Downtown Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) is proud to announce its next major solo show. Or you could panic, featuring new works from British contemporary figurative artist Ben Ashton, is set to premiere March 15 th in Gallery 2. On view through April 19th, the exhibition marks the artist’s largest show to date and first solo show at the gallery.

Ashton’s work reimagines traditional portraiture through the lens of modern anxieties and cutting-edge technology. Known for blending classical painting techniques with experimental distortions, the artist’s work explores themes of identity, history, and the impact of artificial intelligence on creativity. In his recent work, Ashton has embraced learning models to create figures and compositions that feel both familiar and unsettling. Drawing on datasets of his previous paintings, portraits of his family, and imagined settings, these AI-influenced works reflect his ambivalence about technology’s role in art and society.

Regarding his new series of works, Ashton shares, "Or you could panic is a new collection of paintings on hand-shaped panels, exploring my ambivalence toward artificial intelligence and its growing impact on the art world and society. The title captures that tension—this feeling that maybe we should panic, but also the futility of doing so. In many ways, this series is a culmination of everything I’ve done so far - while the paintings feature people who don’t exist, wearing costumes that have never been made, in realities that can’t be inhabited, their existence is rooted in an intimate and specific identity. Through exhaustively training learning models on my family, my past works, and my imagined settings, I’ve created something that feels familiar yet deeply unsettling.

I’ve always been drawn to portraiture for its role in history as a symbol of power and status. But by distorting and disrupting these traditions—adding glitches and warping the imagery, I aim to make the past feel unsafe, even absurd. It’s my way of grappling with how societies look backward in times of uncertainty, how that nostalgia can lead us to dangerous places, and my frustration with the inevitability of these historical cycles. This exhibition is a reflection of my own questions and anxieties about where we are headed, it’s about the tension between history and the future, tradition and technology. Whether to panic or not—I’ll leave that up to you”.

The work of British contemporary figurative artist Ben Ashton reimagines traditional portraiture through the lens of modern anxieties and cutting-edge technology. Known for blending classical painting techniques with experimental distortions, the artist’s work explores themes of identity, history, and the impact of artificial intelligence on creativity. In his recent work, Ashton has embraced learning models to create figures and compositions that feel both familiar and unsettling. Drawing on datasets of his previous paintings, portraits of his family, and imagined settings, these AI-influenced works reflect his ambivalence about technology’s role in art and society.

Ashton’s practice extends beyond the canvas, incorporating intricately shaped wooden panels that he designs and handcrafts. These panels, with their gilded edges and meticulously layered brushstrokes, mirror the distortions within his paintings, pushing his exploration of form into three dimensions. This approach combines the precision of historical techniques with a playful experimentalism, exemplified by his use of recyclable materials (such as plastic bags and cardboard) for costume creation.

With a fascination for portraiture’s historical role as a symbol of power, Ashton subverts these traditions by introducing glitches and disruptions that destabilize the imagery. These elements challenge viewers to reconsider the legacies of the past and their implications for the present.

Ashton’s work is a reflection of his own questions about the future of art and society, offering a unique perspective on how history and technology collide in our modern world. His most recent series Or you could panic, set to debut on March 15 th at Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery, marks his most ambitious show to date.