Pour Me Some Smoke
Dates:
Thu Nov 06, 2008 00:00 - Thu Oct 30, 2008
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art Presents
‘Pour Me Some Smoke’
Charming Baker, Case, Guy Denning, Ian Strawn, TRXTR
1257 N. La Brea Avenue
West Hollywood CA, 90038
Opening reception: November 6th, 2008 / 7:00PM - 10:00PM
Exhibition Dates: November 6th - November 30th, 2008
Please RSVP to rsvp@carmichaelgallery.com
(West Hollywood, CA) Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art presents one of their most important exhibits to date: Pour Me Some Smoke, a group exhibition featuring the works of Charming Baker (UK), Case (Germany), Guy Denning (UK), Ian Strawn (USA), and TRXTR (UK). Artwork on display will include oil on canvas, linen, paper and wood, hand-touched and layered digital collage, and acrylic on birch panel. Artists featured in this show represent some of the strongest voices in contemporary figurative artwork and have surpassed the delineations of lowbrow or urban into a new fine art movement.
The Artists
Charming Baker
Charming Baker paints beautifully in oil; his pictures are deftly decanted concoctions of familiarity and unease. “I like it when something is not quite right. I like to take people along a path which leads to a place they don’t expect to be. They might discover a personal or political subtext…they might simply enjoy the view. The effect I’m aiming for in my work is that slightly unnerving feeling you get when you have your arse patted in public - but you’re not exactly sure who’s patting it”. His influences include: cheap books, heroes, Zulus, odd-looking women, suburbia, tea and the smell of cheap perfume.
Case
Case is one quarter of the sensationally talented German crew Ma’Claim. His photorealistic graffiti and fine art has set new standards and gained a following throughout the world. He painted his first piece when he was sixteen and "liked the blood I tasted while painting it. After that things came one after the other." Case has been featured in numerous leading publications and has exhibited his work internationally alongside fellow Ma’Claim members Akut, Tasso and Rusk.
Guy Denning
Hailing from Bristol, and now residing in France, Guy Denning has taken the urban art world by storm with his beautiful, often haunting works. His androgynous figures, with their strange and often ethereal beauty, form a statement about the modern obsession with the fantasy of youth, beauty and cosmetic surgery as a surreal substitute for real life. Denning is often viewed as an enigma. Sexual and temporal politics, objectification, and isolation are themes which are widely explored in his work, illuminated through the carefully honed juxtaposition of shape and shade to create a mood as well as a theme. The paintings blend the smoothness of classical form with harsh yet truthful statements about contemporary issues that plague Western Society.
Ian Strawn
Born in San Bernardino, CA to parents who are both artists, Strawn pursued a nomadic life across the US and New Zealand, which fed his fascination with the people around him. Strawn’s paintings combine a deadpan photo-realistic sense with a graphic approach, offering an arresting visual analysis of the cross-section of humanity one encounters in the streets. His work has been shown in galleries in LA, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, New York and London.
TRXTR
After studying fine art, printmaking and sculpture with a focus on anti-war and anti-art art, TRXTR spent his time producing biodegradable natural sculptures in hidden landscapes across the UK and USA. Chemical based photographs were the only evidence of this work. This involvement with photography led him into alternative filmmaking with the Bristol Filmmakers Co-operative. During his three years of composing music for films with this organization, TRXTR became increasingly interested in the freedom and creative flexibility of digital imaging. His artwork displays a distinctive style that fuses layer upon layer of digital collage with hand-finished effects on archival canvas.
OPENING RECEPTION of Raw Skies - Featuring: Gaia, Imminent Disaster, Jana Joana, Kay2, Labrona, Produkt, & Vitché
Dates:
Sat Oct 04, 2008 00:00 - Sat Sep 27, 2008
Carmichael Gallery Presents:
Raw Skies
Gaia (USA), Imminent Disaster (USA), Jana Joana (Brazil), Kay2 (South Korea), Labrona (Canada), Produkt (Canada), Vitché (Brazil)
Exhibition Dates: October 4th - October 26th, 2008
Opening Reception: October 4th, 2008, 8PM - Midnight
1257 N. La Brea Ave.
West Hollywood, CA 90038
(West Hollywood, CA) Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art is proud to present Raw Skies, a group show featuring seven vibrant and diverse artists from the US, Canada, Brazil, and South Korea. Gaia, Imminent Disaster, Jana Joana, Kay2, Labrona, Produkt, and Vitché, each of whom is gaining international recognition for their innovative and inspiring urban artistry, have used a wide variety of media to contribute exciting new bodies of work to this exhibition. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, October 4th, 2008, from 8pm - Midnight. The exhibition will be open for viewing through Sunday, October 26th, 2008.
About the Artists
Gaia
Gaia is a young street artist from NYC who is currently based in Charm City, Baltimore. In less than a year, he has established a strong presence on the streets of both these cities. His subject matter combines personal experience with the expression of the emotional relationship between animals and humanity. Gaia most recently participated in Poets of the Paste at Ad Hoc Art Gallery in Brooklyn.
