“Three elves came and led her to a hollow mountain where the little people lived. Everything there was small, but more ornate and splendid than can be described.”

Excerpted from The Elves (Second Tale)
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm,
Translated by D. L. Ashliman

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We are delighted to present Elf House, the inaugural solo exhibition by A History of Frogs (Antonia Pinter and Chase Biado). A long-present entity in Marta’s orbit, the colloquially-known ‘AHOF’ first exhibited work on behalf of the group exhibition Under/Over (2020), and most recently was part of the gallery’s showcase at Frieze Los Angeles (2022).

For this new body of work, A History of Frogs complements previous investigations into the self-designated Goblin Baroque and Marsupial Gothic with a classification the duo have internally dubbed Folk Elf. The collection of domestically-scaled objects, sculptures, and drawings present in the exhibition questions the home-space by creating forms through the lens of the so-called Elf mind. For Pinter and Biado, this exercise in non-human thinking allows for the production of works that trade traditional industrial signifiers in favor of archaeological ones. These items—collectibles, even—are variously cast, drawn, and molded with the embrace of imperfection, so that the artists’ hands are eternally present in the plastic decisions of creature-logic.

Each work inhabits the gallery space with the poise and impishness of a fairytale being: curious, potentially beloved, yet always somewhat elusive. The works reflect Frogs’ treatment of objects as evolving and fluid; hologram and hybrid. Fantasy, play-logic, and retrospect render an anthology of heirlooms both functional, decorative, and in-between:

Stilted lights stand upon copper bases whose conical hat-roof-diffusers illuminate the works that surround. Bronze candelabras carry their waxen charges on a network of roots—metal-solid but threatening to dissipate like tendrils of smoke against a winter sky should one open the door too quickly. Surfaces of cast and patinated aluminum tables and benches simultaneously recall labyrinths and gray matter. Brass bells hang from the ceiling, their vespers calling us to the landscape of our choosing—hearth or forest floor—where we await the arrival of the elves.

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A History of Frogs comprises Antonia Pinter (b. 1988, Seattle, WA) and Chase Biado (b. 1985, Portland, OR). The artists’ Los Angeles-based morphology explores material and thematic transformation made visible through world-building and object-creation. Recent works have been exhibited at Noon Projects, Other Places Art Fair, the Neutra VDL House, The Valley, and BozoMag.

Download the Works List.
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