SEPTEMBER 11, 2021 - OCTOBER 2, 2021

KP Projects

633 N. La Brea Avenue | Los Angeles CA 90036

T: 323.933.4408 | info@kpprojects.net

Tues – Sat 12PM to 6PM | https://kpprojectsgallery.net

Masks Required

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

Opening Reception


Public Reception | 3:00PM-7:00PM

You must RSVP to attend reception: rsvp@kpprojects.net

Masks Required

Los Angeles, CA (August 2, 2021) - KP Projects, founded by Merry Karnowsky, is pleased to present ‘Obsidian Butterfly,’ marking Camille Rose Garcia’s return to Los Angeles for her first solo show in three years. Having begun her fine art career at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery in 1999, this exhibition is a homecoming in more ways than one, reuniting two female forces with a steeped history in the Los Angeles art scene.

Inspired by Octavio Paz’s poem of the same name, ‘Obsidian Butterfly’ is a collection that explores the symbolism of natural forces. While the initial inspiration comes from both the poem itself and the Aztec goddess' namesake, the collection is both universal, and deeply personal. Last year when wildfires engulfed the West Coast, Camille was evacuated, not knowing the fate of her home. In those moments of uncertainty, she headed to the ocean to take solace in the vast body of water. The eerily beautiful colors of the sunset against a fiery sky later became the palette inspired in her current work, while ideas of opposing forces - water and fire - became evolving concepts. From this elemental juxtaposition, the works of ‘Obsidian Butterfly’ were born, like a phoenix rising up from the ashes. In 9 works on panel and 13 smaller works on paper, Camille has created a study on opposing forces in both the physical world and the psyche. By creating seductively surreal scenes that capture the comfort and discomfort of forces beyond our control, she seeks and finds the beauty in both.

‘Obsidian Butterfly’ opens September 11th, 2021 on view until October 2nd, 2021 at KP Projects.        

About Camille Rose Garcia

Camille Rose Garcia was born in 1970 in Los Angeles, California, the child of a Mexican activist filmmaker father and a muralist/painter mother. She apprenticed at age 14 working on murals with her mother while growing up in the generic suburbs of Orange County, visiting Disneyland, and going to punk shows with the other disenchanted youth of that era. Garcia’s layered, broken narrative paintings of wasteland fairy tales are influenced by William Burroughs’ cut-up writings and surrealist film, as well as vintage Disney, and Fleischer cartoons, acting as critical commentaries on the failures of capitalist utopias. Garcia’s pieces blend nostalgic pop culture references with a satirical slant on modern society.

Her work has been displayed internationally and featured in numerous magazines including Juxtapoz, Rolling Stone, and Modern Painter, and is included in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Resnick Collection, and the San Jose Museum of Art. She has published two books, The Illustrated Alice in Wonderland (published by HarperCollins)--a New York Times Bestseller--and The Cabinet of Dr. Deekay, a surrealist book she both wrote and illustrated. She currently lives in the woods of the Pacific Northwest.

About KP Projects   

Founded by Merry Karnowsky, KP Projects has been centrally focused on championing emerging and mid-career artists who push beyond the boundaries of formal definition. Devoted to exhibiting contemporary works of art that are challenging and innovative, the gallery is committed to fostering new directions in American Art, and consistently advises on private and corporate collections.

Gallery artists have been included in group and solo museum exhibitions at the Grand Central Art Center, the Baltic Center for Contemporary Art, the Cincinnati Art Center, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, MoCA Miami, the San Jose Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Virginia MoCA and The Crocker Museum.

Media Inquiries: Hijinx PR | Heidi Johnson | heidi@hijinxarts.com | 323.204.7246