On Saturday, November 12, the Copro Gallery opened a group show sure to make any art fan gaze endlessly at the screen, or in person if your lucky enough. Dark Water is a group show curated by Martin Wittfooth and features the work of: Aron Wiesenfeld, Billy Norrby, Andrew Hem, Adam Miller, Charlie Immer, Alyssa Monks, Steven Assael, Christian Van Minnen, Jenny Morgan, Caitlin Hackett, Brad Kunkle, Dave Cooper, Elizabeth Winnel, Jean-Pierre Roy, Keniche Hoshine, Jean Labourdette (Turf One), Matt Rota, Jason Yarmosky, Nicola Verlato, Phil Hale, John Brophy, Eric White, Josh Keyes, Jeremy Lipking, and even Martin Wittfooth. The thing that makes this show so amazing, besides the outstanding work from each artist, is the idea that this show is really a collection of some of the mot talented, exciting artists creating art today. This show has the ability to give fans of Josh Keyes, Martin Wittfooth, or Jeremy Lipking, an introduction to some other artists that might not have been on their radar. It’s also one of those exhibitions that every work is breathtaking and has the ability to steal the show. Below are more than a few examples of favorites from the show, the rest are over at the galleries homepage.
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The Art of Jose Luis Carranza
Jose Luis Carranza is an artist working out of Peru. He attended the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes del Peru, a school which is known for sticking to the more classical side of art training. Along with this technical training, he has also spent years studying the work of Peter Paul Rubens and Francisco Goya. In 2009 the French embassy in Peru held the National Passport Contest, and after having won this contest, Jose studied in France and was able to further dissect the work of European Masters. Of course like all good artists Jose is not just looking at the past, modern artists such as Dan Schutz and Neo Rauch are also great inspirations for his work — most recognizable in the way the Jose applies the paint. His work talks about the idea of religion and politics and the state they are in, and the belief that we are born into a world of violence. The paintings have a foreboding quality to them, and even though their may be multiple characters in one piece, there is this sense of isolation to them.
The most striking thing to me about Jose’s work, is the style in which he paints as well as the eyes and visage of the characters. These figures are meant to be everyman, and the choppy style of paintings the faces is meant to symbolize that the figures are not fully formed yet. While the paintings already have this unnerving feel about them, the eyes drive this feeling to the very core of the viewer. The gaze is piercing, and in a way looks as though the figures in some of these works are scrutinizing the viewers as opposed to the other way around. Take a look at the preview images below, and then make sure to head over to Jose’s website to see more and keep up with new work and events.
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Megz Majewski, Jasmine Worth, Jason Hernandez, and Young Chun @ Cave Gallery
Opening, tonight, Friday November 11th, is a 4 person show featuring work by Megz Majewski, Jasmine Worth, Jason Hernandez, and Young Chun at the Cave Gallery. while the show does not have a set theme, looking at the work there is a “dark surreal” tone to it, and the four artists fit well with each other. I am always happy to see new work by Jason Hernandez, and love the fact that he is showing ink and painted works. This is the first time I have seen the work of Young Chun, and while I would like to see a bit more variety in the layout of the works, I do like the way the artist handles the paint. I am also open to the idea that this is a series of works which rely on the similar layout of each piece, so I am going to keep my eye on this artist to see what comes next. The show runs until December 3rd, so if your in the area make sure to stop by.
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Preview: “Curious Pets” x Travis Louie @ Merry Karnoswky Gallery
Opening Saturday, November 12th at the Merry Karnoswky Gallery in Los Angeles is the latest solo show from Travis Louie entitled “Curious Pets”. These new works focus on not only the characters in the paintings, but their unusual pets as well. As always each painting comes with a story, and you can see a few of these over at Travis’ blog such as the hilarious story of Oscar and the Truth Toad(Ted) (shown first). We have seen Travis paint animal-influenced portraits before, but the idea of people and their pets is a new direction. Just by looking at the few preview images he posted on his blog, this show is going to be something you don’t want to miss.
Check out Travis’ blog here: Travis Louie Blog
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New Print Sale by Leslie Ditto
Leslie Ditto is currently having a print sale over on her Facebook fan page. There is 8, 8″ x 10″ prints up for grabs at only $10 a piece or 3 for $25. The shipping for the prints is only $3 regardless of how many you end up getting. The sale will only last till the end of this week, Sunday November 13th, so make sure you head on over. Below is a few examples; Big Lebowski, Princess Bride, Alice in Wonderland and more.
