FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOS ANGELES, CA.

The Paul Kopeikin Gallery is proud to present “3 x 5”, a group exhibition of five young artists showing three works each. This exhibition opens Saturday January 6 and runs through February 3, 2007. A reception with the artists will take place on Saturday, January 6, 2007 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. The reception is free and open to the public. The gallery is located at 6150 Wilshire Boulevard, just west of Fairfax. For information call (323) 937-0765 or visit our website at paulkopeikingallery.com

These five artists are four photographers, Matthew Jordan, Lisa Robinson, Andrew Miksys and Amy Stein as well as ceramic artist Dana Weiser.

Photography from Matthew Jordan’s series “Half-Empty” and “Tonight” will be on view. In “Half-Empty” Matthew Jordan photographs himself in reflective surfaces and then purposely removes himself from the image. These images are face mounted in a manner that creates a reflective surface for the viewer to simultaneously see the image and their reflection, forcing the viewer to confront a ghosted reflection of themselves in the place of the removed photographer. This work is juxtaposed with Matthew Jordan’s series “Tonight” which explores social communication through the visual means of billboards in an urban landscape.

Lisa Robinson has been photographing in the snow for the past four winters. The images in “Snowbound” describe a cultural landscape in which the objects of our recreation and occupation merge with the natural world while subtly restraining it.  These photographs combine a minimalist’s palette with a haiku poet’s sensibility.  In the midst of seeming emptiness, layers of life and contrast slowly emerge through these photographs.

Photographer Andrew Miksys’ series “Buses are haunting portraits seen from outside Lithuanian bus windows looking in. These moody and dark portraits capture ephemeral moments in the streets of Lithuania and the people that inhabit them. This series is one of many by Andrew Miksys that chronicles the lives of both rural and metropolitan Lithuanians are both somber and seductive portraits of unfamiliar faces in familiar places.

Amy Stein’s photographic series “Domesticated” explores our paradoxical relationship with the "wild.” We at once seek connection with the mystery and freedom of the natural world, yet we continuously tame the wild around us and compulsively control the wild within our own nature. Within her work primal issues of comfort and fear, dependence and determination, submission and dominance play out in images of direct and hidden confrontations between humans and animals. The narratives are set in and around Matamoras, a small town in Northeast Pennsylvania, which borders a state forest.

Ceramic artist Dana Weiser is experimenting with different ways of approaching social integration of identity issues. Her work looks back at the history of stereotypes of Asian Americans to have an understanding of the stereotypes of today; as well as creating curious abstractions to reflect issues with ethnicity. In her piece, Double Headed Babies: Push Me, Pull Me, brings up a conversation between the figures concerning denial, assistance and avoidance, as well as androgyny and creepiness. Using very racialized doll heads and porcelain “Asian” skin clay adds to the concept of this piece. The piece, Dragon Lady Bobble head, deals with issues of humor and stereotypes, while also addressing a stereotype of Asian women that were used in motion picture and novels.

If you would like jpeg images or more information on the artists, please call the Paul Kopeikin Gallery at (323) 937-0765