After 20 years at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, Richard Heller is expanding his existing program with a new project space, Yes, Please & Thank You, located in the burgeoning Chinatown art scene on Chung King Road. Opening November 5, Heller is excited to announce their inaugural solo exhibition: It's a Kickback, Not a Party, featuring new works by Devin Troy Strother.

Yes, Please & Thank You is an exciting opportunity for the gallery, offering a new project space within a community of Chinatown galleries that are already synonymous with cutting-edge programming and exhibitions. Heller looks forward to providing an alternative platform for both his existing artists as well as for new artists he will be introducing in the coming months. 

Heller met Strother fresh out of Pasadena Art Center in 2009 and has maintained both a friendship and working relationship over the last seven years. Strother's works have since received critical praise across the country with his works being collected by several museums including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the STudio Museum in Harlem. Strother has become known for his intricate alternative narratives across multiple mediums, finding inspiration in overheard conversations, popular culture, and canonic artists. His works do not shy away from the outrageous, rather, he incorporates language and humor relevant to his peers with the titles often serving as the punch line. 

Strother moved his artist's studio into Yes, Please & Thank you in order to create new works for It's a Kickback, Not a Party and he invites you to his open studio on Saturday, November 5. 

Kickback: To have close friends get together at someone's house in a party-like situation without calling it a party. Kickbacks have one simple rule. They are not parties. No illegit friends of friends of friends showing up empty handed and emptying your fridge. Kickbacks are the stress free versions of parties where the host doesn't have to worry about shit breaking or cops being called. There's a reason it's called a kickback; as in kickback, and relax.

"Hey bro is it cool if I invite Shawn and his bro?"
"Who's Shawn"
"One of my homeboys from the b-ball court"
"Naw dude, it's just a kickback, no no-names"
"Ah shit a'ight I'll see you there"

It's a Kickback, Not a Party will be on view November 11 through December 10, 2016 at Yes, Please & Thank You with an open studio Saturday, November 5 and an opening reception Friday, November 5 from 7-10pm.

Opening Reception
Saturday, November 11, 2016 | 7-10pm
Yes, Please & Thank You
961 Chung King Road, Los Angeles, CA