M+B is pleased to present LIKE A MAGIC, WELCOME TO L.A., an exhibition of new works by Merveille Kelekele Kelekele. This is the artist’s first solo show with the gallery. The exhibition opens on September 12 and will run through October 19, 2024, with an opening reception on Thursday, September 12, from 6 to 8 pm. Merveille Kelekele Kelekele’s exhibition, LIKE A MAGIC, WELCOME TO L.A., traverses Los Angeles through the eyes of a first-time visitor to the city. He made the paintings while in residency in LA for the summer, experiencing the nuances the city holds. The city acts as a backdrop for a marked departure from his previous paintings, where his metaphysical creatures had existed in spaces undefined by any specific location. Now, they find themselves rooted in the vibrant and varied terrain of Los Angeles. The city’s multitudes—its juxtaposition of vast, sun-drenched beaches with the quiet isolation of urban solitude—are captured in bright colors and textured surfaces that bring the scenes to life. The figures also find themselves presenting moments from Kelekele Kelekele’s life, whereas in past paintings they were representational of mental states and internal monologues. Now they find themselves reliving moments in an almost dreamlike state, such as in paintings like Avec Olivier Babin, Malibu était magnifique and Avec Lauren Taschen, les poissons étaient gros, where they find themselves observing, playing, and even taking delight in their new terrain. Sometimes they leave their fellows drowning in the Pacific Ocean, while at other times they follow giant fish swirling through sky and sea. The figures in Kelekele Kelekele’s work, previously floating in undefined metaphysical realms, now interact with the natural world, becoming part of the landscapes they inhabit. These universal spirits, with earth-like forms, seem to emerge from the very ground they stand on, blending seamlessly into the foliage and terrain of Los Angeles. Yet, despite their newfound connection to a place, they retain their mystical qualities, absorbing the energy and spirit of the city while reflecting the emotions of its inhabitants. This is all to say that his observations on Los Angeles are neutral. It’s a place so vast and unfolding that it takes years for people who have made it their home to truly understand and come to terms with. The figures in Kelekele Kelekele’s work are universal spirits, almost otherworldly entities that absorb and reflect the emotions and experiences of the people around them. These forms seem to emerge from the earth itself, rooted in the land yet fluid in their identity. They are both observers and participants, embodying a collective spirit. Works like Des nuages de doute, des vagues d'espoir look at the intersection of personal and collective histories. In the painting, he introduces a fantastical palm tree, with faces etched into coconut shapes, watching over a hunched figure that has its hands outstretched to a squirrel in one direction and a raccoon in another—figures that seem plucked from a fable, yet, as the title hints, are rooted in the everyday struggles of belonging. LIKE A MAGIC, WELCOME TO L.A. captures some of the enigmatic essence of Los Angeles but doesn’t define it. Instead, it offers a nuanced portrayal of a city that reveals its layers slowly, with each encounter offering something new. Merveille Kelekele Kelekele (b. 2001 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) is currently attending Beaux-arts de Paris in Paris, France. Recent solo exhibitions include Balanced Psychopath, Casa MB, Milan, Italy; and Merveille Kelekele, Association PERSAN, Paris, France. Recent group exhibitions include Nos Découvertes 2023!, Galerie du Jour agnès b., Paris, France; Rêve lucide, FLAW Gallery, Paris, France; Les Apartés Festival, Les Apartés & Point Éphémère, Paris, France, and Exposition Collective Libre n°3, 3537 Organization, Paris, France. In 2023, Kelekele was an artist-in-residence at Domo Damo in São Paolo, Brazil. Kelekele lives and works in Paris, France. _____ M+B is pleased to present By and By and By, an exhibition of new works by Eric Dwight Hancock. This is the artist’s first solo show with the gallery. The exhibition opens on September 12 and will run through October 19, 2024, with an opening reception on Thursday, September 12, from 6 to 8 pm. Eric Dwight Hancock has an intimate relationship with the landscapes he paints. Influenced by a diverse range of artistic traditions, from the English landscape paintings of Paul Nash to the American regionalist painters of Texas, like Jerry Bywaters, to Arthur Wesley Dow, the mentor of Georgia O’Keefe. Hancock’s work synthesizes the concepts and traditions of these artists into his own deeply personal visual language. His paintings oscillate between the familiar and the abstract, drawing the viewer into a space that hovers just outside of time and place. In By and By and By, Hancock explores the notion of memory through the lens of landscape, allowing his past experiences and the emotional resonance of specific places to guide his brush. These works are not straightforward representations; rather, they are layered with the pathos of remembrance, where forms emerge and recede like distant memories. The paintings are characterized by a soft, iridescence, where colors shift and change, never fully settling into a single identity. Hancock’s process is one of continual addition and removal, layering materials until the surface of the canvas becomes a repository of time, memory, and emotion. This approach lends a surrealist quality to the paintings, where the physics of light and the positioning of forms do not adhere to strict rules. Instead, they bend the boundaries between where reality and memory blur. The landscapes in By and By and By are both specific and universal, reflecting Hancock’s upbringing in the heavily forested region of West Georgia, while also allowing for a broader interpretation. The artist’s use of color and light conjures a poetry of place, evoking a sense of belonging that is both personal and open to the viewer's own experiences. Eric Dwight Hancock (b. 1982, Winter Haven, FL) received an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a BFA from the University of Georgia. Group exhibitions include Local Masterworks of American Art at Nino Mier Gallery in Los Angeles, CA; Solid Roots, Supple Trunks, Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, NY; Coning the Cube at Permanent Storage Projects in Los Angeles, CA; Subject/Observer at Keystone Gallery in Los Angeles, CA; and Magic Makers at Class Project in Los Angeles, CA. Hancock lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.