Opening this Friday, October 15th, to the Copro Gallery in Santa Monica is a three person show featuring the work of Chet Zar, Dan Quintana, and Mark Garro. You might remember that Chet Zar recently had a solo show, Faces of Death, at Last Rites Gallery in July. Even after a show that opened close to this one, Chet brings 13 oil paintings to this latest solo show entitled The Left Hand Path. Dan Quintana opens Tinsel, and Mark Garro brings more than 9 new works to Apocalypservice. This is an outstanding show, all three artist are insanely talented. If you have the ability to see this show in person, make sure you do. It will be up until November 5th. Copro Gallery has also released a new limited edition print by Mark Garro to coincide the show. The print is a 30″ x 26″ giclee on wood, varnished, framed, and signed and numbered in an edition of 30.
Author: Creep
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Art and the “Occupy” Movement
A little over a week ago I touched on the idea of the need for political art in the article; Political Art for a Much Needed Time. If you have been watching the news, or the lack thereof in most cases, the “Occupy” movement is growing bigger and spreading to cities all over the country, and in some cases has inspired movements for change in other countries [1. Occupy Wall Street Protests Spread to Ireland]. It’s a very exciting time and I look forward to seeing what positive changes occur. I have also been keeping my eyes open to see what role art plays in these new movements.Popping up in various areas in San Francisco the past few days is an image made by Eddie Colla. The image (shown above) features the iconic Guy Fawkes face, currently being used by the group Anonymous and many protestors at Occupy events. The mask was made popular again via the 2006 movie V for Vendetta. It’s a great looking mask, and I think the idea of being anonymous along with a recognizable image is a smart idea. What I find interesting is the idea that this mask is owned by Time Warner, one of the largest media outlets in the world, and every time a mask is sold they are paid a licensing fee [2. Masked Protesters Aid Time Warner’s Bottom Line]. It seems to be a difficult situation, as the overall message is against corporate greed, but the mask is now a symbol of the movement. The good thing is that Eddie Colla does not help Time Warner rake in more cash, and he is giving people to ability to download high resolution images of the posters, one for each city, and paste them around. Get one here
Finally, the “Occupy Art World” movement seems to be starting as well [3. ‘Occupy Art World’ Movement Emerges on Twitter]. A new twitter account, @OccupyArtWorld, created by an anonymous source has popped up and is pushing for change in the art world. The idea that the larger art world needs to change, and artists need to make more money and be taken care of is an old fight. The account is not very old, so let’s see if it sticks around.
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Preview: Johannah O’Donnell “Somewhere In Time” @ Bold Hype Gallery
Opening this Thursday night, October 13th, at the Bold Hype Gallery in New York is the latest solo exhibition from Florida based artist Johannah O’Donnell. Bold Hype has shown Johannah’s work quite a few times and now is hosting her first solo show with the gallery entitled “Somewhere in Time”. She has been working on the art for this show for a fw moths now, Hi Fructose posted a studio visit back in March (here) and gave a preview of what was to come. The show features 25 works of art in a variety of sizes ranging from 4″ x 6″ to 24″ x 36″. This work in this show is very cohesive, and shows how strong her style is. I really like the juxtaposition of the monochromatic figures against the colorful backgrounds, and then each is set off against a vividly colored outline, shape, or text that surrounds the figures. The show runs until November 5th.
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Prints: “King of the Rotten” by Godmachine
Godmachine is on a roll and has just released a new limited edition screen-print to his online shop. King of the Rotten is a 18″ x 25″ screen-print, printed by the artist, signed and numbered in an edition of 40 for £20.00 ($31) each. Each print also comes with a sticker. If your looking for some apparel, you might be able to dig up some Godmachien designs over at Disturbia Clothing
Get the print here: Godmachine Shop
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“Bewitching” Stranger Factory Annual Halloween Show
Stranger Factory, the newest gallery from the Circus Posterus Collective, opened a group show last weekend, October 7th, entitled Bewitching. This is the first installment of an invitational annual group art show that takes inspiration from the vintage esthetic of Halloween. Growing up I was always mesmerized with the various decorations that would spring up during Halloween. In recent years the decorations are cheap, lazy looking, and lack any kind of uniqueness, so it’s great to see a show that harkens back to the hand-made, and often “outsider” feel the vintage designs had. The show features work by Andrew Bell, Colin Christian, Sas Christian, Doktor A, Travis Lampe, Leecifer, Travis Louie, Jon MacNair, Irene Mendonis, Kathie Olivas, Brandt Peters, Rhode Montijo, Chris Ryniak, Scott Tolleson, and many more. The show runs until November 12th, and if you aren’t able to make the show in person all of the work is now online to view. Love those paintings by Emily Trovillion (shown last).
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Stella Im Hultberg, Mari Inukai, Audrey Kawasaki, and Amy Sol @ Thinkspace Gallery
Amid the variety of Halloween related art shows, and the I Want My Music Video Art Show, Thinkspace Gallery opened a group exhibition featuring the work of Stella Im Hultberg, Mari Inukai, Audrey Kawasaki, and Amy Sol entitled In the Wake of Dreams. This show brings new paintings, drawings, and a new print set. Overall the show is as cohesive as it gets, there is no denying that these four artists fit very well together. I love the idea of being able to see the painted style each artist has, and the drawings, especially in the way each artist presents the drawings. With Stella Im Hultberg and Audrey Kawasaki’s drawings, you see only clean, well-planned linework. Each one also adding colored pencil, and in the case of Audrey laser cut sections of the paper. Amy Sol and Mari Inukai have a looser style of drawing, as you are able to see lines that were made while the artist worked out the forms. To me, this style of drawing has a very energetic feel and in a way is as intimate as a signature can be. The show will be up until October 29th.
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“Uncle Six Eyes” sculpture by Travis Louie
About 2 years at the San Diego Comic Con, a sculpture by Bigshot Toyworks was presented, “Uncle Six Eyes” by Travis Louie. The sculpture was a full figure, identical to what was created in the original painting. Now Shinbone Creative (formerly Bigshot) has just released the “Uncle Six Eyes” resin sculpture, although now it is a bust. Measuring at 10″ x 7.5″ x 7″, this resin sculpture is limited to 150 pieces at $120 each. I like the idea that they changed it into a bust, and the color really makes this looks as though it has a nice aged patina to it.
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Prints: “Love Bite” by Laurie Lipton
The Loyal Subjects have just released a new limited edition print by graphite virtuoso Laurie Lipton. The print is made from “Love Bite”, an image that features a mother biting the head of a infant, and as stated on the page “is evocative of Grimm’s fairy tales where the children are eaten by the witch, or Goya’s “Saturn Eating His Children”. The print is 24″ x 34″ on archival cotton rag paper, signed and numbered in an edition of 213. This is a very large print, one that is sure to help show off those drawing skills.
