBOT and NIKE.

Opening in our Project Room, LeBasse Projects presents Thomas Doyle’s first Los Angeles solo show. Doyle’s work mines the debris of memory through the creation of intricate worlds sculpted in
1:43 scale and smaller. Often sealed under glass, the works depict the remnants of things past ¬whether major, transformational experiences, or the quieter moments that resonate loudlythroughout a life.

For ‘Collateral Damage,’ Doyle continues to explore the impact of memory through his Distillation Series. Based on the premise that a personality can be distilled down to certain key formative events, the work in this series centers on the home and family life. Doyle begins with this safe, archetypal space, then distorts reality through a warped and dreamlike lens, in much the same waythe mind recalls events through the fog of time. The result is a world where houses are inverted,earth crumbles away, and people sink into the ground -all trapped under glass and frozen in time.

Source: Brandon Shigeta