events

Review: SF Zine Fest 2009

This past weekend I made my way down to San Francisco to cover the Zine Fest at the County Fair Building for SFWeekly. I had a blast at the Alternative Press Expo last year, and was looking forward to seeing more independent zines as well as some new art. It was a lot smaller than the A.P.E and I was told the turnout was pretty low this year. It only took about 30 minutes for me to quickly check out every booth. Just by canning the work I could see what I wanted to take a closer look at, and get a feel for what the Zine Fest was all about. I have a full rundown of the event over at SFWeekly.com.

Zine Fest @ SFWeekly.com

everybodygetup

Share:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Review: El Mac @ Fifty24 SF

During that weekend I checked out the Shawn Barber and Moki exhibitions, I was also able to swing by Fifty24 SF and see the solo show of El Mac. I had seen the work online and being a fan of figurative art I was quite taken with it, as well as interested in how he creates these amazing portraits with spraypaint. The Fifty23 blog has a few videos of El Mac working on the outside mural here. Each one of the burlap paintings took up most of the height of the wall, it was pretty striking to see the art consume that much of the gallery space. There were also two prints for sale in the back, the largest one “Songs of Songs” was sadly all sold out.
I was definately an impressive series of paintings, if you happen to be in the area I recommend stopping by and taking a look.

Additional photos @ Upper Playground
Videos of El Mac painting

kim_elmac
continue reading «Review: El Mac @ Fifty24 SF»

Share:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Review: Shawn Barber “Tattooed Portraits” @ Shooting Gallery

Right after seeing the Moki exhibition I swung by the Shooting Gallery to check out Shawn Barber’s “Tattooed Portraits” series. His last solo show was the “Tattooed Portraits: “Los Angeles” at the Billy Shire Fine Arts over a year ago. In that show he had a few watercolor paintings of artists hands, I was looking forward to seeing some of those here, but regardless I was happy to see these new works.

hollyellis_shawnbarber
continue reading «Review: Shawn Barber “Tattooed Portraits” @ Shooting Gallery»

Share:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Moki @ Jack Fischer Gallery

I took a break for the weekend the visit some family as well as prepare for the next semester of school that is quickly approaching. While I managed to miss a couple of show openings, I was able to swing by and check out the art on my way home. The first show that I saw was the solo exhibition of German artist Moki at the Jack Fischer Gallery.

24_moki
This was the first time that I have been to this gallery, it looked nice inside the building it was in but the whole setup was not as laid back as many of the galleries I visit. I was looking forward to seeing this artists work in person, as the pictures I have seen on the net look amazing, but I wanted to see in person how good these paintings really were. I have read a few criticisms that state that Moki needs to mature a bit more in her work, and possibly become more cohesive, I couldn’t disagree more. This body of work was not only extremely impressive, but was also better than many of the shows I have seen this past year.
continue reading «Moki @ Jack Fischer Gallery»

Share:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Dave MacDowell @ Monsters of Pop Show

This past week the “Monsters of Pop” group show opened at the Gallery 1988 in LA. The show features work by Netherland, Kiersten Essenpreis, Brandon Bird and Dave MacDowell. While I liked much of the work in the show, Dave MacDowell’s pieces stood out above the rest not only because of the obvious technical skill he possesses, but the amazing ideas that he keeps churning out as well.

He has five works in the show, four of which are homages to popular paintings. Just a little bit after he unleashed “Appetite for Veruca”, a re imagining of Robert Williams controversial “Appetite for Destruction” painting, he gives us a remix of Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks” and three from Mark Ryden: “Girl Eaten by Tree”, “Allegory of the Four Elements” & “Little Boy Blue”.

I would like to see more artists doing homages like these. There have been a few scandals recently, due to certain artists “copying” another’s work, I see no point. If you are short on ideas or want to try something new, make an homage to a past work of art. But I do feel it is important to make sure that like Dave has, you do the work justice.

Monsters of Pop @ Gallery 1988

ridinthezeppelin_davemacdowell
breakfasthawks_davemacdowell
continue reading «Dave MacDowell @ Monsters of Pop Show»

Share:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Shows this weekend: Josh Keyes, Bob Dob & The Blab! Show

Here is the rundown of art shows that will be opening up this weekend.

