Obliterate

(LOS ANGELES, CA) - Open Mind Art Space is pleased to present Obliterate, a solo exhibition featuring abstract sculptures and collages by Los Angeles-based artist, Andre Yi. An opening reception for the artist will be held on Saturday, September 29th from 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM. The exhibition will be on view from September 29th through October 26th, 2018.

Conjuring notions of architecture, urban sprawl, and nest-making, Yi’s work uses found materials to speak to the encroaching erosion of the natural world by society and all its harmful trappings. His assemblages mimic human-made structures while employing an organically-inspired language, further highlighting the contentious yet unavoidable relationship between the two.

To create his work, Yi chooses materials readily available in and around his studio, often transforming them through innovative formal arrangements, yet doing little to alter their makeup. All of his work employs a process of accumulation through the stacking of painted wood in his wall-relief and sculptural works or the repetitive layering of paper and tape in his collage works. Yi occasionally disrupts his own orderly arrangements with the spontaneous use of unaltered paint.

Each work in the show exhibits a similar circular movement: a churning swirl radiating in a delicate arrangement of colorful and semi-recognizable materials. Delicate fans of sharpened colored pencil scraps peek out between stacks of amassed wooden shapes. Small pieces of faux painted wood issue a small moment of simulacra that reflects upon our desire to recreate nature, even as we destroy it. Much like a bird that creates a nest with mylar, hair, and plastics; the building blocks that create our human landscapes obliterates our natural environment with each passing year.

Andre Yi was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Texas. After receiving his BFA from the University of Texas at Austin and his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, he returned to Los Angeles, California. Yi has exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Berkeley, Miami, Dallas, Berlin, Amsterdam and Seoul. His work is included in the collection of the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art. He has been reviewed by the LA Times, Die Welt and other numerous publications.