Adrian Cox’s upcoming solo show at Corey Helford Gallery in downtown Los Angeles is one that demands some serious attention. The Well of Dreams, opening Saturday 21 February in the Main Gallery, presents over 20 new works from the Los Angeles-based figurative painter, whose practice fuses epic storytelling with painterly precision.
Cox has created the ‘Borderlands,’ a mythic world where identity, spirituality, and our relationship with nature collide. “The protagonists are Border Creatures,” he explains, “beings that combine human traits with the landscape they inhabit. They are artists, gardeners, poets, scientists, and mystics. When they dream, the landscape dreams with them.” These gentle caretakers are challenged by Specters, spirits of pure energy that burn indiscriminately, embodying a worldview in opposition to the Border Creatures and sparking a conflict between two distinct ways of being.
Snake Gardener’s Study
(oil on panel, 12 in x 18 in).
Maker’s Lament
(oil on panel, 34 in x 25.5 in).
Asleep Beneath the Sign of the Cosmic Wound (Maker’s Dream XIII)
(oil on panel, 34 in x 25.5 in).
At the heart of The Well of Dreams is Maker, a sculptor struck by a Specter’s arrow, leaving the Cosmic Wound on their hand. The exhibition follows Maker’s inward pilgrimage through spiritual wastelands and haunted forests of the mind, seeking the heart of dreams; the source of all creativity. What emerges is not healing, but transmutation, the blackened hand becomes a vessel of life-affirming energy and imagination.
Cox’s process mirrors this mystical exploration. Narratives are constructed using cut-up texts drawn from Arthurian legends and dream journals, while soundscapes and meditative rituals evoke the Borderlands during active imagination sessions. Each painting becomes a symbol, a living conduit for creativity and spiritual engagement.
The Well of Dreams is a meditation on imagination, inner landscapes, and the transformative power of art. Cox invites viewers to explore a world that exists beyond intention, a mythic space where creativity and meaning emerge in ways both epic and intimate.
View The Well of Dreams by Adrian Cox at Corey Helford Gallery from 21 February until 28 March.
@adriancoxart
@coreyhelfordgallery
The Cave and the Star (Maker’s Dream XII)
(oil on paper mounted to panel, 14 in x 14 in).
The Sleep of Reason (Maker’s Dream XIV)
(oil on paper mounted to panel, 14 in x 14 in).
In-Studio Photo of ‘The Altar of Unknowing’ Installation © Birdman Photos.
Snake Gardener with Lunar Studies
(oil on panel, 16 in x 20 in).
Big Dreamer with Poetic Reverie
(oil on panel, 18 in x 24 in).
Enantiodromia (Dream Ritual III)
(oil on panel, 41 in x 72 in).
In-Studio Work in Progress Shots © Birdman Photos.
A Path Between Heaven and Earth IV
(oil on panel, 18 in x 24 in).
In-Studio Work in Progress Shots © Birdman Photos.
