ELYSE PIGNOLET
YOU SHOULD CALM DOWN
September 7 to November 2, 2019
Gallery inquiries: info@track16.com
Track 16 presents Los Angeles-based artist Elyse Pignolet in her solo exhibition, “You Should Calm Down.” The exhibition presents a new body of work that includes items of the domestic realm––wallpaper, plates, platters, and vases feature decorative and traditional hand-painted design. Yet cloaked words or phrases, which express familiar and oppressive ways to stereotype and categorize women, sit unobtrusively within the decoration.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is I AM a WOMAN, a mural examining the experiences of contemporary female life. Consisting of over 500 tiles, this 14 x 9 foot mural portrays women’s lives. From the mundane daily rituals to the politically transgressive, a theme of female empowerment runs throughout the broad-reaching depiction. Images of sex and masturbation, self-identity tropes, self-care, pop-culture, trauma, and motherhood are all utilized in order to examine the dialectic between feminism and misogyny.
While past works have included drawings, paintings, installations, and murals, Pignolet is primarily a ceramicist who subverts expectations in a medium associated with both domestic art and feminism. Themes in her work have shown a contemplation of the urban environment in the form of sculptures that replicate graffiti tags and car rims. Recently, working in the feminist tradition, Pignolet has turned attention to themes of misogyny and inequality. Vases and dishes are glazed with traditional, delicate, organic patterns in blue, yet upon closer inspection, images and text containing politically confrontational, unapologetic messaging hide within. These hidden images, words, or phrases use suggestive innuendos and tropes that are all too common in our language and culture. The affect is a compelling dissonance between benign decoration and misogynistic message, which makes the viewer confront transitory everyday language frozen onto a permanent vessel.
Born in Oakland, CA, Elyse Pignolet is an American with Filipino heritage, living and working in Los Angeles. Pignolet received a BFA in Ceramics from Cal State Long Beach in 2007. Recent solo and group exhibitions include Elyse Pignolet: You Should Smile More, Koplin Del Rio, Seattle, WA (2019); Art & Activism: An Exhibition About Change, Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Kahului, HI (2019); Didn’t you know what you were carrying on your back? Track 16 at Rosalux, Berlin, Germany (2019); Relevant, Craig Krull, Los Angeles, CA (2018-2019); Woman, Prographica/KDR Gallery, Seattle, WA (2018); American Procession, Track 16, Los Angeles, CA (2018). She has completed several public art projects including three large murals at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco and the Gaffey Street Public Swimming Pool in the Los Angeles neighborhood of San Pedro. Her works have been featured in several contemporary arts publications including the LA Weekly, Juxtapoz Magazine, Huffington Post, KQED, and the Los Angeles Times. Pignolet was awarded a fellowship to the Ballinglen Arts Center, Ireland in 2019.
PRESS COVERAGE
"The work is incisive and full of rightful despair, while making of whimsy a wonderfully barbed weapon."
by Leah Ollman, Los Angeles Times ~ read article
"Pignolet deploys words and phrases that point to a pointed feminist critique flush with both social anger and wry humor."
by Shana Nys Dambrot, Art & Cake ~ read article
"a commentary and a battle cry, and truly embodies what it is to be a woman throughout time and, unfortunately, well into 2019."
~ Leanna Robinson, Artillery Magazine ~ read article
INSTALLATION VIEWS
Elyse Pignolet ~ CV
Education:
2007 BFA, Ceramics, California State University Long Beach
1997 – 1999 San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
Public Projects/Awards:
2019 Fellowship, Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Co Mayo, Ireland
2017 “Hey Rookie” Public Pool, ceramic tile mural, 400 sq. ft., San Pedro, CA
2013 “Jazz in the Nation”, “Jazz in the City”, “Jazz in the Afterlife” -in collaboration with Sandow Birk, three ceramic tile murals, SFJAZZ Theatre, San Francisco, CA
2009 “Avalon Lifeguard/Paramedic Headquarters”, ceramic tile mural, 200 sq. ft, Avalon, Catalina Island, CA
2007 “The History of Los Angeles (Condensed)”, ceramic tile murals, 1000 sq. ft.
Hollenbeck Station, Los Angeles Police Department, East Los Angeles, CA
CSULB Travel Grant – Lisbon, Portugal
2004 “Metro Rapidway - Tarzana Station”, Metropolitan Transit Authority, L.A., CA
2002 “The Discovery of the City of Long Beach”, 2 ceramic tile murals, 600 sq.ft.
