Events

New year – New Wall Gallery Opening Night

By February 4, 2025No Comments

This time we decided to spruce things up a bit and had an open submissions call for a new gallery, but without a theme. We always thought having a theme is helpful, until we hit a record in submissions for this no-theme gallery! lol.

Our team chose some amazing artists to showcase their work, and we are so grateful to them for choosing to show their talent with us.

Our team also chose 3 artists whose work spoke to us the most.

Kate Hasset is an LA born artist, but she couldn’t be there with us, since she moved to Chicago recently. We still got some words from her about the image. It is from a series “In the world of blondes, I am a brunette”.

“Smoke Breakage” Kodak Portra 800 on Hasselblad 500C @kate_hassett

“This self-portrait shoot was based on a writing I made in early 2023 about growing up in West LA. I always felt this constant need to fit in. However, when trying to fit in, there would be discomfort. I use hair to reflect the difference because of the iconography of blonde women in California.

As I stepped aside from LA when moving to Chicago for college, I noticed the persona emplaced on women in LA was bleached and synthetic. Using wigs rather than just natural blondes was a clear choice because of this. When I was blonde, I confined myself to my surroundings; as much as I hated confining myself, it was the way I could survive socially in West LA culture.”

Next, we chatted to Matt Stone during the opening night about his digital image “Tsukiji market fish”.

“Tsukiji market fish” Matt Stone @rockandrollcowboy

He told us, that the market is no longer there, and it holds an even more special place in his heart now. He was just walking through the streets of Tokyo, looking for subjects immersed in their jobs and that’s how this image came to be. Seeing it printed gives a special feeling, as if the cycle of the photo is completed and you can see a tangible result on the wall.

Matt Stone talking about his image

Then we chatted to Danny Eleno. The team voted unanimously for that image. And what strikes us, is how intentional it is and at the same time so cinematic. Danny said during his talk, that he barely edited it, this is just how he saw it. And it is a digital image!

Danny M Eleno talking about his image

Another person we wanted to recognize, is Stefanos Kafatos, because the team has chosen 3 of his images. All of the submitted images.

Stefanos Kafatos “Fiyona”

I asked if all 3 are a part of a series, and Stefanos said, how the two vertical shots were showcased together before, but how he completely forgot about the horizontal image, and even got bored of it somehow and got disappointed in it, until his friend prompted him to submit for our gallery.

Stefanos Kafatos talking about his images (and looking in the opposite direction lol)

The gallery will be up on the walls until March 2025, so you can stop by our shop and check it out. Most prints are for sale (unless specified otherwise).

Special thanks to Jeff Tye, our DJ, he slayed this night!

We did have lots of fun, and we hope you did too with all our activities, raffles, giveaways and Lunar New Year celebration.

We always post about upcoming submissions and gallery nights on our instagram, so follow us there so you don’t miss anything. More special things are already in the works!

Alex Yi, our founder, always says “Film is forever”

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