BEVERLY HILLS, CA (March 5, 2021) – UTA Artist Space is pleased to present Yashua Klos’ solo show How We Hold It All Together [utaartistspace.com], marking his first exhibition with the venue.
Klos, a Brooklyn-based Chicago native, created this body of work while living in Los Angeles during the pandemic. His works are full of illusionistic depth and space, appearing to be images of sculptural forms built from wood scraps, crystals and brick. Klos’ figures challenge singular notions of identity, as he often merges his own features with those of his models.
“Many of these images are of the family I’ve built throughout my life,” said Klos. “Being raised with very little family, I’ve learned that ‘family’ members are the people who we survive with and for.”
Avoiding direct portraiture, Klos depicts these ‘sculptural models’ of identities as if built from the construction materials of urban detritus. He employs a unique paper construction process by carving into blocks of wood, then inking and printing the relief surface onto archival papers. This source material is then collaged in several layers to create fractured planes.
Klos refers to Chicago’s urban planning for racial segregation through grids and axonometric block forms. Viewers witness heads falling from, and breaking through, grids of wood planks and bricks — as if being born from or negotiating their existence within these building materials.
As part of an exclusive print collaboration with Absolut Art, a new limited edition print from Klos will soon be available on AbsolutArt.com [absolutart.com].
Up next, UTA Artist Space will present a series of virtual exhibitions, featuring Osaze Akil this month, and Glenn Hardy in April. Over the past few months, UTA Artist Space exhibited several virtual shows including Liberating Humanity From Within, In Cahoots: Artists and Curators at USC Roski, Class of 2020: At Such A Time As This, Everyday is Sunday, In the Time of and Renaissance: Noir, as well as physical exhibitions Liberating Humanity From Within, Emergency On Planet Earth: In A Time Close To Now, I Guess by Now I’m Supposed to Be a Man: I’m Just Trying to Leave Behind Yesterday, Disembodiment, Dark Fantasy, Dreamweavers and more on-site at UTA Artist Space in Beverly Hills. Additionally, UTA Artist Space launched Artist Projects, an ongoing series of virtual collaborations with artists such as Shantell Martin and Iva Gueorguieva on the UTA Artist Space website.
Visiting the Artist Space is by appointment only [utaartistspace.com], with a four-guest maximum at any time. All visitors will have to acknowledge via the online appointment system both the health and safety guidelines and their health status before they visit. All visitors will have to wear mask at all times in the artist space. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available on site for guest usage. All guests will have a 30-minute window for viewing the gallery. Guests will not be permitted to the gallery before or after their viewing time. If they arrive earlier, they will be asked to wait in their car until their appointment time. Guests must practice social distancing. There is ample signage throughout the space including arrows on the floor that tell guests which way foot traffic is flowing. Restrooms will be closed to guests and the Artist Space will be deep cleaned on a regular schedule following the close of business each day.
ABOUT YASHUA KLOS
Yashua Klos is a visual artist who employs a unique process of collaging his own woodblock printed textures to engage ideas about Blackness as an adaptive material for survival strategies. Klos’ work have been shown in museums and galleries across the states and internationally, including the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Weatherspoon Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina, and What If The World in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Tilton Gallery in New York City. Klos’ first solo museum show is in 2022 at the Wellin Museum in Clinton NY. Klos’ works have been reviewed in the NY Times, and he’s been awarded residencies at Skowhegan, The Vermont Studio Center, and Bemis. He is the recipient of a Joan Mitchell Fellowship and a NYFA grant. Klos was born in Chicago, Illinois, and now works from Brooklyn, New York.
ABOUT UTA ARTIST SPACE
UTA Artist Space is an exhibition venue in the heart of Beverly Hills that is committed to showcasing art by globally recognized talent. Since its establishment in 2016, UTA Artist Space has presented notable exhibitions with interdisciplinary artists and creatives, including Derrick Adams, Myrtis Bedolla of Galerie Myrtis, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Essence Harden, Larry Clark, Petra Cortright, Conrad Egyir, Amanda Hunt, Mariane Ibrahim, Arcmanoro Niles, The Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery, The Haas Brothers, and Ai Weiwei, among others. For more information, please visit UTAArtistSpace.com [utaartistspace.com].
ABOUT ABSOLUT ART
Absolutart.com sells signed, limited edition, framed prints by emerging and established artists from around the world. Building on Absolut’s thirty-year involvement with contemporary art (from Warhol to Damien Hirst, Keith Haring and Louise Bourgeois), the goal of their global online gallery is to expand access to contemporary art, support local artist communities, and democratize the art buying process. Recent collaborations include an exhibition co-curated with Wu-Tang Clan, a collection of re-imagined classic movie posters with Metrograph cinema, a series of prints to accompany The Hole’s “Meet Me in the Bathroom” show, a charitable editioned print with Kehinde Wiley to benefit Black Rock, and a large scale installation at the Oculus with Mona Chalabi and The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Artists featured on our platform include Hank Willis Thomas, Shantell Martin, Francis Stark, Samara Golden, Kambui Olujimi, Rashaad Newsome, Brigitte Lacombe, Wing Shya, and Jayson Musson.
Media Contacts
Kyle Boulia
Kyle.Boulia@unitedtalent.com