"Portals and Expectations"
Closing Reception Saturday April 27th 4:30pm-8pm
Artists: Jon Read, JooYoung Choi, Erika Whitney
Curated By: David Janesko
Flatland Gallery Event & Projects: Rebecca Rose Friday
Location: 1709 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77098

ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Jon Read
Read's work embodies mythology, dreams and fantasy using a tableaux style to present quasi-historical and quasi autobiographical narratives. You'll find a diorama approach to his paintings, referencing both altars and shrines as well as toy displays found in department store catalogs. The figures, objects and settings are all movable and invade the viewer's space. The work has a colorful humorist cartoon aesthetic, to both disarm the viewer and deal with the darker content.
Read's influences range from visionary artist Henry Darger and Hieronymus Bosch to comic book artists such as the troubled Wallace Wood as well as modern Jehovah's Witness illustrations.

JooYoung Choi
JooYoung Choi, born in Seoul, South Korea, immigrated to Concord, New Hampshire in 1983 by way of adoption. While completing her BFA at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, she returned to South Korea and reunited with her birth-family. Since receiving her MFA from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Choi's artwork has been exhibited in such venues as Contemporary Art Museum Houston, Project Row Houses, The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, Seattle, Washington, The National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, Illinois; and Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas. Choi has received grants from Artadia and Idea Fund. She has also participated in the Lawndale Artist Residency in Houston,TX and the Harvester Artist Residency in Wichita, KS.

Choi's work has been featured by numerous media groups and publications, including the PBS Digital Studios Art Assignment, Korean Global News Network YTN, the LA Times, New American Paintings, Arts+Culture Magazine, the Houston Chronicle, Glasstire, Houston’s PaperCity, Nat. Brut, and the Huffington Post.

Erika Whitney
The work of Erika Whitney demonstrates a catch-and-release of objects and feeling. She is interested in the moment when plans fall through and we have to mix improvisation into the rhythm. She paints with a combination of planned forms and improvised brushstrokes. Erika graduated form University of Houston MFA Painting in 2017 and currently works at Educator at Lone Star College & San Jacinto College