Lonely Opulent Thing trotted out by Kukula
It has been less than two years since the California-based artist Nataly “Kukula” Abramovitch visited the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City. Kukula's then sold-out exhibition “Immortal Artifacts” has brought her back for a second exhibition titled “Lonely Opulent Things.”
The gallery quickly filled up last Friday night, as visitors were eager to see her second solo exhibition.
Kukula was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, but eventually relocated to San Francisco. Her work reflects her surroundings growing up in Tel Aviv, witnessing a fairy tale life mixed with war stories from her neighbors.
The paintings are centered on feminine, doll-like figures that are often surrounded by objects with symbolic meaning. For this exhibition, all the dolls in the paintings had a tattoo of some kind.
Harping on this theme, visitors were given postcards of Kukula’s paintings, and a temporary tattoo of a doll.
The white gallery’s lower level was reserved solely for displaying Kukula’s paintings; there was an upstairs loft, however, cosponsoring digital artist Natalie Shau’s work.
Ten out of the 24 paintings on display were already sold prior to the exhibition’s opening. “Girl On A Marble Pedestal l” sold for $10,000; the price range for Kukula’s oil-on-board paintings varied from $700 to $12,000.
“I bought a piece the last time she was here at Corey’s,” said Leila Gullum who is an art collector from Pasadena. “She is absolutely talented.”
According to Gullum, the new painting by Kukula showed a marked difference from her last paintings, with a greater attention to detail.
According to Kukula, the inspiration for this particular exhibition from came from Versailles. “I went to Versailles and was really inspired by the art there, and decided to create something based on what I saw,” she said.
The name “Lonely Opulent Things” came from “how we accumulate beauty and how it is separating us as humans,” said Kukula.
Although this was a successful exhibition, there were patrons who weren’t impressed.
“I’ve been to many exhibitions, and I’ve seen a lot of paintings and met with artists from all over the country," said Don Sterns, a visitor to the gallery. "Kukula is very talented, but this isn’t anything I would hang up in my own house.”
Kukula’s advice for aspiring artists is to “never give up on your vision.”
She will be back at the Corey Helford Gallery in 2013, with a new exhibition.
"Lonely Opulent Things” will be open until Oct. 15.
Click here to go to the Corey Helford Gallery website.
Click here to go to the Kukula's website.