PYO Gallery LA presents Submerged a solo exhibition of paintings by Corinne Chaix. The exhibition dates are June 7 through July 12, 2014. Join us for an opening reception with the artist on Saturday, June 7, from 6 to 9 pm. Thomas Hollier, digital artist and designer in collaboration with Philippe Bergeron, president of PaintScaping have prepared a special underwater 3d animation to be projected on the gallery walls.

 

Submerged, consists of paintings that visually chronicle Corrine Chaix aesthetic inquiry, ranging from portraits to mythic seascapes. In her works Corinne revisits popular tales and exploration novels like The Little Mermaid and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea as inspiration for an ongoing project that spans several years and has evolved into Underwater Society, her latest series. Corinne extracts from the original texts characters that are complex and Submerged in troubled waters, often surrounded by Dangerous Friends, as the title of a painting in the exhibition suggests. Unlike the happy endings featured in Disney animated films, she instead draws from themes that have an unresolved plot. Visually Corinne incorporates surrealist influences, blending the absurd, the emotional and the deeply personal to explore a world sunken within the subconscious; a dream state where her possibilities remain infinite. Submerged illustrates the irrational interplay between domesticated sea creatures and the ferocity of living in a milieu that is largely unfamiliar.

 

Deeply inspired by the renowned author of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne, Corinne’s work encapsulates Verne’s sense of jam-packed adventure. Vestiges of her European heritage can be traced in the clothing and architectural details that frame the poetic metaphors Corinne employs. Her motifs include the natural versus the civilized, the past versus present, and the imagined versus the real. Featured in the exhibition are large-scale canvases that are rendered in pastel and translucent layers of acrylic color, in a technique known as glazing that mimics the visual properties of water and that physically immerses viewers deeper.

 

In Corinne’s underworld, Deep-sea divers, sea creatures and the fragile ecosystem, all belong to an emotional kingdom that is connected by ambiguous relationships. Her theatrical works combine characters and elements that perform an unfolding mystery that is ripe for exploration, analysis and preservation.

 

Corinne Chaix was born in Paris where she studied Fine Art and Computer Science at The Sorbonne. Her work has been exhibited in France and the United States. Locally, she operates a studio in Venice and has exhibited at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, The Venice Art Walk and a number of galleries and art fairs.