Aryo Toh Djojo's "Transmission" @ Wilding Cran Gallery
Wilding Cran Gallery // January 09, 2021 - January 30, 2021
January 28, 2021 | in Painting
A few artists managed to convey the general weirdness of current times as well as Los Angeles-born artist Aryo Toh Djojo whose solo show
Transmission is currently on view at Wilding Cran Gallery in Los Angeles. And here we're not talking about the year of a pandemic or the political climate in the U.S. but the age of social and mass media-influenced understanding of reality.
Curated by Michael Slenske, the presentation comprises mostly small-size pieces celebrating archetypal LA/California imagery, yet alternated with the, in most cases, subtle presence of UFO objects. Displayed within a scattered cluster that occupies two adjacent gallery walls, the installation feels like a scene from a CSI type of show in which experts are resolving a mysterious case. And in this particular instance, the case is the UFOs captured on a variety of photographs depicting diverse subjects such as LA’s car culture, commercial strips, celebrity or glamour life, intimate moments, or the mountain and coastal vistas. Whether pictured as a focused portrayal of a flying saucer, a night-time radar scan capturing an extraterrestrial spacecraft, or as mere flashes of extra-sensory lights, these visuals are challenging the notion of reality using familiar mainstream culture imagery. "The paintings are more or less about the in-between moments in our mundane lives when something sparks or syncs between the conscious and unconscious mind," Toh Djojo told Juxtapoz about what these works represent to him personally. "It’s that moment when the blur of a certain reality starts to become more clear to another one. Similar to the effects when taking psilocybin, DMT, or in meditation."