Friday:
Swarm Gallery will host an exhibition of new works by Josh Keyes.

Perihilion Arts will open “Black Eyed Mouseketeers”, a new series of paintings by Bob Dob. The show is online and looks great.

Cave Gallery will open “Outside my Window”, a group show featuring art by Liz Brizzi, Adam Flores, Max Kauffman and more.

La Luz de Jesus is opening its four shows, as mentioned in an earlier post, with new art from Scott Holloway, Jessica Dalva, Misato Otake & Jasmine Worth.

Varnish Art will be having its last show at the current location, and will end it all with a new solo show entitled “ThankYouGoodbye” with works from Michael Page.

Strychnin Gallery will host “The Red Thread”, which features work by Jennybird Alcantra, Bethany Marchman and Edith Lebeau, who was a featured artist on the Creep Machine. Congrats Edith!

Saturday:
Copro Gallery will open “The Blab! Show” featuring new paintings by Joe Sorren, Andy Kehoe, Alex Gross, Jeff Soto, Femke Hiemstra, Shag, Kris Kuksi, Ryan Heshka, Martin Wittfooth, XNO, Travis Lampe, Owen Smith, Kathleen Lolley, Natalia Fabia, Andrew Brandou, Gary Taxali and more

Disctinction Art will open “Scientific Evolution”, with new artwork from Dan Lyderson, Sean Christopher, Jasmine Worth, Gene Guynn, Christian Van Minnen, Dave MacDowell and more. 10% of proceeds to benefit stem cell research.

Share:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Nhon Nguyen & Mike Wagner @ Flatcolor

Opening tonight, August 6th at Flatcolor Gallery in Seattle, is a show featuring new works by Nhon Nguyen & Mike Wagner. “Nhon Nguyen debuts a series of oils depicting the motion and energy of Skateboarders without their actual skateboards, Mike Wagner brings a series of paintings featuring intense portraits of the king of pop to Flatcolor Gallery.”

I had not seen the work of either artist before this show, but I’m glad I did. I really love the way that Mike paints, it’s very energetic and loose. The preview doesn’t seem to be up yet, so keep your eyes open on the site and if you are around the gallery, make sure to stop by.

Flatcolor Gallery

flatcolorgallery8.6.09

Share:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Preview: Scott Holloway @ La Luz de Jesus

Opening up this Friday, August 7th at the La Luz de Jesus Gallery will be four solo shows with new works from Jessica Dalva, Scott Holloway, Misato Otake & Jasmine Worth. All four previews are up for viewing right now, but for this preview I wanted to focus on the artwork of Scott Holloway.

Scott’s exhibition is entitled “Memento Mori”, and “centers on the holy relics of Saints and biblical figures as highly detailed anatomical icons.” The drawings and mixed media works look like something right out of the anatomical studies of Da Vinci, but “with passages from the Bible and text from medical treatise, sprinkled with a bit of Surrealism.” in each one. The paintings show a skilled hand with oil paints, and each of the subjects surrounded by a treatment of gold leaf. “Visions of St. Luke” and “St. Luke’s Hand II” both are painted in frames that looked plucked right out of the Renaissance. Each one is aged and shows the effects of time, while the hands are clear and vibrant. St Luke “is the patron saint of Artists, Sculptors, and Physicians. The hand is his symbol.” To me this fusion of old worn in surfaces with the freshly painted icons is like connecting the old with the new, showing that many elements of the past can still be relevant today.

Like many, Scott showed talent and wanted to be an artist from a young age, but he wanted to learn painting in the style of the Northern Renaissance which included such artists as Robert Campin, Jan Van Eyck, Albrecht Durer and Hieronymous Bosch. I wish more were interested in drawing inspiration from the past as Scott has.

The works look amazing, and is definitely worth a look. Scott Holloway @ La Luz de Jesus

Holloway_LG_Claddagh1
Holloway_LG_St_Lukes_Hand
Holloway_LG_Adam001

Share:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

“New Breed” @ Last Rites Gallery

Just this Saturday, August 1st at the Last Rites Gallery in New York the group show “New Breed” opened. The features work by 10, emerging artists that have never been shown at Last Rites before. The list of participating artist is: David R. Choquette (shown), Shay Davis, Mickey M Edtinger, Paul Gerrard, Charlie Immer, Sara Antoinette Martin, Richard Meyer, Reuben Negrón, Chris Peters & Kurt Wiscombe.

