About this Event
You are invited to join West Chelsea Contemporary for the final weekend of Dopamine + Disintegration: Opake x Haris Nukem on Saturday, April 5th from 2-4pm during First Saturday's West Sixth Art Walk.
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Step into Dopamine + Disintegration, an electrifying collision of raw emotion, vibrant rebellion, and provocative social critique. In their highly anticipated U.S. debut, British artists Haris Nukem and Opake deliver art that hits like a gut punch—intense, unapologetic, and impossible to ignore.
Nukem’s incandescent portraits dive into the hedonistic highs and vulnerable depths of modern identity, capturing the unfiltered essence of youth culture, self-expression, and the search for meaning in an overstimulated world. Having exhibited at Maddox Gallery in London and collaborating with major brands like Warner Music and Universal, Nukem has cemented his place at the forefront of contemporary portraiture. His opulent use of color and theatrical compositions create allegories of contemporary existence—simultaneously intimate and mythological, fleeting yet timeless.
Opake’s graffiti-charged works deconstruct the nostalgia of pop culture, transforming iconic characters into fractured, layered compositions that speak to addiction, mental health, and the erosion of collective memory. With works exhibited globally — from Japan and South Korea to Mexico and the UK, where he showcased at the renowned Saatchi Gallery in 2024 — Opake’s work is a raw and deeply personal reflection of struggle and renewal. Through his bold, chaotic reinventions, Opake critiques the commodification of culture, turning familiar figures into symbols of both decline and reinvention.
Dopamine + Disintegration presents a bold reimagining of survival, identity, and pop culture, inviting viewers to confront the duality of existence—where euphoria meets decay, where nostalgia fractures into irreverence, and where art becomes both a confrontation and a catharsis.
Join West Chelsea Contemporary for an unforgettable journey into the visceral, the luminous, and the unfiltered truths of contemporary life.
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As part of First Saturday's West Sixth Art Walk, join premiere West Austin art galleries for our weekend programming April 5th.
West Chelsea Contemporary
Dopamine + Disintegration
2-4PM
Wally Workman Gallery
Opening reception of Diana Greenberg's solo exhibition
6-8PM
Lora Reynolds Gallery
CARL HAMMOUD: Mise en Abyme
11-6PM
Artworks Gallery
Artful Connections by Anne Shackleford
2-5PM
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
West Chelsea Contemporary, 1009 West 6th Street, Austin, United States
USD 0.00
