Christian Letts is pleased to present Pietro, a collection of new painting and sculpture that highlights the artist’s investigation into fear and the human condition, as well as the universal perception of the unknown and its affects on the audience. 

“Everything we see hides another thing. We always want to see what is hidden by what we see.” - Rene Magritte

Letts’ personal relationships serve as the foundation for both the real and surreal in his work. Drawing from the recollections of his youth, the artist uses tenebrist and romantic painting techniques to express dual realities: Memory and Time. The canvas serves to transport, bridging the conscious and subconscious worlds together.

Raised Catholic, biblical imagery sparked curiosity in the artist, leading him to question authority and views on tolerance within the Church. How can it worship the Virgin Mary and not in turn allow women to be priests, popes? Moreover, how can the parish justify its contribution to the continuous and longstanding relegation of women’s roles in today’s society? This reality began to steadily collapse and an exploration into another truth, a physical truth, commenced. 

Understanding the force behind the natural world is imperative in truly capturing the power of its spirit. Thus, paintings of turbulent seas and crashing clouds become studies into portraiture. And while light and dark can be similarly blinding, they are at their core manifestations of a memory simplified, produced, and reduced.

Christian Letts, born 1978 in London, England, resides and works in Los Angeles, California. This is his second solo show. He has exhibited at Dilettante Gallery, and pop-up galleries in Los Angeles. The past decade has been spent recording and touring with Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros. 

For further information and press inquiries, please contact Bryan Ling.