If you have been a reader of the Creep Machine for a while now, you will know David R. Choquette from the “Attack of the B Movie Show”. He entered an amazing Killer Klown painting. He has three in this show, each one looks outstanding. I’m glad he has had the opportunity to show at such a great gallery. Another familiar name is Paul Gerrard, having been featured on the site three times so far. I love his work, and am happy people are seeing how exciting digital art can be. I was also happy to see Charlie Immer (shown). He has been putting out some paintings that are just a blast to look at. Some of these painting have been in a few galleries already, quite possibly due to the price of his working getting too high too fast maybe? The card also shows a painting by Reuben Negron, and while he is in the show that specific piece does not seem to be. He is a very talented painter, one that I have been watching for a while now. He works primarily in watercolors, a medium I have great respect for and seems to be gaining more popularity.

Anyway, make sure you head over to the site and give the full show a look. New Breed @ Last Rites

david_sweetdreams
immer_skeletonsnacks

Share:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Interview: Shawn Barber @ Shooting Gallery News

Coming this August 15th, Shawn Barber has a new solo show that will take place at the Shooting Gallery in San Francisco. “Tattooed Portraits – Snapshots” is a whole new body of work by Shawn “Contrasting between realistic figurative painting, art history and tattoo culture, this exhibit showcases Barber’s signature brush work”. Right after the Paul Chatem/Mike Maxwell show, Shooting Gallery gives us another amazing exhibition.

Shawn Barber is not only an extremely talented painter, but a teacher as well. A certain private college I was interested in had him listed on the site as one of the current professors, and when it turned out he was no longer teaching there I was at least able to learn some tricks from the Massive Black released “Foundation Painting with Shawn Barber” dvd, which I highly recommend.

Shooting Gallery News has just posted an interview with Shawn, so make sure you check it out. Shawn Barber interview @ Shooting Gallery News

shawnbarber

Share:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

“We’ll Be Right Back… After These Messages” @ Rivet Art

Freshly opened this August 1st at Rivet Art in Colombus, OH is a group show entitled “We’ll Be Right Back… After These Messages” . All the pieces from the show are inspired by cartoons from the 80′s and 90′s, which in my humble opinion had some truly amazing cartoons. There are some really excellent artists participating in the show, Andrew Bell, Charlie Owens, Daniel Elson (co-curated the show), Scott Campbell, Thom Glick, Shannon Bonatakis, CJ Metzger and more.

I was already becoming a huge fan of Scott Campbell’s work, then he goes and makes an amazing Thundarr the Barbarian inspired work “Feelin Super Similar”, perfect. I also really like Jason Limon’s “Ooze got the Snorks”. I was never a fan of that cartoon, but if it looked like what Jason has created I would have never missed an episode. Along with the original works, there is also a couple of prints to be had. Charlie Owens has a print of his piece, “Somewhere over the Rainbow” limited to 38. Chris Lee has “Mr. Villain’s Class of 1983″, which is 19″ x 13″, limited to 50 and can be framed or not.

“We’ll Be Right Back… After These Messages” @ Rivet Art

feelingsimilar_scottcampbell
oozegotthesnorks_jasonlimon
villainsclass_chrislee

Share:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Kelly Vivanco & Jason Limón @ Subtext Gallery

Opened just last night, July 31st at the Subtext Gallery in San Diego was “Under the Cover of Darkness: New Works by Kelly Vivanco & Jason Limón”. The show is online for those of us who can’t see the works in person. Kelly’s work looks amazing as usual, and almost seems to be getting more intense. I like the odd shaped panels she has been working on lately. Jason Limón’s new work has really grown on me. I have enjoyed his art since the first time I saw it, the textures the way he cuts the panels he paints on and the slightly muted color palettes. While I liked the content of his older work, I am glad that that he has shifted over to these new elements. It’s always a treat to not only enjoy the technical side of an artists work, but to also be surprised at every new new show not knowing what they will bring.

Subtext Gallery

You can also check out an interview with Kelly and Jason over @ Erratic Phenomena

slowtunes_kellyvivanco
eternalentanglement_jasonlimon

Share:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr