WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Adult boutique Chi Chi LaRue’s Circus is hosting the first exhibition in Los Angeles for artist Jeremy Kost. An opening reception is set for February 15.
“Jeremy Kost: Seismic Dreams” features more than 30 works from Kost’s newly published book of the same name.
They are part of the inaugural exhibition of The Gallery @ Circus.
Kost has chronicled “gender, sexuality and nightlife,” a rep notes, for over 15 years. “Traveling the world to make images, whether they’re of male models in the California desert or drag queens strutting through Pittsburgh, is a nonstop pursuit.”
“Whether staring back at the camera or captured at a distance, the men in Kost’s work exude a true sense of intimacy. They offer a canvas for our own projections and fantasies,” continued the rep. “The paint fractures the image, almost puncturing a reverie, reminding us of the vulnerability of that moment and inviting us in while also keeping us at a distance.”
Based in Los Angeles and New York, Kost’s work is part of many private and public collections, including Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Museo Jumex in Mexico, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Studio Museum in Harlem and Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, Kansas.
“Seismic Dreams” is limited to 750 signed and numbered editions and continues the themes of Kost’s prior work, “Isolated But Not Alone.” The new book runs 194 pages with 162 new oil painted Polaroid works created between October 2018 and October 2019.
The opening reception on February 15 runs from 7 to 10 p.m. (PST).
Find Chi Chi LaRue’s online and on Twitter.
The Gallery @ Circus, located at 8861 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, is “committed to LGBTQ artists, local and nationwide, with a goal of giving these artists a space for expression not usually available to them,” the rep explained.
