Kuhshin Finley’s first LA show opens at Jeffrey Deitch

Spending 10 years in one place is as meaningful as any other. Probably makes more sense. There is a level of grace and acceptance that space offers its inhabitants over time, allowing them to change and change without judgment. The space says, “You. I’m here. I see you.” Artist Kohishin Finley’s work exists in a context of relationships—with art history, with his friends and family, with older versions of himself—and the studio where he’s been doing it for nearly a decade feels like a container for all of them, reflecting and preserving his various periods as an artist.

The atmosphere in Hollywood floats above the sea of ​​tourists buying plastic Oscar statuettes in souvenir shops, but you wouldn’t realize how quiet it gets there. Its west-facing window diffuses the room with dim light. It used to be a hotel with connections to Clark’s Gable, and all the 100-year-old architectural details are original. “It’s another thing that connects me to some history in L.A.,” says Finley. “I am connected to a field or energy that flows.”

Walking in on a warm Tuesday afternoon, I immediately felt their presence – pieces that take up the most physical and spiritual real estate in the studio. They were looking back at me. They were at my feet, written with almost invisible poetry. They were in the midst of punishment. They indicate: cAnd here, come, stay longer, there is much to see. Finlay was in the process of finishing work on his first solo show in LA, called “Still Life”, which opened at the Jeffrey Deitch on November 8th. It is a combination of Finley’s large-scale oil paintings depicting a collection of faces in and around LA, as well as his ceramic bowls and poetry. The pieces are combined into traditional wooden wall hangings made in collaboration with woodworker Lucas Renaud – which range from straightforward to more complex combinations – putting earthenware and photographs in close conversation with each other.

Near the window was a picture of Lionel Boyce, one of the “Bear” actors. One of the speakers was designer Chris Gibbs. Artist Diana Yesenia Alvarado covered her hair with a layer of sunscreen in the studio. Artists Mario Ayala and Mia Carucci are captured together, hanging from singer Kelsey Lowe’s wall, bare feet with black nail polish. Finley’s portrait of Mrs. Cameron Washington was placed in the southwest corner, looking out into space like a kind of patron saint of all the more than a dozen portraits.

Kohishin wears a Comme Des Garçons Homme Plus blazer and pants, a Hollywood Ranch Market scarf and her own jewelry.

All of the subjects are friends or collaborators of Finley and most of them—if you make art in LA or care about who makes art in LA—are faces you’ll recognize. In Finley’s paintings, subjects are depicted with the redemption that comes from knowing and loving someone who looks back at them. The armor comes down. Body language is relaxing.

Looking at some of the pieces in walnut frames, the word “sacrifice” easily comes to mind. When seen all together, the works feel like they are honoring someone or something. Both paintings and pottery are inscribed with an unruly flow of conscious poetry that Finley channels while working – often only visible in composition when the light is just right. “I think about those words and what feeling He says of this part of his process that he translates more than what he reads. “Writing is a way of marking existence. For me it’s like a fingerprint for everything I do: before everything else, someone was here.

They are altars, yes. But they are also something closer and more tangible. “I want to humanize the people in the pictures because you can see them around the corner. Some of these people, you know exactly who they are. It’s not using them as a placeholder for anybody. No. It’s just who I am.” in particular Painting by D’Alvarado.

“In Her Light,” a piece featured in Kohishin Finley’s solo show, “Still Life” at Jeffrey Deitch.

(Copyright: Kohishin Finley; Photo: Nothing Studio; Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch)

Finley compares these pieces to a window – a glimpse of what these themes are like when the defense is analyzed in their relationship with Finley, in whatever conversation has led them to this point. Initially, he thought of the body of this work as domestic. Paintings would capture people in their homes and ceramic vessels would serve as metaphors for the artist as a metaphor for serving his subject – plates, cups, bowls, bottles. He wanted it to feel like everyday moments with the people he knew and loved. “They’re a way to frame, to honor, to see,” Finley says of the work. “That’s where the name of the show, ‘Still Life,’ comes from: ‘Let me hold you for a second, let me take you down so you can take a moment.’

