Yield To Color: Creative Growth x DON’T LOOK Projects
Opening Reception: May 9, 5–7pm
For our second collaboration with Creative Growth, we invite viewers to Yield To Color. This exhibition explores the tension between disciplined structure and vibrant, uninhibited expression through the works of Julian Ou and Rosa Giron.
In an increasingly digital landscape, this collection celebrates the physical, unwavering concentration required to bring form to paper. Julian Ou anchors the presentation with his meticulous focus on transferable lettering and eye-hand coordination, while Rosa Giron offers a visceral counterpoint with bold, neo-expressionist portraits that layer family history with graphic text. Together, they demonstrate the profound power of the analog mark to define both self and space.
Julian Ou (b. 1996) has been dedicating his efforts to exploring various mediums in his artistic pursuits. Lately, he has delved into the world of color pencils, markers, and transferable lettering, immersing himself in the possibilities they offer. His current focus lies in the art of lettering, a discipline that demands unwavering concentration and pushes the boundaries of his eye-hand coordination. Julian’s exceptional ability to concentrate allows him to celebrate his artistry through this challenging endeavor. Finding immense satisfaction in this technique, he incorporates transferable lettering into his artwork as a means of creative fulfillment and ongoing development.
Julian’s meticulous approach—transforming a commercial tool like transferable lettering into a meditative, high-art form—speaks to a rigorous dedication that resonates with the precision-based leanings of the West Coast minimalist tradition, reimagined through a raw, contemporary lens.
Complementing this precision is the multi-media work of Rosa Giron (b. 1991, San Leandro, California). Practiced at Creative Growth since 2015, Giron’s work on paper combines figures and text with bold outlines to produce Basquiat-like visions of her personal life. She renders bold, colorful portraits of her family in layers with graphic text: “Rosa,” “Mamma,” “Candy,” and “Tavo.”
El trabajo multimedia sobre papel de Rosa Giron combina figuras y texto con contornos audaces para producir visiones de la vida personal de Giron al estilo de Basquiat. Rosa presenta retratos audaces y coloridos de su familia en capas con texto gráfico: "Rosa", "Mamma", "Candy" y "Tavo".
Giron’s work offers a vibrant, neon-inflected energy that mirrors the grit and glamour of the Los Angeles cityscape. Her portraits are not merely representations; they are psychological maps where identity and lineage are reclaimed through saturated layers and graphic authority.
Together, these artists demonstrate that to yield to color is not to lose control, but to find a deeper, more visceral way of seeing. Yield To Color is an invitation to witness the intersection of personal narrative and the pure joy of the mark-made-by-hand.
On view May 9th - June 27th, 2026, at DON’T LOOK Projects, 461 N. Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA.
