REVOLUTIONS – SHEPARD FAIREY

Posted on 2011-03-07

Revolutions, a project featuring the Album Cover Art of Shepard Fairey, will consist of over 80 pieces of Punk, Rock, New Wave, Jazz, and Hip-Hop inspired artwork based on the 12″ record cover format.

“Long before I knew about art galleries or even street art, I was excited about album cover art, if only because it was the visual counterpart to the music on the records. Album covers conjured a euphoric association with the listening experience. Most of my earliest home-made tee shirts were stencils based on punk album covers. I’ve had some very moving encounters with art in my life, especially in the street, but nothing can compare with the first time I heard the boots marching and first chord of the Sex Pistols’ “Holidays in the Sun,” or the air raid sirens leading into “too black, too strong” on Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, or the opening guitar scream of Black Flag’s “Rise Above”.That music makes my arm hairs stand up. Music is visceral and accessible, but also has the additional powerful layers of the lyrics with their content and politics, the style and personalities of the musicians, and the politics of their lifestyles. No matter how much I love art, or try to convince myself of its relevance in society, the fact remains that music is a lot cooler and way more able to reach people’s hearts and minds… but I’m a populist and I look at this way: I may not play an instrument, but I’m gonna rock it hard as nails anyway.Revolutions is a celebration of all the great music and accompanying art that has inspired me over the years.”
– Shepard

Exhibition runs from March 12th to April 23th, 2011

Robert Berman Gallery
At Bergamot Station Arts Center
2525 Michigan Avenue
Santa Monica
California
90404

www.robertbermangallery.com

  

ELLEN PHELAN – LANDSCAPES AND STILL LIFES

Posted on 2011-03-07

Ellen Phelan’s recent landscapes and still-life paintings completed between 1997 and 2010 flicker in and out of focus between realism’s sharp relief and abstraction’s gestural mark, between observations made from life and references to the photographic image.

In Woods (Westport), the earliest of the paintings on display, the suggestion of an entire forest is expressed through minimal brushwork, revealing her lineage in abstraction. As Phelan moves between mediums, she explores the formal and psychological implications attainable with each. The watercolor, gouache and pastel on paper Peonies and Quail on Mantel obscures the subject then pulls it back into clarity. For the oil on linen version, she allows the forms to be fully realized as representations of a domestic still life.

Opposite – Balsam, 2006

Exhibition runs through to March 19th, 2011

Gasser Grunert
524 West 19th Street
New York
NY
10011

www.gassergrunert.net

  

WOOZY – I DON’T CARE ABOUT MY FACE

Posted on 2011-02-28

‘I Don’t Care About My Face’ is the first UK solo show by Woozy. The exhibition will showcase his most recent paintings and works on paper. Woozy is renowned for his street art which has graced urban landscapes all over the world. Woozy’s latest work, retains his signuture bright colourful forms, and experiments with texture, style and techniques.

Exhibition runs from March 18th to April 9th, 2011

The Outsiders
8 Greek Street
London
W1D

www.theoutsiders.net

  

JAMES JEAN – REBUS

Posted on 2011-02-28

Rebus, the new exhibition by Los Angeles based artist James Jean. For this new body of work, Jean will present paintings, drawings and a wall installation.
The subject matter is a fictionalized subconscious representation of deities in an apocalyptic decaying romanticized setting. Jean’s visual symbolism is composed of an amalgamation of lyrically gestural, expressionistic, energetic, abstracted forms from highly detailed images to freely inscribed graffiti. The solidity of the paint belies the illusory nature of the narrative: these excavations into the subconscious are fraught with the misfires, inconsistencies, and contradictions of a dream.” James Jean

Jean’s automatistic and narrative approach is informed by popular culture derived from his comic book and illustrative mastery. His idiosyncratic language is based on references in historical and contemporary art.

Opposite – Akaname. Acrylic & Oil on Custom Wood Panels, 2011

Exhibition runs from March 12th to April 30th, 2011

Martha Otero Gallery
820 North Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles
CA
90046

marthaotero.com

  

DAVE WHITE – AMERICANA

Posted on 2011-02-28

Exploring iconic imagery of the Western Frontier, this exhibition highlights Dave White’s ability to capture dynamic scenes with his distinctive impasto style, while presenting a pioneering approach to documenting the legacy of this era.
The golden age of the Western movie era is encapsulated in Dave White’s series of Technicolour oil paintings. High energy scenes, dramatic tension and sweeping Western backdrops could be said to be White’s innovative interpretation of the classic film still. The cultural inspiration of this period is evident in the apocalyptic themes of battles and stand offs. The turbulence and explosive movements are animated and presented through chaotic brushstrokes and the continuous energy of an artist dedicated to his own battle with the canvas.

Exhibition runs from the 11th to the 30th of April.

The Coningsby Gallery
30 Tottenham Street
London
W1T 4RJ

www.coningsbygallery.com

  

SCOTT CAMPBELL – NOBLESSE OBLIGE

Posted on 2011-02-21

New York based artist Scott Campbell expands his use of cut currency, sourcing uncut sheets of dollars directly from the United States Mint, to create large, intricate work with a sunken relief effect. One piece uses $5,000 worth of currency sheets to create an over two-foot cube, into which a three dimensional skull is carved-out. These works employ the familiar blue-collar vernacular of tattoo flash-boards – a skull smoking a cigarette, a skeleton’s hand in a provocative gesture, a single eye emitting a penetrating ray – and highlight the irony that exists within that imagery.

Noblesse Oblige also includes a suite of prints. Using a tattoo gun, Campbell has engraved a collection of copper plates to make a group of etchings. By using the same plates to compose the separate prints, the artist plays with visual semantics – how meaning changes through arrangement. A series of drawings, executed onto the interior of ostrich eggshells, also flirt with interpretation. Morbid images, rendered in graphite onto these fragile surfaces that represent birth and transformation, point out the delicacy of opposition.

The title Noblesse Oblige implies that whoever claims to be noble must conduct their life accordingly, and in a manner that conforms to one’s position.

Opposite – Studio View, 2011

Exhibition runs from March 19th to April 22nd, 2011

OHWOW Los Angeles 
937 N. La Cienega
Los Angeles
CA
9006

oh-wow.com