Matthew Hansel's "My Inner Demon Never Sleeps Alone" @ The Hole in Los Angeles

Matthew Hansel, Selfie, 2023. All images courtesy of The Hole and Matthew Hansel.

The Hole presents Matthew Hansel’s My Inner Demon Never Sleeps Alone, which is a body of work that has been developing over the course of the last three years.

The main gallery features a bestiary of demons, pixies, and nude men and women in all kinds of entanglements, poses and rituals. The human figures are painted from clippings of 1960s and ‘70s brochures for West Coast nudist colonies, while their demons, with scaly bodies, attenuated snouts and poulaine-toed feet, recall the morality paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. Hansel’s allegorical twist: instead of admonishing the viewer, he aims to enchant them, conjuring a universe in which, he says, “people are able to live beside and enjoy their demons in a way that they can’t in the real world.”

My Inner Demon Never Sleeps Alone is on view through June 24 at The Hole, 844 N La Brea Avenue Los Angeles

Matthew Hansel, The Couple, 2023. All images courtesy of The Hole and Matthew Hansel.

Matthew Hansel, Morning’s Light We Can’t Forget, It Warms Us Like An Ember, Illuminating With Regret, The Nights We Can’t Remember, 2023. All images courtesy of The Hole and Matthew Hansel.

Matthew Hansel, Dancing On The Toes Of Our Shadows, 2023. All images courtesy of The Hole and Matthew Hansel.

Matthew Hansel, We Exclaim Our Desires, Brief Whispers In The Wind, Our Ecstasies Our Instrument, Our Demons Our Delight, 2023. All images courtesy of The Hole and Matthew Hansel.

Matthew Hansel, The Studio Assistant, 2023. All images courtesy of The Hole and Matthew Hansel.

Matthew Hansel, Interlocking Interlocutors, 2023. All images courtesy of The Hole and Matthew Hansel.