In Horror Vacui, Italian photographer Federico Chiesa asks the question, What if the most scary horror film icons from the 80’s were alive today? For this latest series he teams up with special effects and make-up artist Carolina Trotta to give us a glimpse at what the future for these once feared villains would hold.
Opening Saturday, March 31st at the Corey Helford Gallery is a group show curated by Natalia Fabia entitled Hookers. This group show follows the “Second Quasi-Annual Hooker Beauty Pageant” that will take place on March 30th. The exhibition portion of this weekend will feature art by a variety of artists such Phil Hale, Michael Hussar, Jeremy Lipking, Chris Pugliese, Korin Faught, Saber, Tara McPherson, Sean Cheetham, Joshua Petker, and Kent Williams as seen below. This new painting by Williams is entitled Convergence: Ayako, and is oil on linen 60″ x 70″. As always the colors, texture, and motion seen in his work is inspiring. If your in the area make sure to stop by, not only to see this painting, but the entire show.
Opening this Saturday, March 23rd, alongside the Juxtapoz Turns 18 exhibition at the Copro Gallery is a new solo show by Leslie Ditto entitled Riding the Dragon. Inspired by the year of the dragon, the work in this new show centers around legends and myths, and the beliefs that people hold especially in the areas of prophecy, luck, and spirituality. The reception is from 8-11:30 PM, and the show runs until April 14th.
I recently had the pleasure of attending the opening reception for Kris Kuksi‘s latest show, Triumph, at Joshua Liner Gallery. Every time I see his work, it has evolved in some way, which is refreshing to see. Kris’s work has a schtick to it, however each individual piece has its own strength and power overwhelming any threat of triteness. His works are engrossing and can keep your attention for hours tickling your eyes with their beautiful forms and distracting you with their meta-narratives.
When you see Kris’s works in person, it’s important to look into each corner and crevice. Crouch down to look at the undersides of each assemblage so you can take in his works fully – his works could likely be flipped upside down to reveal entirely new worlds. Full of ideas, plays between good and evil, with a touch of humor here and there, it’s hard to stop exploring each work to move on to the next. Regardless of the large crowd, I was able to take some detail shots of his work, shared below.
Kris is also an avid painter. His sculptures have upstaged his oil paintings for the past few years. It was thus nice to see that for Triumph Kris had painted a portrait of artist Ewelina Koszykowska, a large acrylic and mixed media on wood with a raised pattern. This mysterious painting sets the sculptures off quite well, adding color to his stark white palette. Also new is a bronze version of his Churchtank sculpture, its detailed texture and weight add to this already stunning work.
Triumph will be on view until April 7th.
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Just over a week ago I talked about Dan May’s latest painting Northbound, and the exciting new direction that his art is taking. For those that enjoyed this new style, Dan has decided to release a time-limited print of the painting. The print is 16″ x 20″ on a sheet of 17″ x 22″ Canson Etching Photo Rag, 310 gsm, signed and numbered in a max edition of 75, and a certificate of authenticity. The print will be on sale until March 28th, unless it sells out earlier.
Get it here: Dan May Online Shop
Back in October of 2011 I wrote “Political Art for Much Needed Time“, and touched on the idea of art that addresses many of the issues we deal with today. I love art that takes you away to another world, but I also firmly believe that we need art that can open our eyes to what is going on, and most importantly bring people together. I was happy to see that Molly Crabapple has a series of works that not only addresses the financial meltdown that is still raging on, but does it in a way that doesn’t come off like standard political art. Shell Game is an art show that takes inspiration from the financial collapse, and those that have stood up against the powers that set it in motion. For this show Molly plans to create 9, 6-foot tall paintings, and display them in a rented storefront fully decked out like a gambling parlor and invite the city and internet to come along. I really like the idea that a gallery will not be a part of this event, as stated by Molly “It doesn’t seem right to make an art show about the way financial elites screwed us up and only sell things that financial elites can afford. So I’m turning to you to create an art show that anyone can be a part of. ”
This is an amazing idea, and I hope one that inspires others to do something similar. Head on over to the Kickstarter page created for this project for more information, how you can help, and spread the word. Below is an image of the first painting in the series Great American Bubble Machine
Shell Game: An Art Show About the Financial Meltdown
Coming this Saturday, March 24th, the Copro Gallery will open Juxtapoz Turns 18, a group show celebrating the 18th anniversary of the iconic art magazine. The show will feature work from many of the artists that have been featured in the magazine over the years such as Todd Schorr, Camille Rose Garcia, Robert Williams, Shag, Scott Musgrove, Candice Tripp, Mark Ryden, Shepard Fairey, Dave Cooper, Tara McPherson, and many more. It’s rare that I look through a new issue of Juxtapoz, and even more so that I visit the website, however I am aware of the place the magazine has in the timeline of this scene and look forward to seeing what these artists come up with. The reception starts at 8 PM and the show will run until April 14th. Keep your eye on the galleries webpage for a full preview.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Patricia Ariel received her Bachelor’s in Art Education at the Rio de Janeiro State University before moving to the US. It was here in the States that she decided to spend more time on her fine art work. She is influenced by the “theater and ballet to Eastern Art, from the Art Nouveau and Jugendstil to contemporary Pop Art, including occult symbolism, Tarot, Astrology and metaphysics.” Patricia is also a member of the Energy Art Movement which aims to capture energy in artworks with form, color, and composition. As you can see from the images below, her work is not only colorful, abstract and surreal, but very figurative. Just as there is a variety of elements in her paintings, they are also made up with a few types of media such as acrylics, oil-based pencil, and water-soluble pencils. I really love the blend of monochromatic flesh tones, and the vivid, colorful, backgrounds that surround the figures in her work. Each painting is loaded with color, texture, and motion. Take a look at the preview images below, and then make sure to check out Patricia’s homepage for more.
