ARIEL HELYES is an artist based in London (...)
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He creates evocative objects and proposals with undetermined endings, focusing on ideas of self-creation, free time and social connections.
Often playfully simple and navigating between ephemerality and laborious production, his practice can also be read as an ongoing exploration of impermanence and value.
A series of 102x102 cm paintings, with single coloured images on each, showing a star and the words: even, the, to align, for, a, great, to, be, born.
In '
Eat-in a yoghurt every day (and that's enough), 2022' he ate a yoghurt every day for a hundred days.
In 2021, he paywalled his application to the Rijksakademie, asking for the same amount as the application fee (
'The Chicken, the Egg and Stoelendans', 2021).
In a current project (
'Gallery poll', 2022) he carries around small voting cards and asks people which gallery they think he should be represented by.
He spent the last 4 years as Ariel Helyes, a name he randomly chose from magical babynames dot com, a website specialized on names.
A green painting realistically mimicking a signboard in the Universal Credit office in Hoxton, advertising the SWAP work placement scheme.
He is also working on a publication featuring a series of interventions in which he inserts his name into group shows, to explore the idea of career advancement with no additional work. He calls the series
'Listed Appearances'
His work has been exhibited in project spaces and shows in Kupfer Gallery, London, Sadie Coles HQ, London, South London Gallery, London, Serving the People, NYC, O'Flaherty's NYC and Fold Gallery, London
To arrange a studio visit or host a listed appearance contact arielhelyes @ gmail dot com