Ignoring or hiding an issue in both the literal and metaphorical sense. For some, it’s a way of life.

For D*Face it’s a humorist’s opportunity to name his new exhibition in Los Angeles at Corey Helford; Basing the August show on the witticism “Papering Over the Cracks”, he’s painting over them.

Fresh from two years of Netflix and a new broken wrist while skateboarding (don’t ask), the British co-founder of Stolenspace gallery, and street/commercial/multimedia artist returns to LA a bit bruised but with stars in his eyes. In fact, a large part of the show plays on the currency of familiar Tinseltown themes that he customizes with his familiar pop vocabulary.  

“I wanted to play on this expectation of predictability in the show by twisting some of Hollywood’s most iconic creations,” he says in a press release. “ ─ defacing and reimagining the images we think we know and trying to break that cycle of comfortable, knowable nostalgia.”

A post-punk pragmatist of sorts, the *DFace cultural critique is ever-present since there is so much to rail against wherever one looks, but he won’t stir too much discomfort. The police state may be here, but can’t we all get along? He includes a new collection of collaged sticker compositions drawn from his prodigious collection along with new canvasses of familiar twists on pop themes and darker undertones.

As he says, there is still so much to be examined when it comes to cracks in the official stories, and he’s happy to show you what he found. Or paint over it.

“It is this occasional act of stepping outside the usual boundaries, questioning learned patterns and relationships that run throughout the body of work,” he says, “and I think it’s needed now more than ever.”

Painting Over the Cracks? Opening Saturday, August 6^th at Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery with over 70 new works, installations and street murals on view through September 10^th. Click HERE for more details and schedules.

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