FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2024
Abstract Frequency: a group exhibition of abstract paintings with Wienholt Projects in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA – Wienholt Projects is pleased to present Abstract Frequency, a group exhibition of abstract paintings by Preston Douglas, Jerry McLaughlin, Britt Michaelian, Joe Taveras, and Russell Young. The exhibition is on view March 14th – April 26th, with an opening reception on Thursday, March 14th, from 7-9pm.
Abstract painting of the 20th century belonged to a relatively small group of artists who were committed to breaking the image away from the confines of representation. The success of this endeavor validated abstraction’s presence in not only the art world but in society at large. The acceptance and absorption of the language of abstraction is evident in myriad realms of “mainstream” culture today; technology, fashion, journalism, movies and television all contain elements of the abstract mode of thinking pushed forward by 20th century painters. The conversation around abstraction, no longer limited to fine art, now has a feedback loop with the public.
The artists presented in Abstract Frequency, who have all arrived at abstract painting from other industries, are evidence of this feedback loop. Preston Douglas’s works are heavily influenced by the fashion industry; corporate logos and fashion fabrics are stretched and manipulated into new forms of “paintings” charged with material associations. Jerry McLaughlin, formerly a pediatric critical care physician, now produces pure abstract paintings. The emotional disconnect necessary for his previous work, when applied to artmaking, becomes a poetic and formalist exploration into shape and surface. Britt Michaelian, trained in Reiki and art therapy, abstracts tenets and symbols of her healing practice into meditative images. Joe Taveras’s background is in robotics. Freed from the logical constraints of machine design, his expressive gestures form loose almost-figures. Russell Young’s practice draws from his early career photographing musicians and directing music videos for MTV. Young’s abstract works, lesser-known than his iconic silkscreen portraits, reveal and formalize a more primal energy.
About Wienholt Projects
Aubrie Wienholt founded Wienholt Projects in 2023, following a 10+ year history of working with artists, galleries, museums, and other institutions. Wienholt Projects is committed to producing nontraditional exhibitions of works that interrogate and forward the field of art. Drawing from the experience of working with artists in an alternative capacity through PR for Artists, Wienholt’s creative agency and art house founded in 2015, Wienholt Projects is grounded in a unique understanding of artists’ holistic roles in society.
Website: www.wienholtprojects.com
Instagram: @wienholtprojects
About Preston Douglas
Preston Douglas (b.1995) is a multidisciplinary artist who works between painting, fashion, and performance, whose work considers how these forms can create spiritual, nonreligious, atmospheres of faith for collective unity. His paintings are both remnants of performances and starting points for installations, addressing how surfaces can allude to both beauty and darkness through examining contemporary cultural conviction.
Website: www.prestondouglas.us
Instagram: @culturebitch
About Jerry McLaughlin
Jerry McLaughlin lives and paints in the high desert landscape of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Dedicated entirely to pure abstraction, his paintings are characterized by their subtle, restrained palette and their palpable physicality. Dozens of layers of beeswax, pigment, and ash give rise to their complex yet harmonious surfaces. His works incite our desire to physically touch them. Always navigating the interplay between beauty and darkness, McLaughlin weaves his love of poetry into his process, using insights drawn from language to enrich his work. The poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca, Edna St Vincent Millay, and Constantine Cavafy has been particularly important. Moods and sensitivities are roughly translated into palette, shape, and surface.
Recognized as an expert in cold wax medium, he has taught extensively across the US and abroad. In 2017, he co-authored Cold Wax Medium: Techniques, Concepts & Conversations, the first ever comprehensive book on cold wax medium. The book won a 2018 International Independent Publisher Gold Medal and a 2018 International Book Award. His works appear in private collections in the US and internationally, including the Ballinglen Museum of Art (Ireland), the Encaustic Art Museum (New Mexico), and the Texas A&M permanent collection. He is represented by Avivson Gallery in London and HG Contemporary in New York.
Website: www.jerrymclaughlinart.com
Instagram: @jerrymclaughlinart
About Britt Michaelian
Britt Michaelian is an artist and healer. Her painting practice incorporates sacred processes and rituals, such as prayer and intention setting, powdered minerals, soil from energy vortexes, healing frequencies, the use of herbs and essential oils, sacred geometry, and quantum healing to create meditative abstract works that explore the theme of Universal life force energy while transmitting healing energy to the viewer.
Michaelian received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, graduate degrees in Art Therapy and Marriage and Family Therapy, and a certification as an expressive arts therapist in the hospital setting. The culmination of these studies, especially art therapy, led to her current practice that seeks to combine art and healing practices. Her art has been exhibited at galleries in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, and more, and is in private collections around the world.
Michaelian is an Usui and Karuna Ki Reiki master teacher and BQH quantum healing hypnosis practitioner. She is also the host of The Daily Healing podcast, which launched its second season in December 2023. She currently lives and works in Southern California.
Website: www.brittmichaelian.art
Instagram: @brittmichaelian
About Joe Taveras
Joe Taveras is a mixed media artist and designer who approaches painting with a unique sensibility informed by his background as a roboticist. Fusing science and philosophy into his gestures, Taveras’s bold, colorful expressions are rooted in explorations into how matter moves and interacts with the environment and universe. His creative practice has revolved around three key interests: oneness, the infinite power of the human mind, and the development of visual technology in the form of art. Taveras is currently independent following the closing of Galerie Michael in Beverly Hills, LA at the end of 2022. In Taveras’ first year of representation, over 50 of his artworks sold to collectors around the globe, making him the highest selling artist in the gallery. Recent press includes articles in Whitehot Magazine, The Boston Globe, and Voyage LA. Artworks by Joe Taveras have found their way into private collections around the world in places such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Sweden, Paris, Spain, South Korea, China, Canada, and more.
Website: www.joetaverasart.com
Instagram: @joetaveras
About Russell Young
Russell Young is a British-American artist best known for his large scale silkscreen paintings that have been collected by the likes of Barack Obama, Drake, Kate Moss, and many others. His first breakthrough was his photography of George Michael for the sleeve of the album Faith in 1987. Young photographed many music stars throughout the years including Morrissey, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, REM, The Smiths, Bauhaus, Diana Ross, Paul Newman, Björk, and many others. He also went on to shoot over 100 music videos for leading artists during MTV’s height in the 1990s. Young’s current practice started with his sold-out show Pig Portraits in Los Angeles in the 2000s, when he began screen printing and incorporating his famous use of diamond dust. The many series that have followed have exhibited across the world in numerous galleries alongside masterclass artists, institutions, and cultural figures. He currently lives in Southern California.
Website: http://www.russellyoung.com/
Instagram: @bankrobbercalifornia