On October 9th, the Distinction Art Gallery in Escondido, CA opened the latest solo show of Scott Rohlfs. Entitled “Under the Influence”, the show features more than twenty new paintings by the Portland based artist. Scott primarily uses acrylic on canvas, and is able to get a highly rendered skin ton out of the paints. The faces themselves look a bit like some of the rendered faces of Sas Christian, but i’m sure any type of highly rendered face that isn’t picture perfect would do this. In a few of the works the proportions look a bit odd, necks being too small, or legs looking as if they don’t quite connect well. I would love to see the paintings in person and see if this is the same. I really love what Scott does with the backgrounds in each of these paintings. Head on over and take a look at the full show.
Category: reviews
of shows, art & collectibles
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Kevin Llewellyn’s “The Unsaid” @ Wonderland Gallery
This past September 2nd at the Wonderland Gallery (started by Kat Von D) Kevin Llewellyn had his latest, long awaited solo exhibition entitled “The Unsaid”. Kevin has an amazing style, and I would often visit his website in hopes that something new would pop up. This new show features 20+ works, a few of them are older pieces, but each one of them is outstanding. This is really one of those shows that I wish I was able to see in person. It’s been almost a month now, and aside from the random photos that have shown up on Flickr, or Twitter, the show has now been put up on the galleries website. The baroque style frames he uses look perfect, and quite a few times the dominant color in the painting finds it way onto the frame itself.
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Mike Shine “Flotsam’s Wonder World” @ 941 Geary
This past weekend, Mike Shine’s highly anticipated solo show “Flotsam’s Wonder World” opened at the new 941 Geary gallery in San Francisco. The reception opened at 7pm, and for whatever reason I decided to take my time getting there and successfully missed the live music and performance that was put on. By the time missus creep and myself made it to the gallery, around 8:30pm, the gallery was already packed. I should have known better and made sure we got there quicker.
The gallery space is very large, so I was curious as to how the artist would use the space. I did hear a bit of how there would be some big installation pieces in the show, but I had no idea it would be like this. What Shine did was actually create another world that opened up once you walked in the gallery. A carnival full of color, nostalgia, and mythology was there before your eyes. It was a lot to take in, with the amount of people there along with the staggering amount of artwork to be seen.
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Review: Get the Lead Out II @ Swoon Gallery
This past August 28th, the Swoon Gallery opened the Get the Lead out II group show. Apricot Mantle was able to head to the show for us, snap some photos and give the Creep Machine another review.
A whirlwind of creativity exploding with graphite onto paper. Get the Lead Out II was a one night only pop-up show at Ronin Gallery featuring artist sketches, pen & ink drawings, watercolors and finished paintings presented by Swoon Gallery. This show was fast, furious, fun and full of precious small to medium artworks to be enjoyed only for one night. It was one of those magical rare shows that gave the viewers a chance to see some rare drawings and sketches coming from some of their favorite painters while also showcasing some artists who use graphite as their primary medium.
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Christopher Ulrich “Illuminator: The Royal Wedding” @ La Luz de Jesus
Just this past Friday, August 6th at the La Luz de Jesus Gallery, an amazing show featuring new works by Christoper Ulrich opened up. Entitled “Illuminator: The Royal Wedding”, this solo exhibition, “Each piece in the series is designed to be its own portable temple marked and charged by the number 8”. The show features 16 paintings, 16 illustrated studies, 1 additional drawing, hidden notes, and 16 print editions. The prints are of the original 16 illustrated works and are each limited to a series of 12. Not only are the drawings expertly rendered showing Ulrich’s skills with graphite, but the oil paintings are even more impressive. Every inch of these works is filled with beautiful contrast, intense colors, and a perfect blend of inspiration from contemporary and classical works. I also liked the fact that each painting has its own custom made frame. Ornate frames chosen to fit with the paintings are great, but when the frame is designed specifically for the work or series of works, its just one more detail an artist can add to a show to really make a difference. It would be great to see these works in person, but for many the web will have to do. Make sure you check out the site, read the intro and digest every painting in this show.
Christopher Ulrich “Illuminator: The Royal Wedding” @ La Luz de Jesus
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Review: New Breed II @ Last Rites Gallery
The Creep Machine is happy to announce a new guest writer, China Blue. Living in New York, China has the ability to check out some of the amazing exhibitions that open up there, and give the readers of this site a proper full-fledged review. Here we go:
Saturday, August 10th didn’t officially begin until nightfall when I arrived at the Last Rites Gallery’s opening for “New Breed IIâ€, a group show including artists Patrick Deignan, Mark Elliot, Steve Ellis, John Cebollero, Angie Mason, Natalie Shau, Celeste Rapone, Jasmine Worth and Leslie Ditto. I had been absent from the New York art scene for two years while traveling, and I was more than excited to be coming back to one of my favorite galleries. Last Rites never skimps on ambiance – not from the dripping candles, the blood-red curtains or the all-black attire of the hosts. Stepping out of the elevator on the third floor, I always feel as though I have crossed the threshold into another, more sinister world. The title “NewBreed II†denotes that many of the artists had never before shown at Last Rites and all were encouraged to explore a darker side of themselves and produce work with a more morbid or grotesque spin.
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Review: Van Arno and Chris Pugliese @ Shooting Gallery
On July 10th, the Shooting Gallery in San Francisco opened a duo show with new works from Van Arno and Chris Pugliese. I was finally able to make my way into the city to see the work in person, and I’m very glad I did. The show opened July 10th and will close August 7th. I have been a fan of Van Arno since the first time I saw his work at the Shooting Gallery. He has an amazing, energetic way of painting the figure, and his color palette and stylized body types make his work very unique. I was also very surprised with Chris Pugliese’s paintings. I had seen his work online, but I think it is really important to see art in person as so much is lost when it is presented on the web. Click the jump link for the rest of the review, or just look at the photos from the show at the Creep Machine Flickr.
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Review: Crazy 4 Cult 4 by Apricot Mantle
The Creep Machine was lucky to get one of the participants of the Crazy 4 Cult 4 show, Apricot Mantle, to not only take some photos of the event for us, but write a review as well. Hit the link to see the rest of the photos and the review. Hopefully we can talk Apricot into doing this more often.
