Delving into the spheres of art documentation, socioeconomic and digital divisions, PEEP SHOW is an exhibition of sculptural paintings comprised of multiple, [handcrafted] paper ‘slides,’ (those similar to transparent photographs.) Partitions are teasingly formed building the individual tiny paintings on top of the other, but still allow us to steal glimpses at quirky scenes on the other side. The earliest known peep shows were also paintings in translucent colors on glass and lighted from behind.

Beginning in 1999, this project of indexical, straightforward, meticulously labeled, archival ‘slides’ that fill 20-slot plastic sheets has expanded to form distinct, idiosyncratic separations within the paintings. Visual restrictions include latticework, chain link fences, folding and temporary movable screens as well as grid and checkered severances. Slides originally cast from plastic, fetishistic carousels are being replaced by alternative technologies ever since Eastman Kodak Company stopped mass-producing projectors in the beginning of the twenty-first century. For this reason, the works juxtapose ‘slides’ with topographical boundaries and peculiar illustrations.

The ‘slides’ consist of ‘photographic’ seascapes, landscapes, sunsets, color-theory and monochromatic paintings, textured installations and lastly, purple/black hued ‘negatives’ that lack necessary backlighting for proper viewing. Peeking at plain paper airplanes and dull hummingbirds fighting over airspace, peeping into kitschy dens with left-over party favors on glass tables, glancing at a pre-pubescent boy experimenting with long division and a sliding ruler as well as peering at crude, kissing bunnies beneath vibrant, festive streamers are examples of curious images created on the canvases.

Peepholes and light boxes are not needed to examine these distinct painterly as well as teetering on graphic, slides; arranged in rows and columns, they function simply as pixels so the terminated paintings should be viewed from afar as well. Yes, the show arouses nostalgia using ‘slides’ as a medium and the beauty-provoking scenery captured on the ‘snapshots’ does not attempt to cover-up sentimentality or truism, but there is no skating around the fact that the peripheral evidence supports this as a Raree Show.

Heidi Kidon received her MFA in Art in 1997 from the California Institute of the Arts and her BFA from the Tyler School of Art in 1993.

Her work has been written about in Artforum, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times, X-Tra, Art Issues, New Art Examiner, among other publications. She has had multiple solo shows with Rosamund Felsen Gallery and has participated in group shows at the following venues: Hayworth, Rolf Ricke Gallery (Cologne, Germany), Midway Initiative, Angstrom Gallery, Cohan Leslie and Browne, Ghislaine Hussenot (Paris, France), Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Angstrom Gallery, Sotheby’s, Black Dragon Society, Park Plaza Lodge Hotel, The Brewery, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Women's 20th Century Club, Richard Heller Gallery, Andrew Shire Gallery, and Gemini Gel.