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Review: “Spirit Board” Group Show @ Articulated Gallery
On November 5th the Articulated Gallery in San Francisco opened the Spirit Board group show, curated by JL Schnabel. The show features a wide variety of artists all taking inspiration from the Ouija Board. Back in 20o8 Copro Gallery hosted Chet Zar’s “Taking Board” show and like many shows in Southern California, I wasn’t able to see the show in person. However, I do feel that the Ouija Board itself merits a few shows dedicated to it, so I was very happy to hear that Articulated would be hosting this show. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make the reception night; I heard that many artists were in attendance and it was quite a night. I did stop by he next day so I could see the show, and took some photos and made another video walkthrough.
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Dave MacDowell & Augie Pagan @ Flatcolor Gallery
On November 3rd, Flatcolor Gallery in Seattle opened a duo show entitled MacDowell & Pagan’s Lowbrow Candy Store with new works by Dave MacDowell and Augie Pagan. This show is exactly as it’s titled, a caricature laden, pop-culture jabbing, color-filled lowbrow art fest by two brilliant artists. Dave brings more of his mash-up style paintings, with a new “Lebowski” themed piece, as well as another amazing Jack Nicholson portrait. Augie Pagan’s work focuses on individual characters, or a few at most. His colors aren’t as candy-themed as Dave’s work is, but it fits the content perfectly, and his style of caricature is very impressive. Just look at the Machete portrait seen below. The show will be on view until November 27th.
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Interview: Paul Komoda – The Thing Comes to Life
Over the past year, artist Paul Komoda has been dropping hints of his involvement in a new movie. Turns out that movie is The Thing, a prequel to the famous Carpenter film that gave me nightmares for the majority of my childhood. Since its recent release, Paul has finally been able to show to the world the creature creation drawings he did for it as well as some of the sculptures he and the crew worked on.
Paul is most definitely one of my favorite artists today. His imagination for monsters is hard to describe – they are beautiful creatures, either benign or horrific, that move on the pages on which they were drawn. It goes without saying that I was excited to find out what The Thing looked like before it hit the big screen where much of Paul’s designs had been animated into CG. This is really a perfect platform for Paul’s imagination. I excitedly contacted the artist to find out what goodies he had to offer to the blogosphere.
Samantha Levin: How did this come about?
Paul Komoda: I was called by my friend, the renown creature designer, Jordu Schell (now seen on the Travel Channel show “Making Monsters“) when the studio [Amalgamated Dynamics Inc., founded by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff] was bidding on the job. He was called in as a creature designer and recommended me to Alec Gillis, who consequently called me about coming up with a few drawings to help create a presentation. Alec and Tom really responded to the work in my sketchbook, and really wanted me to incorporate the organic translucency I imbue my drawings with, into the concept art for the various shape-shifting apparitions. The way it goes is that a film will be announced as going into production, and several special effects studios will vie for the job, presenting sculptures and/or illustrations relating to the project in question. I was in New Jersey visiting my family at the time, with a only a few days until the New Year, so I wound up staying up late nights in the same basement I used to work in when I lived there, kicking out designs. A week after I’d returned to LA, I got a call from Alec at ADI, telling me that we had the film. I spent the first few weeks at the studio, doing drawings, and small concept sculptures. Eventually I moved on to sculpt some of the full-scale creatures. It was an amazing time!
SL: I’m sure! It seems to have given you a chance to express yourself quite freely for this, at least during the initial concept phase.PK: I suppose I should say that outside of my personal work, I’m mostly known for being a commercial sculptor, which for better or worse, is more of a technical thing, if anything. When I was brought on to the film, it was really an opportunity to just do what I do best, which is the more visceral body-horror themed work, and the creatures, the biological/ zoological side of things.
SL: What are you working on now?
PK: I’m currently doing sculpture and design for Sideshow Collectibles, as well as continuing with my own artwork, the sculptural aspect being made available through Artist Proof Studio. Also, I’m preparing to do some body-paint designs for a new Android Lust video directed by Dan Ouellette. Plans are afoot to collaborate with Mother of London on some clothing incorporating my imagery. Lastly, I’m working on getting my sketchbook into a published form, before it becomes the longest running joke of my life [Paul and supporters have made numerous attempts to get his sketchbook published over the past 10 plus years -ed].
The team of artists who worked with Paul on the monster included ADI founders Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff as well as Jordu Schell, Miyo Nakamura, Casey Love, Mikey Rotella and a small army of people working on props and other creatures. Paul told me that very little of the work they did shows up in the movie although, “on the brighter side, a few of my designs survived intact.” No matter; it’s the artwork we want to see on this blog. I’m agape from all the upcoming projects Paul has listed – some of my favorite artists are listed in that last paragraph. Can’t wait to hear more!
By the way, Jordu Schell posts a daily “Monster of the Day” on his blog. It’s pretty cool and kinda silly. Go check it out.
