Downtown Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) is proud to announce the return of San Francisco-based, award-winning artist/illustrator Eric Joyner for his 12th solo exhibition at the gallery, titled Looking sideways, set to premiere July 19th in the Main Gallery.

Joyner, who is renowned around the world for his “robots and donuts” scenes, has created an irresistible body of work. Joyner’s art, which has been licensed from the likes of Disney, Warner Brothers, and the hit HBO show Silicon valley, depicts the tenuous conflict between children’s toys and adulthood as a portrait of another reality. His work is characterized by his playful and surrealistic style that creates harmony between the mix of cartoon characters, especially Japanese tin robots and colorful donuts inserted in all kinds of landscapes from the Age of Dinosaurs to the bottom of the ocean.

Regarding his new works, Joyner shares, “My oil paintings are dreamscapes where robots and donuts coexist in strange harmony—symbols of indulgence, routine, and the absurdity of modern life. Rooted in pop surrealism, these works unfold in familiar yet slightly askew environments—bakeries, sidewalks, and quiet corners of imagined cities—where machines begin to echo the gestures and emotional rhythms of the people who made them. The robots in my paintings are not cold or clinical. They fumble toward something human, seeking comfort, connection, and distraction, mirroring our own attempts to find meaning in a world growing increasingly fragmented. Donuts appear as both coping mechanisms and existential props: absurd, sweet, and fleeting, much like the comforts we cling to in the face of uncertainty.”

Adding, “These scenes often straddle the line between melancholy and humor, realism and fantasy, inviting viewers to consider the surreal logic of dreams as a lens for understanding our daily lives. The works ask philosophical questions with a light touch: What happens when artificial beings start dreaming? What does it mean to be conscious in a programmed world? Can absurdity be a kind of salvation? As we teeter on the edge of a murky future shaped by artificial intelligence, these paintings become reflections of our collective anxieties and quiet hopes. They suggest that perhaps even in a world of circuits and code, the desire for tenderness, joy, and a donut remains universal.”

Open to the public and free to attend, Looking sideways is set to debut on Saturday, July 19th from 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm in the Main Gallery, alongside a solo show by Toronto-based, award-winning contemporary artist Richard Ahnert, titled Bad company, in Gallery 2 and a two-artist exhibit featuring solo shows by Taiwanese artist Lo Chan Peng, titled Gazing at the boundary of beauty and ugliness, and contemporary faux naïf artist Sun-Mi (aka Pamplemouze), titled House Warming, in Gallery 3. The shows will be on view at CHG through August 23rd.