WITHOUT TELOS

Half Gallery present the duo exhibition of Jess Valice and Taylor Prendergast entitled Without Telos in their Los Angeles gallery.

June 21 - June 23, 2024

If “Labas” means hello in Lithuanian, then why does the painting of a young man clutching a red rose bud feel like he’s saying goodbye? Elsewhere, we see a painting of “Taylor” presented in the manner of Goldie Hawn’s “Private Benjamin.”

The exhibition “Without Telos” is a two-person presentation with LA-based painters Jess Valice and Taylor Prendergast. Telos is an idea closely associated with Aristotle, who used the term to describe the open-endedness inherent in all objects and beings. 

Something without Telos is always in motion, always in process. To create something without Telos (a-telic) is to not have an end goal in mind, ultimately letting the creation guide itself rather than being directed by the creator. The title track here is a bouquet of flowers with a bleached-out centerpiece leaving the viewer to wonder about that liminal space between process and subject matter.