AUGUST 25, 2016

On Saturday, Aug. 27, Corey Helford Gallery celebrates its 10th anniversary with an art extravaganza featuring 100 artists. The gallery, founded by Jan Corey Helford and Bruce Helford, has spent the past decade at the forefront of what they call “modern contemporary art,” a mix of pop surrealism, street art and other styles with figurative and narrative qualities. CHG is the frequent home of art from big names like Ron English and Shag. It also was an early supporter of artists like Sylvia Ji and Natalia Fabia.

Bruce notes that the gallery started because Jan had been collecting art and had been following the work of then-relatively unknown artists and wanted “to present it as a kind of temple to their work that elevated the level of presentation.” Certainly, they've done that with show openings that often bring a bit of a spectacle to the gallery. And, after last year's move from Culver City to a much larger space downtown, they've been able to go even bigger. Expect lots of surprises on Saturday night, with a show that will feature a range of artists, including Camille Rose Garcia, Colin Christian, D*Face, Sage Vaughn and Eric Joyner.

“We are very proud to be still around after 10 years, because most galleries don't survive [past] the three-year mark,” says Bruce. “We're doing it for love and to the benefit of the artists.”

We spoke with Bruce Helford and CHG gallery director Sherri J. Trahan, as well as artist Ron English, about some of the gallery's most memorable shows. 

1. “Charity by Number” (2007)
Corey Helford Gallery hadn't been around for very long when it produced a mega-benefit show called “Charity by Number,” which brought out many of the artists associated with what CHG now calls modern contemporary art. “My attorney is very much involved with the Alliance for Children's Rights, and he asked us if we could do some kind of benefit for them,” explains Bruce Helford. But, while many benefits might donate a percentage of the proceeds to charity, CHG decided to go 100 percent. “I think partially because of that, we got a lineup that was unheralded,” he says. Mark Ryden, Shag, Gary Basemen, Camille Rose Garcia and Liz McGrath were just a few of the celebrated artists who participated in the event.

The concept was simple: Buy vintage paint-by-number pieces and have the artists work over the original paintings. The result was a mix of 20th-meets-21st-century aesthetics that proved to be wildly popular. Helford recalls lines around the block and TV news coverage as part of the opening. “It was a very special event and I think it really brought a lot of attention — which really wasn't the original idea by it — but it brought a lot of attention to the gallery,” he says. More importantly, they raised a pretty
good chunk of funds for their charity. 

Continued...