Corey Helford Gallery

Corey Helford Gallery
Name	Corey Helford Gallery
Established	2006
Founder	Corey Helford
Location	Los Angeles, California
Type	Contemporary art gallery

Corey Helford Gallery is a contemporary art gallery founded in 2006 by Corey Helford in Los Angeles, California. The gallery became known for promoting lowbrow, pop surrealist, street art, and contemporary painters and sculptors, mounting solo and group exhibitions that attracted collectors, curators, and critics from across the United States and internationally. Its programming intersected with commercial galleries, museums, biennials, and cultural festivals, helping to advance the profiles of many emerging and mid-career artists.

History

The gallery was founded in 2006 during a period when galleries in Los Angeles such as Gagosian Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Matthew Marks Gallery, Skirball Cultural Center, and LACMA were expanding programming into contemporary practices, while alternative spaces like The Box (Los Angeles), Thinkspace Projects, Gallery 1988, Jonathan LeVine Gallery, and La Luz de Jesus Gallery nurtured lowbrow and pop surrealist scenes. Early exhibitions featured artists associated with movements connected to figures and institutions like Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Kaws, Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, Mark Ryden, Tim Burton, and Jeff Koons, situating the gallery amid a broader ecosystem of commercial, nonprofit, and museum institutions including Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Hammer Museum, The Broad, New Museum, and Tate Modern. Over time the gallery staged touring projects and participated in art fairs alongside Art Basel Miami Beach, Frieze Art Fair, The Armory Show, NADA, and Art Cologne, expanding relationships with collectors from New York City, London, Tokyo, Paris, and Berlin.

Location and Facilities

Located in the Wilmington/Culver City/Downtown Los Angeles art corridors at different phases of its history, the gallery shared neighborhood dynamics with spaces in Arts District, Los Angeles, Chinatown, Los Angeles, and Venice, Los Angeles. Facilities included multiple exhibition rooms, project spaces for installations, and viewing salons designed for sales and cataloging comparable to operations at Pace Gallery, David Zwirner, and Galleria Continua. The physical footprint accommodated large-scale paintings, site-specific installations, and sculpture requiring freight and rigging resources similar to operations at Dia Art Foundation and museum conservation departments in institutions like Getty Conservation Institute.

Exhibitions and Programs

Programming comprised solo shows, thematic group exhibitions, pop-up projects, and curated salons that connected to practices associated with artists represented in movements related to Pop Art, Surrealism, Street Art, and New Contemporary Art. The gallery organized exhibitions that toured to partner venues and participated in curated sections at major art fairs and biennials such as Venice Biennale, Whitney Biennial, and São Paulo Art Biennial. Collaborative programs included artist talks, panel discussions, book launches, and limited-edition releases that engaged curators and critics from institutions like SFMOMA, Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Whitney Museum of American Art. Special projects sometimes intersected with commercial collaborations and licensing deals with brands, entertainment companies, and publications such as Vans, Disney, Nike, Marvel Comics, and Rolling Stone.

Artists Represented

The gallery built a roster featuring pop surrealist and contemporary artists, showcasing practitioners with careers that bridged commercial, gallery, and museum contexts. Exhibited and represented artists included figures whose practices relate to names connected with Mark Ryden, Camille Rose Garcia, Todd Schorr, Audrey Kawasaki, Greg “Craola” Simkins, Ron English, Mister Cartoon, David Choe, Alex Pardee, Gareth Huw Davies, Jeff Soto, Josh Keyes, Shepard Fairey, Kenny Scharf, Faile, Swoon, Obey Giant, Barry McGee, Anselm Kiefer, Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, Kaws, Banksy, JR, Ai Weiwei, Richard Hambleton, John Currin, Julie Heffernan, Peter Saul, Beeple, H.R. Giger, Zevs, Peter Tunney, Alex Grey, James Jean, Heather Benjamin, Mandy Disher, Camille Henrot, Kenny Scharf, Annie Leibovitz, Robert Williams, Tim Biskup, Nathan Ota, Ben Venom, Chet Zar, Tristan Eaton, Paul Insect, Blek le Rat, Mear One]. Lesser-known emerging and regional artists appeared alongside those names, creating dialogue between established and nascent practices similar to programming strategies used by David Zwirner Gallery and Gagosian.

Curatorial Approach and Impact

Curatorial strategy emphasized studio practice, craftsmanship, narrative content, and market viability, aligning with trends seen in galleries like Pace and White Cube that balance aesthetic innovation with exhibition sales. The gallery curated shows that foregrounded visual storytelling, technical proficiency, and cultural critique, producing catalogs and press that engaged critics from outlets such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Artforum, Hyperallergic, and Artnet. Its commercial success helped introduce collectors and institutions to artists later acquired by museums and foundations including SFMOMA, The Broad, LACMA, Guggenheim Museum, and university collections, contributing to the careers of artists who moved between commercial galleries and public collections.

Awards and Recognition

While commercial galleries rarely receive the kinds of institutional awards given to museums, the gallery and its artists received recognition through placements in museum exhibitions, acquisitions by notable collections, and favorable press coverage in major media outlets such as The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, Forbes, Rolling Stone, and Wallpaper*. Participating artists won honors and residency opportunities affiliated with institutions like Whitney Museum, Tate Modern, Guggenheim Fellowship, and art fairs including Art Basel Miami Beach curator prizes and collector awards, reflecting the gallery’s role in advancing artists to higher institutional visibility.

Category:Contemporary art galleries in California