From LAX to CDG

 STEMS Gallery–Paris proudly announces the group show From LAX to CDG on view from June 1st to July 29th, 2023 in celebration of the Parisian gallery’s first anniversary. The show comprises paintings and sculptures by artists Julien Boudet, John Fou, Kara Joslyn, Pharaoh Kakudji, Léo Luccioni, Laure Mary Couégnias, Taylor Marie Prendergast, Conrad Ruíz, Aryo Toh Djojo and Andy Woll. 

The occasion intends to highlight the strong link that has been thoughtfully nurtured over the last years between the two contemporary art hubs of Paris and Los Angeles, bringing together a collection of works that demonstrate the gallery’s keen eye for rising talent in these two distinctive metropolises. Separated by an ocean and 4600 km of the contiguous United States, the artists are united in their exploration of the murky waters of consumerism, our relationships to technology and nature, the internet and its impact on visual culture, as well as more metaphysical plunges into the human psyche which must increasingly grapple with the chaos of contemporary life in the digital age. 

Luccioni, Kakudji, and Boudet touch on contemporary hyperconsumerism with varying degrees of sympathy and criticism, each with their own specific style, iconography, and use of materials ranging from Dorito chip bags, motorcycle sportswear sculptures, and tattered advertising billboards. 

Taking inspiration from the techniques and symbolism of surrealism and naive art, Joslyn, Mary-Couégnias and Fou create dreamlike paintings that probe into the social interactions and relationships between humanity and nature. 

Woll, Ruíz, Prendergast, and Toh Djojo have each incorporated the use of a recurring theme or subject into their figurations: mountains, fire, dogs, and extraterrestrial life, respectively. They play with signs and symbols, and (re) create real or imagined scenes where tensions play out via an internal or external conflict.