Karma International is a gallery founded in 2008 in Zurich by Karolina Dankow and Marina Olsen.
In 2015 they opened a second space in Los Angeles.
The gallery spaces place an importance on showcasing art that develops concepts and art ideas.
This last October, they had an area at Frieze designated to emphasise Feminist Art.
Works by Judith Bernstein, which though for some may be visually provocative, are there to encourage a discussion regarding gender, power and politics.
A part of the Feminist Art Movement, Bernstein used art as a tool to help bring forth a discussion on gender and rights, paving the way for other female artists into the discussion.
Artists like Sylvie Fleury, who tackles the notion of what art is meant to be or what high art is meant to represent, examining gender issues and the everyday.
Her latest exhibition entitled: L.A. Bougainvillea is on at the moment at gallery Karma International LA until the 5th May.
This show presents works by Fleury that bathe between the boundaries of art, fashion and beauty.
Her paintings of make-up compacts are without any branding or any commercial direction.
Although they are depicting actual make-up, they also take on and look like abstract paintings, with rectangular shapes ornamenting the walls.
In the body of work on display, the accomplished artist is examining consumer culture and the notion of desire; how we are sold that concept. It looks at everyday objects and places them in the mirror of art.
Within History of Art we recall Andy Warlhol's depiction of consumerism and Marcel Duchamp highlighting ready made and found objects.
Perhaps the abstract paintings asks us to think about when we use make-up, are we sometimes abstracting ourselves? With social media and the many filters we have at the touch of a button, it is easy to forget the layer of so called 'reality'.
We develop a sentimental and emotional attachment to everyday objects, that Fleury has chosen to depict and wonder where is our identity in the bag of make up?
In other works such as Hollywood Vanity, Fleury is asking us how we see ourselves since we are constantly faced with media and glamour images through electronic wires. In Cuddly Painting, Fleury explores replacing canvases with faux-fur, and in ode to Gloria Steinem’s biographical collection of essays, My Life on the Road, Fleury created Gloria’s Triumph and some limited edition sweatshirts and t-shirts with embroidered labels written on "The truth will set you free but first it will piss you off".
The seductive pop of colours in Sylvie Fleurie's art relays the seduction of marketing and advertising tools that we are faced in society. So though at a glance, Fleury's art displays fun, when we start to think about the layers of paint or make-up, we start to see an art placing a mirror up to society and up to ourselves.
In 2015 they opened a second space in Los Angeles.
The gallery spaces place an importance on showcasing art that develops concepts and art ideas.
This last October, they had an area at Frieze designated to emphasise Feminist Art.
Works by Judith Bernstein, which though for some may be visually provocative, are there to encourage a discussion regarding gender, power and politics.
A part of the Feminist Art Movement, Bernstein used art as a tool to help bring forth a discussion on gender and rights, paving the way for other female artists into the discussion.
Artists like Sylvie Fleury, who tackles the notion of what art is meant to be or what high art is meant to represent, examining gender issues and the everyday.
Her latest exhibition entitled: L.A. Bougainvillea is on at the moment at gallery Karma International LA until the 5th May.
This show presents works by Fleury that bathe between the boundaries of art, fashion and beauty.
Her paintings of make-up compacts are without any branding or any commercial direction.
Although they are depicting actual make-up, they also take on and look like abstract paintings, with rectangular shapes ornamenting the walls.
In the body of work on display, the accomplished artist is examining consumer culture and the notion of desire; how we are sold that concept. It looks at everyday objects and places them in the mirror of art.
Within History of Art we recall Andy Warlhol's depiction of consumerism and Marcel Duchamp highlighting ready made and found objects.
Perhaps the abstract paintings asks us to think about when we use make-up, are we sometimes abstracting ourselves? With social media and the many filters we have at the touch of a button, it is easy to forget the layer of so called 'reality'.
We develop a sentimental and emotional attachment to everyday objects, that Fleury has chosen to depict and wonder where is our identity in the bag of make up?
In other works such as Hollywood Vanity, Fleury is asking us how we see ourselves since we are constantly faced with media and glamour images through electronic wires. In Cuddly Painting, Fleury explores replacing canvases with faux-fur, and in ode to Gloria Steinem’s biographical collection of essays, My Life on the Road, Fleury created Gloria’s Triumph and some limited edition sweatshirts and t-shirts with embroidered labels written on "The truth will set you free but first it will piss you off".
The seductive pop of colours in Sylvie Fleurie's art relays the seduction of marketing and advertising tools that we are faced in society. So though at a glance, Fleury's art displays fun, when we start to think about the layers of paint or make-up, we start to see an art placing a mirror up to society and up to ourselves.
SYLVIE FLEURY Colorful 5 (Gold and Blue), 2018 Acrylic on shaped canvas
SYLVIE FLEURY Envy Blush (Rebel Rose), 2018 Acrylic on shaped canvas
SYLVIE FLEURY Flush, 2018 Acrylic on shaped canvas
SYLVIE FLEURY Cuddly Painting (With Nude Lipstick Boots), 2018 Faux fur, stretchers, staples, casted Vetements boots, paint
SYLVIE FLEURY Hollywood Vanity 2, 2018 Silkscreen print on mirror in metal frame, LED half-chrome lightbulbs
SYLVIE FLEURY Gloria’s Triumph (Kawasaki 100, 1973), 2018 Motorcycle, custom painted tank
SYLVIE FLEURY The truth will set you free but rst it will piss you off, 2018 Cottton, embroidered label
LA Bougainvillea on until May 5 2018 at
Karma International 4619 W Washington Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90016
Karma International 4619 W Washington Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90016
All images courtesy of Karma International
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