Finlay has a sage-like quality. You can tell that he has thought about this work for a long time, takes his responsibility seriously, what he calls “the bag for art”, knows how to express it to us ordinary people. He also finds God in the details—in his work, in the beauty he encounters every day. Today, for example, he’s wearing an Oxford shirt embroidered with his initials in Old English, a vintage silk tie tucked into the middle of the shirt — a style point seen in Saint Laurent’s spring/summer 2026 men’s show. He has two fashion designer parents who named him after Koshin Sato, a cult Japanese designer known for his artistry of making clothes, and was once involved in making clothes. fashion show In the famous New York nightclub Tunnel, where Miles Davis and Andy Warhol modeled.

You get the feeling when talking to Finlay that he has something to teach. If he looks and sounds like an art professor, it’s because he recently started working at his alma mater, Otis College of Art and Design — usually at the Comme des Garçons, no less.

“As the River Flows,” a piece featured in Kohishin Finley’s solo show, “Still Life” at Jeffrey Deitch.

(Copyright: Kohishin Finley; Photo: Nothing Studio; Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch)

“To You” from Kohishin Finley’s solo album Still Life on Jeffrey Deitch.

(Copyright: Kohishin Finley; Photo: Nothing Studio; Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch)

“Reunion,” from Kohishin Finley’s solo release, “Still Life” on Jeffrey Deitch.

(Copyright: Kohishin Finley; Photo: Nothing Studio; Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch)

Koshin wears a vintage tie, a Comme des Garçons Homme Plus blazer, frame pants, Alexander McQueen shoes and his own jewelry.

To learn that this is Finley’s first LA show, the city he’s from, and where he and his family have such deep artistic roots. signfeels like some cosmic oversight. His work is part of the permanent collections at the Hammer Museum and LACMA, and he has had solo exhibitions at the Barbati Gallery in Venice, Italy, and at various small fairs in Dallas. He has been in numerous group shows, including with Jeffrey Deitch, such as Shattered Glass, produced by AJ Gerrard and Milan Frierson. But performing solo in your hometown is another thing. This was his first goal when he decided he wanted to become a fine artist, one he pursued intensely for some time. “I struggled really hard to get it for a long time,” he admits. “Take my fight out of it too.” Finley received a few offers over the years, but the time or place didn’t feel right. And it was in the time that followed when he felt that he opened himself to his practice.

Finley’s wife offered him ceramics lessons during the pandemic, an offer that would change the course of his career. Through ceramics, Finley felt a connection to another artistic lineage to himself and his ancestors. It now forms an integral part of the show. He made pieces with Altadena ceramist Jotham Hung, immersing himself completely over the past few years.

“I feel more clear about myself and my purpose as an artist than I’ve ever felt,” Finley says. “If I had it earlier in my career, it would have been great, but it would have been drastically different than what it is now.”

What you can see in Deich’s exhibition, which runs until January 17, is an artist who is connected to the people he loves in the history of art, while preserving their legacies for the record. In Finley’s mind, this work is the connective tissue between many different kinds of genealogy, both artistic and familial. Thus, a moment between friends can be repeated across time, space and audience. “To be able to use this show as a reference to the most cherished memories of the time I spent with my friends and community and create this moment with them for all of us to see, that’s everything,” he says. “That’s the truest thing I can say.”

Finley remembers that curator Helen Molesworth came by the studio some time ago when she was working on a different series of work. “She said something that I’ve never forgotten—it really changed the way I look at my work,” Finley says. “Your art, your paintings, are not just artifacts, they’re documentaries. Twenty years from now, people will ask you what life was like back then. Your paintings will be a testament to the artifacts,” says Finley.

In his studio on Tuesday afternoon, Finley sat among his people. For the past two years, she has been standing by her loved ones every day by painting their portraits. The thought of it soon being sent out into the world in pieces and never making it back here in the same way is so sweet. They all live together for a long time in the safety of this place. “These are my friends and people I admire and look up to,” he says. “I’ve spent time with them making these things. But I also accepted a long time ago that they were never mine. They belonged to the world.”

Kohishin wears a vintage tie, a custom weave shirt by Comme des Garçons Homme Plus and Comme des Garçons Homme Plus shorts.