FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 2026
Time is the Essence: Patrick Guetta’s debut solo exhibition redirects the language of corporate power
toward environmental urgency
Patrick Guetta, Time is the Essence, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 in
Los Angeles, CA – Hamilton-Selway Fine Art presents Time is the Essence, the debut solo exhibition of artist Patrick Guetta, on view June 4 – 14, 2026, with an opening reception on Thursday, June 4th, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.
In Time is the Essence, Guetta transforms some of the most recognizable images in the world—corporate logos, slogans, and cultural symbols—into a new visual language. Guetta employs vivid, saturated colors that amplify the visual clarity and immediacy of these forms. Universally understood and deeply embedded in collective memory, these familiar signs are repurposed to confront one urgent reality: time is running out.
By redirecting imagery originally created to drive consumption and desire, Guetta shifts its meaning. Recognition becomes awareness. Comfort becomes tension. The works challenge viewers to reconsider the messages they see every day and the systems behind them. The exhibition draws on Guetta’s ongoing use of photography and painting, merging real urban environments with subtle visual interventions. Within these altered scenes, the familiar appears slightly off, just enough to reveal what is often overlooked.
Recurring throughout the exhibition are the Junglenuts, a group of animal figures holding protest-style placards. Silent yet direct, they echo the language of demonstration, reinforcing the idea that urgency must be made visible.
At its core, Time is the Essence is not about the future, it is about the present. The balance between human activity and the natural world is no longer distant or theoretical. It is immediate.
“I want to ignite a sense of awareness,” says Guetta. “The images we’ve trusted all our lives already live in our minds. I’m simply redirecting them.”
Time is the Essence asks a direct question: what do we do with the time we have left?
Exhibition Details
Time is the Essence
On View: June 4 – 14, 2026
Opening Reception: June 4th, 5:00 – 8:00 PM
Hamilton-Selway Fine Art
8678 Melrose Ave
West Hollywood, CA 90069
About Patrick Guetta
Patrick Guetta has spent over three decades operating at the intersection of art, commerce, and visual culture. For fifteen years, he worked at the highest level of the contemporary art world, managing studio operations and global sales for a major international artist, gaining a deep understanding of how images are created, positioned, and distributed. While working behind the scenes, Guetta developed his own artistic practice, shaped by the very visual language he helped bring into the world. Today, his work focuses on the power of widely recognized imagery—logos, slogans, and cultural symbols and how these forms influence perception on a global scale.
In his work, Guetta reinterprets these familiar signs, shifting their meaning away from consumption and toward awareness. What once promoted desire and speed becomes a vehicle for reflection, responsibility, and environmental consciousness. Rather than creating new symbols, he works with those already embedded in everyday life, transforming their impact from passive recognition into active questioning. A recurring element in his work is the Junglenuts series animal characters that appear as silent protesters, holding placards and interacting with altered symbols. They serve as simple but direct messengers, giving presence to a natural world that cannot speak for itself.
Alongside these figures, Guetta incorporates urban imagery drawn from cities such as New York, Paris, and Los Angeles. These environments are reworked through layering, intervention, and disruption, reflecting the tension between contemporary culture and the natural world. Through his work, Guetta invites viewers to pause, reconsider, and become aware of the visual systems that shape everyday life and the role they play in defining our future.
Website: https://patrickguetta.com
Instagram: @patrick.guetta
About Hamilton-Selway Fine Art
Hamilton-Selway Fine Art is a leading West Coast art advisory and secondary-market gallery specializing in Pop and Contemporary art. For over three decades, the gallery has operated from the West Hollywood Design District, serving private collectors, institutions, and fellow art professionals with a focused approach to acquiring and placing important works. Our program centers on blue-chip masters and influential contemporary artists whose work has shaped, and continues to shape, the market. We work primarily within the secondary market, offering collectors access to high-quality paintings, drawings, and editions with a strong emphasis on condition, provenance, and long-term relevance. Our expertise spans Pop and Contemporary masters such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Robert Rauschenberg, as well as modern and contemporary figures including David Hockney, Ed Ruscha, Damien Hirst, Alex Katz, and Julian Opie.
At its core, Hamilton-Selway Fine Art operates as a trusted partner. Helping collectors navigate the market with clarity, confidence, and a long-term perspective.
Website: https://hamiltonselway.com
Instagram: @hamiltonselway