Weho Venue Spotlights EP Artist Kenny Requa

Distorted cityscapes and sensual, dreamlike forms have filled the space above blow dryers and lean-back salon chairs at Chroma Studio on Santa Monica Boulevard.

Artwork by Echo Park resident Kenny Requa reflect salon owner Troy Zestos's efforts to spotlight rising stars on the local art scene. "I want local area artwork...young new talent," said Zestos, a veteran stylist with clients in the entertainment industry. 

Requa drank in his first-ever exhibition opening at an event on Sunday. The 24-year-old said he used to keep his art life and professional life separate. With Zestos’ encouragement, he sees the two worlds fusing.

That said, Requa wants to keep certain qualities about himself the same. “It’s important to really situate in my outsider status,” said the soft-spoken Requa. “I wouldn’t want to not feel that.”

In his paintings, male forms on undefined backdrops imbue sensuality with dreamlike qualities. Requa works to create a more intense experience of reality by distorting it, he said.

Cities such as San Francisco and Santa Cruz cue in his imagination. His impression of the reality of the place infuses with his own imagination, he said.

“Anything different,” Requa said. The best part, he added, is when others draw their own meaning from the work. And some level of confusion is a plus.

Requa also draws on local reference points — the Akbar bar in Silver Lake, for example.

He points to an acrylic painting depicting soulless-eyed cats, gophers, mice and pigs. “Northridge,” he says, seriously.   

Men in suits — or without clothing at all — offer another theme threaded through his work. Requa places male forms against undefined backgrounds for a sensusal, provocative effect.

“It gives you a thoughtful reaction,” said Santigi Kamso of Koreatown. “It makes you want to ponder on it.”

Mark Cohen of Westwood summed up his impression of the art with the word “sexy.”

“There’s just something about it,” Cohen said. The men in suits, he said, reminded him of the popular AMC series "Mad Men." Cohen said he wanted to buy Requa’s San Francisco-inspired piece, titled Noise Pollution.

Requa’s admirers included his father, Doug Requa, who stood discussing a piece with a listening gallery visitor. “It pulls you in,” said his dad, Doug Requa. “It’s not perfect — it’s open for interpretation.”

Requa won a number of awards in high school for his art, his father said. He graduated from UC Santa Cruz, continuing his painting in school on the side.

Doug Requa said he sees his son improving all the time.

Visitors to the gallery were not entertained by art alone, nor was Requa the only up-and-coming-talent on display — new business owner Kali Balugo of Kali’s Kakes was one of the caterers.

The energetic Zestos foots the bill for a bartender, caterers, a DJ and creative food options, like chocolate-covered strawberries with “Chroma Studio” spelled out. 

A silent auction with items donated from Troy’s friends in the entertainment industry lined a corner wall. All proceeds from the auction benefitted Kingsley Elementary School in West Hollywood, along with 10 percent of the proceeds from any art sales.

Having launched his own business himself, Zestos is familiar with the trials of getting off the ground, either as a business owner or an artist. "That’s where networking events and exhibitions pay off," Zestos said. “You get it back tenfold."

Kenny Requa’s work will be on display in Chroma Studio through October.