Ciou - 20 years in the Arts
Opening Saturday, October 26th, 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Ciou will be present.
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“I love pop culture and surrealism. Together, they create my whimsical, Kawaii surrealist universe.” - Ciou
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From Darkness to Light: A Journey from Lowbrow to Pop Surrealism
KochxBos Gallery is proud to present the exhibition '20 Years in the Arts' by Ciou. Esther Koch and Hans Bos has been working with Ciou since 2009 and have developed a real special relationship with her. Koch and Bos: "We love her work and her great personality, always true to herself in her own universe."
In this exhibition, you can discover the different phases and remarkable evolution of her work. A selection of pieces from 2004 to the present will be on display.
Ciou's artistic world is a visual spectacle filled with fantastic themes and alternative styles. Her unique approach is the result of an intriguing blend of European, American, Mexican, and Japanese influences. Her works feature fluorescent farandoles, fantastical creatures, and anthropomorphic plants that come to life and intertwine in fascinating ways.
What sets Ciou’s work apart is her unparalleled attention to detail. Her hyper-detailed artworks are rich in decorative elements, executed in an intense palette of saturated, vibrant colors in acrylic paint. Her signature black lines and shapes, carefully applied with ink using her rotring pen, bring a unique precision and power to each piece. The narratives in her work have a strong storytelling quality, with nature, folklore, and music serving as her greatest inspirations.
Ciou's work has been exhibited in galleries worldwide and featured in various museums, including the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin, Palais de Tokyo and La Halle St. Pierre in Paris, and the Madre Museum of Contemporary Art in Naples. Her art is also part of the permanent collection of the Musée de la Poste in Paris.
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Ciou:
"I began my art career at a very young age. At 23, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in a group show with my art idols—Camilla Rose Garcia, Miss Van, and Aya Kakeda. This moment in New York, at Flux Factory, was transformative for me. We still support each other and have grown together ever since.
That exhibition gave me visibility and the chance to share my art with the world. While I wasn’t completely in the dark, my artistic universe was definitely more untamed back then. My female characters were fierce, with sharp teeth, ready to both fight and dream. Reflecting on that time, I realize I was influenced by the Lowbrow movement and underground culture.
For over ten years, I worked with mixed media backgrounds, creating collages from old dictionaries, maps, biology, and science books. Those were my Lowbrow years, deeply inspired by American artists, punk, gothic, and Victorian imagery. My work had a "more is more" approach—perhaps even too much, but it always felt just right to me. I continued in that spirit until 2014.
The next phase of my art began when I moved away from collage backgrounds. I felt the need to escape from the physical world and started painting the cosmos. This shift marked my full embrace of the Pop Surrealism movement—a transition into the light. While my inspirations have remained similar, my experiences in Japan profoundly changed me. The beauty and intricacy of nature in Japan moved me deeply, and I now strive to recreate that sense of perfection in my work every day. I love pop culture, and I love surrealism—together, they have birthed my whimsical Kawaii-surrealist universe.
For this show at KochxBos Gallery, you’ll discover a new series titled The Dream Walkers, as well as another collection called The Green Planet. Both explore a fresh way to escape from reality, imagining how life evolves from darkness into light. You’ll find small worlds floating through the cosmos.
Welcome to my 20th-anniversary exhibition, showcasing artwork from 2004 to today.