Corey Helford Gallery | 1/28-3/4 | Los Angeles, CA

Bear Necessities

Richard Ahnert’s whimsical animal paintings are in a new show at Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles.

Transposition is a natural occurrence when one human looks at another human. That person can, when the circumstances are right, imagine themselves in that position, walking in those shoes or expressing those emotions. But humans can be a tricky bunch. Gender, skin color, height, weight, hairstyle, posture and a thousand other elements can widen the gulf between two people, separating them in a way that can make connections more difficult to achieve. “That doesn’t look like me,” someone might say.Neighborhood Watch, oil on canvas, 24 x 36"

For Richard Ahnert, the solution was to remove the humans altogether. The Toronto-based painter instead focuses on forest creatures and other animals in distinctly human-like scenarios. The physical resemblance was gone, but it allows him to focus on other aspects of his subjects.

“People will say they can feel the emotion in it. To me, it’s just storytelling, and it has to be a great story before I add that animal,” he says. “I use animals, but I picture people in my paintings. I want the animals to mimic ourselves, to be a reflection I suppose. People see the sadness of a piece, or the joy, and I’m hoping they have a reaction to the emotion of the subjects.” Long Day, oil on canvas, 30 x 30"

For While We Wait, a new show now open at Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles, Ahnert will largely focus on bears—grizzly, kodiak, black, panda and other varieties. They are subjects of loneliness and longing, and occasionally whimsy. They are subjects trapped within the mundanity of a big, complicated world.

“These ideas about animals have been innately in me since I was a child. We all have this connection to animals and their personification whether it’s through the storybooks or cartoons we watched. My dad was a bit of an outdoors guy, so combining two worlds came naturally to me,” the artist says. “I enjoy the idea of using animals as a subject matter, despite the fact it comes across as cute. There can still be an undertone of seriousness that people can relate to.”Silver Spoon, oil on canvas, 20 x 16"There is also an element of humor. For instance, a bear in a small coin-operated rocket ship, a bear seemingly lost in thought at the breakfast table in front of a bowl of cereal and bears lingering at a backyard fence. “Humor is tricky. It’s a tight line you don’t want to cross over too far with,” Ahnert says. “If I hit [Gary Larson’s] Far Side then I’ve gone too far. I love the wittiness of a Far Side, but I want to keep my subjects simple and to keep my initial MO, which is to start with a great painting. The humor is often very subtle.”Pizza Party, oil on canvas, 24 x 30"

The backyard fence painting, Neighborhood Watch, synthesizes many of Ahnert’s ideas into one work: the bears retain human emotions in the form of boredom and faint curiosity; the humor comes from the panda, who seems to be barely clinging onto the fence yet maintains stoic composure; and the ambiguous quality of the scene as the bears watch either the most interesting thing to have ever happened or simply nothing at all. Goggles, oil on canvas, 30 x 40"

“In While We Wait, Richard Ahnert invites us to observe wild and domestic animals in urban settings, interacting with common objects they would be unlikely to encounter in their natural environment. In this collection of oil paintings, Ahnert elaborates on the theme that permeates much of his work—the complex, dynamic and fundamental relationship between humankind and nature,” the gallery notes. “At first glance, Ahnert captures the viewer’s attention with playful colors and shapes, dreamy story book imagery, and witty scenarios. Those first impressions can be endearing and enduring enough to hold our gaze, to keep us invested in the piece simply for what it is, enjoying the composition or palette, a comfortable pause from everything beyond the borders of the frame. As is customary with the artist’s work, the pieces in While We Wait also quietly nudge and tug at us, welcoming our head, our heart, our imagination, our instincts to feel, notice, and consider more about what is happening around us and within us. What are we waiting for, why, and what is next? Do the animal protagonists in these pieces represent us, our innocence, and adaptability or are they guides leading us toward stewardship and conservation? What occupies them while they wait…patience, love, longing, concern, wonder or hope? Shall we take a cue from them, finding stillness, allowing ourselves time to reflect, to heal, to plan, encouraging us to emerge centered, able to preserve and protect ourselves, each other, our environment? Ahnert hopes, that however these pieces are perceived, is that what comes next was worth the wait.”Rocketman, oil on canvas, 24 x 36"Corey Helford Gallery director Sherri J. Trahan elaborates further: “Richard Ahnert’s winsome creatures call to mind a nostalgia for our childhood, an innocence not quite lost but rather unfurling in his anthropomorphic world of endearing animals,” she says. “His loveable furry friends, appearing quite at ease in urban society, bring about that magical tingly feeling, a sense of anticipation for the adventure ahead. We here at Corey Helford Gallery feel honored to share Richard’s vision with our collectors. I, personally, look forward to being surrounded by the whimsy and artistry of his forthcoming solo exhibition.” —