At age 50 the man known as the King of Pop passed away this June 25th in Los Angeles. It was just hours earlier that Farrah Fawcett passed and Ed Mcmahon the day prior. An 8 year old Creep could be found running around the house with a little sparkly glove on (and matching socks) waiting for MTV to play Thriller again. Not only was the song amazing, but was one of the main reasons I am so hooked on zombies and wanted to be a special effects artist. That whole album was amazing, and pretty much everyone had a copy whether they admit it or not. Even Weird Al’s “Beat It” spoof was great, simply because it came off more like a tribute than many of his other spoofs. The latter part of Michael’s life was riddled with controversy, trials, surgeries and and endless supply of rumors.

But this site is not about all of that, its about art. So here are a few paintings that celebrate the contributions of a musician that was undeniably talented, was the template of many musicians to follow and is still responsible for rhythmless people everywhere to try and moonwalk, but still have fun dancing to songs that will never get old.

“Terrifying One’s Neighborhood” by Scott Campbell

“Thriller” by Allison Torneros

“Funk of 40 Thousand Years” by Gary Pullin

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

Friday:
The Alternative Cafe is hosting “This is the End”. Curated by the Creep Machine and featuring work by 25 artists from all over the world. It’s going to be a truly exciting show. Check the work out, it is now online to view. If you can make it the reception is from 7-9pm.

Gallery 1988 SF will open “Sweet Surrender”, a group show featuring work by Krista Huot, Camilla d’Errico, Jennifer Tong and Allison Torneros. The show will be online at noon this Friday.

Definition Gallery has “Melancholy”, featuring new works by Bethany Marchman, Nicholas Harper and Brandon Maldonado

Joshua Liner Gallery has a solo exhibition from Tomokazu Matsuyama entitled “Glancing at the Twin Peak”. The work is online and looks great.

La Luz de Jesus opens “Everything But The Kitschen Sync” 12h annual group show. Some of the artists in this show are: Dave MacDowell, Apricot Mantle, Bob Dob, Nathan Ota, Chris Peters, Sean Stepanoff, Heather Watts, Paul Torres and many more.

Saturday:
Copro Gallery has two shows opening: “Natural Beauties”, Lola’s solo show and “SuperSchool” featuring work by Scott Musgrove, Travis Louie, Gary Baseman, Sas Christian, Chet Zar, Heiko Mueller, Dan May, Martin Wittfooth, Chris Ryniak, Nathan Spoor, Kris Lewis, Carrie Ann Baade, Michael Page, Ana Bagayan, Kevin Peterson, Naoto Hattori, Amy Sol, Francesco LoCastro, Reinier Gamboa, Mia, Brian Viveros, Dan Quintana , Tin and more. Much of the work is online to view, both shows are very strong.

Gallery Nucleus is opening “Home Slice”, a new solo show of Scott Campbell. He has such an amazing style, I can’t wait to see the new works, all of which should be up this weekend.

Here is the rundown of the shows this weekend:

The big one in San Francisco this weekend is the huge group show ‘Everyone in Together” at the Gallery 1988 SF location. The show features work by Aaron Jasinski, Cherri Wood, Erik Abel, Jonathan Bergeron, Krista Huot, Mike Shine, Noferin, Allison Torneros, Chrystal Chan, Andy Kehoe, Andrew Bell, Chris Murray, Nate Frizzell, Megan Kimber, El Maz, Chet Zar, Yoskay Yamamoto as well as two artists previously shown on the Creep Machine: Skaffa and Anne-Julie Aubrey. The show looks amazing, and I hope to be able to see it in person in the next week. The art for the show is online, so check it out. Gallery 1988 SF

This Saturday at the M Modern Gallery is “Tic Toc Apocalypse”, the solo show of Amanda Vissell.
Check out the show, M Modern Gallery

At the Joshua Liner Gallery is two solo shows, “Seasons of Change” by Jeremy Fish and “Side Effects” by Josh Keyes. Both of the shows are online to view, and the artwork looks amazing. I especially like the frames that Jeremy used on some of his works. Check it out. Joshua Liner Gallery

Also this Saturday from Noon to midnight is “Ripple: Art Affecting Oceans”, Erik Abel joins with Art Whino and DC Surfrider for this fundraiser. At 6 will be the reception for a solo show by Erik Abel as well as featuring the work of 4 new artists: Joshua Krause, Spencer Reynolds, Dustin Oritz & Scott Szegeski. Check it out here: Art Whino Gallery

The “Toys!” show that is going on at the Gallery 1988 in LA is now online for your viewing pleasure. All art inspired by the toys of our youth, if your that old, and also some customs celebrating Hot Wheels 40th.

Some really great art is in this show. I’m particularly fond of Camilla D. Errico’s paintings and those by Scott Scheidly, Johnny Crap, Davey Wong, Casey Weldon and of course those artists that were shown on the Creep Machine at one point such as Jim Harker, Allison Torneros, Lindsay Carr, Mark Brown & Shannon Bonatakis.

It’s a great show that brings up a lot of memories. I really hope they make a print of the Anthony Clarkson “Playtime’s Over” painting (shown). That “My Pet Monster” looks like he’s ready to bring the pain.

Check out the show here: Toys @ Gallery 1988

Allison Torneros was one of the Creeps first “Art of the Day” posts way back in August. The piece featured was this very one, “The City”. It’s mixed media and is a great image, and I’m obviously not the only that thinks it great. Allison was also featured in the “Reader Art” section of Juxtapoz.

Gallery 1988 is releasing a limited edition print of this piece. The print is 11″x14″ and is limited to an edition of 88, hand signed and numbered. It’s very affordable at only $75. I’m really happy that that her work is being seen and enjoyed by so many people.

Head on over to Gallery 1988 to grab one these prints Gallery 1988 or just e-mail them at gallery1988@aol.com