2003 “Flora and Fauna”, iron, cement, ceramic sculpture - with Thomas Barter Bixby Knolls Park, Long Beach, CA
“Discovery Wells”, ceramic installation, 250 sq. ft – with Thomas Barter, Discovery Park, Signal Hill, CA
2002 “Toy Car Pileup”, tile stucco, foam, concrete sculpture – with Thomas Barter Corner of 1st St. and Broadway, downtown Long Beach, CA
Selected Exhibitions:
2019 “Elyse Pignolet” - Track 16 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“Art and Activism”- Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Maui, Hawaii
“Didn’t You Know What You Were Carrying On Your Back?”- Track 16 Gallery / Rosalux, Berlin Germany
“Elyse Pignolet - You Should Smile More” - Koplin del Rio Gallery, Seattle, WA
“American Procession: Elyse Pignolet and Sandow Birk”- The MAC, Dallas, TX
“Perennial” - Koplin Del Rio, Los Angeles, CA
“Relevant” - Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2018 “Woman” - Prographica/KDR Gallery, Seattle, WA
“American Procession” - Track 16 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“American Procession” - Prographica/KDR Gallery, Seattle, WA
2017 “ American Qur’an (ceramic works) - Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, OR
“America Qur’an (ceramic works) - Riverside Museum of Art, Riverside, CA
2016 “Fired Up: Monumental Clay”- Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
“Wood, Paper, Ink: Contemporary Woodcuts” - Sonoma State Univ., Sonoma, CA
“Text and Image – Catharine Clark Gallery, San Franciso, CA
2015 "Off the Charts" - 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM
“West Coast Ink: Printmaking from Seattle to San Diego” – Sonoma State, CA
“A Gathering of Angels” - Angels Gate Gallery, San Pedro, CA
2014 “New American Printmaking” - Union of Bulgarian Artists, Sofia University, Bulgaria
"New American Printmaking" – Union of Bulgarian Artists, - Plavno, Bulgaria
“MAC@20 Pt. 2” – McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, TX
2013 “Baker’s Dozen V: Marginal Revolutions” – Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
“Faux Real” - Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
2012 "Welcome Back: New Lithographs" - Tamarind Press, Albuquerque, NM
“New Work” – Angels Gate Art Center, Los Angeles, CA
2011 “If These Walls Could Talk”, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
"The Imprint of War: Responses in Print", Univ. of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, PA
2010 “Art Shack”, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
“Contemporary Puppetry”, Art School of the Old Church, Demarest, NJ
“Highlights from the Collectors Circle”, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
“Elyse Pignolet: Urban Abstraction”, Cal State Fullerton Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA
2009 “On Paper”, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY
“Natura” – Angels Gate Art Center, Los Angeles, CA
2008 “Banned and Recovered”, SF Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA
“Summer Group Exhibition”, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007 “Sk8 Deck the Halls”, Windup Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
“Urban Abstraction”, Koos Gallery, Long Beach, CA
“Don’t Fence Me In”, Little Bird Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“Representation 2007”, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006 “The Patriot Show 2: The Art of War”, Cricket Engine Gallery, Oakland, CA
“The Divine Comedy”, Grand Central Art Center, Santa Ana, CA
2005 “Inside Out”, L2Kontemporary Gallery, Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA
“Good Times”, Live Worm Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004 “New Media/Mixed Media”, Golden West College, Huntington Beach, CA
2003 “Visual and Cultural Communication”, Golden West College, Huntington Beach, CA
Bibliography:
“Elyse Pignolet at Koplin Del Rio”, Casey Arguellles Gregory, The Eye: Discovering The Pacific Northwest Through Art, June 2019
“Art vs. Trump: Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet”, Rick Paulas, Topanga Journal, Aug. 2018
“February Gallery Shows Ponder Architectural Possibilities”, M. Upchurch, Seattle Times, Feb. 9, 2018
“An American Procession Marching Toward Confrontation”, Cy Musiker, KQED, Dec. 13, 2017
“A Fresh Take on the Qu’ran”, Michael A. Moodian, Huffington Post, Dec. 6, 2017
“Artillery” – Review by Lynn Trimble, Phoenix New Times, July 16, 2015, Phoenix, AZ
“Seeing Jazz with Muralists Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet” by L. Blumenfeld, Blouin, Feb.8, 2013
“’Faux Real’ Is an All Faux Show”, by Dave Barton, OC Weekly, Jun. 27, 2013
“Laguna Art Museum presents Three Exhibts for Summer, by Richard Chang, OC Register, Aug. 21, 2013
“Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet”, review, Art in Print Magazine, Vol 1, No. 5, Jan.-Feb.2012
“Collaborative Arts: Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet”, Ellen Caldwell,
New American Paintings Blog, Sept. 21, 2011
“Art Lives in Shacks in Laguna”, by Richard Chang, OC Register, Oct. 23, 2010
“Laguna Art Shack”, by Roxana Vosough, Arts and Culture.com, June 20, 2010
“Shacking Up”, by Arrissa Turner, Modern Luxury, June 2010
“Exit Interview”, by Theo Douglas, The District, January 5, 2010
“Learning lessons from wars past”, LA Times, December 10, 2007
“Dante’s Inferno”, by Dave Shulman, LA Weekly Magazine, Oct. 28, 2005.
“Mural Captivate”, feature by Susan Gottlieb, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Jan. 24, 2003
“Southland Shall Rise Again”, feature by J. Fischer, San Jose Mercury News, Nov. 12, 2002
Film Project:
2004 – 2006 “Dante’s Inferno” – Art Director and Set Designer on independent feature film
