Cognitive Dissonance

White Walls Gallery is proud to announce the solo exhibition of Los Angeles artist Mear One’s Cognitive Dissonance opening on Saturday, July 11th, 2015 at our San Francisco headquarters at 886 Geary St near downtown Union Square. The opening reception will be from 7pm – 11pm and open to the public.

In Cognitive Dissonance MEAR ONE claims neither fact nor fiction; rather, here, he merely lays the groundwork for thoughts and queries worthy of conversation to build. Through a dialectical method of sorts, his work questions the very essence of the lived experience postulating that we are all part of a much longer historical identity that has been kept from our knowing – Why? By whom? To what end? – is one side of the story he aims to relate. Like many thinkers before him, he believes that the collective unconscious already, in fact, knows the soul of humanity and works from the simple premise that a single paradigm shift in thinking has the potential to change the order in everything, the end result being sublimation.

MEAR ONE (Kalen Ockerman) has been at the forefront of LA’s graffiti and mural culture for nearly three decades. He is famous for having pioneered the Melrose graffiti art movement in the late 80s and is considered by many to be LA’s most prolific public muralist. Early on in his career, MEAR gained his recognition for building the bridge between graffiti art and fine art. He was the first graffiti artist to exhibit at the infamous 01 Gallery on Melrose, as well as at 33 1/3 Gallery in Silverlake, where Banksy would later debut his first North American show. MEAR ONE’s work was part of the landmark Art in the Streets 2011 exhibit at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Street Cred at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, and Last Thursday at the Orlando Museum of Fine Art. His artworks reside in the permanent collection of the Laguna Fine Art Museum as well as numerous private collections across North America. He is perhaps best known for constructing powerful narratives juxtaposing philosophy, ancient mythology and modern politics to inspire an evolved consciousness. This interpretation of reality is achieved through balanced dialogue between realism and the supernatural. MEAR ONE helps us envision the sublime spirit of our time – not by escaping reality, but by confronting it head on.

“Cognitive Dissonanace” will be on display from July 11th through August 8th and will be open to the public Tuesday – Saturday from noon – 7pm. Please contact the gallery at 415-931-1500 with any questions or inquiries you have.