Imminent Disaster
Imminent Disaster is an emerging Brooklyn-based artist who wheatpastes wood, linoleum and silkscreened prints. Disaster is inspired by the street as an environment: a place with people, structures and history that are constantly being destroyed and rebuilt. Combining carefully researched fact and legend, she creates figurative images and historically inspired broadsides that are glimpses of a world that has fallen through the cracks of time. Disaster has participated in the Miss Rockaway Armada with Swoon and Wooster on Spring, amongst other group and featured exhibitions.
Jana Joana
Jana Joana adorns the streets of Sao Paulo with beautifully executed black and white murals, interpreting the thoughts, emotions, and experiences of women with a fluid technique that hints of art nouveau and a finely tuned social conscience. When she is not exhibiting her work in galleries across Europe, Cuba, the US, and Brazil, she and husband Vitché are traveling the world, sharing their distinctive artistic perspective with an enchanted public.
Kay2
Kay2 was born in Busan, South Korea. His interest in graffiti began while he was attending art school at Dong-A University. He has participated in a number of exhibitions and festivals around South Korea and was recently featured on Wooster Collective. This is his first exhibition in the US. With a unique talent for capturing human emotion in his stimulating portraits, Kay2 is poised to become a significant figure in the international street art scene in years to come.
Labrona
Canadian artist Labrona is best known for his extraordinary paintings on freight trains that roll all over the US and Canada. “I send my thoughts and emotions on to the railways for people to see,” he says. “A train yard is like a forever-changing outdoor art gallery.” Drawing inspiration from 80s skate culture, rundown industrial areas, and German Expressionism, Labrona’s enthralling visual narratives stem from his fascination with and desire to convey raw human feeling. He has participated in group and solo exhibitions across the US, Canada, and Europe, and was most recently featured in CORKED, curated by Urban Angel at the Cork Street Gallery, London.
Produkt
Produkt is a painter and street artist from Montreal, Canada. He paints from dreams, nightmares and vague memories. He likes disrupting public spaces with posters and hand painted freaks, painting on freight trains, canvases and interesting pieces of garbage and old book covers. He recently became involved in making meticulous pencil-rendered animated music videos for various musicians, which opened up a lot of doors in his mind. He is presently writing this bio, and finds it definitely awkward trying to think of interesting things to say about himself. Also he finds it strange referring to himself in the third person. He is not married, has never published a detective novel (nor has he any intention to), and once owned a goldfish but it died.
Vitché
Vitché is a painter, sculptor and graffiti artist from São Paulo, Brazil. Having grown up scribing the city streets, he has developed a diverse style unlike any other. His distinctiveness is perhaps most evident in his subject matter; shying away from the hip-hop aesthetic so prevalent in graffiti, he is strongly influenced by the cultures of Polynesia, the Aztecs, and the Brazilian Indians, as well as the potent, playful symbolism of the circus. He has taken part in group and solo exhibitions at galleries in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America, including Upper Playground, Jonathan Levine Gallery, and Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art.
About Carmichael Gallery
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art exhibits international, emerging artists, with an emphasis on underground, pop, outsider, lowbrow, street art and graffiti inspired work. In August 2007, co-curators Seth and Elisa Carmichael opened Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art as an exhibition space for presenting emerging art from around the world. Carmichael Gallery is located at 1257 N. La Brea Avenue, on the SW corner of La Brea and Fountain, West Hollywood, CA 90038. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., and by appointment. For more information, please visit our website www.carmichaelgallery.com, email art@carmichaelgallery.com, or call 323.969.0600.
You've Been Wasting Your Time
Dates:
Sat Aug 16, 2008 00:00 - Thu Aug 14, 2008
Location:
United States of America
[b]Carmichael Gallery Presents
[i]
[size=20]You've Been Wasting Your Time[/i][/size]
[img]http://www.carmichaelgallery.com/images/august162008.jpg[/img]
Featuring New Works by Flip (Brazil), Hush (UK), Other (Canada)
Opening Reception: August 16th, 2008, 8PM - Midnight
1257 N. La Brea Ave.
West Hollywood, CA 90038
Exhibition Dates: August 16 - September 14, 2008[/b]
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art is proud to present You've Been Wasting Your Time, a group show featuring Flip, Hush, and Other, three emerging young street artists from Brazil, the UK, and Canada, respectively. Employing expansive color palettes and innovative techniques, the trio collides to contribute an eclectic range of paintings, drawings, screen prints, works on wood, and mixed media collages inspired by their diverse cultural backgrounds. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, August 16th, 2008, from 8pm - Midnight. The exhibition will be open for viewing through Sunday, September 14th, 2008.
The depth and command of the artwork of Flip, Hush, and Other both challenges and seduces the viewer. Fascinated by the portrayal of the female form in art, Hush builds up and tears down layers of paint and images as he works, "letting the canvas and marks take their own path." His stylistic fusion of the East and West is enriched by his interpretation of the inherent power play in graffiti and street art. Flip, too, draws inspiration from Asia in his new body of work. Observing the relationship between human beings and nature, he plants a tranquility of communion beneath his passionate explosion of Japanese brushstrokes. A similar dichotomy prevails in the work of Other, who both provokes and calms in pieces that were composed within rattling train carriages and buzzing coffee shops. The ideas and characters he coaxes out of hiding "come from blotches of paint and wet drips on paper...sort of like ink blots in psychology."
[b]About The Artists[/b]
[img]http://www.carmichaelgallery.com/images/august162008flipthumb.jpg[/img]
FLIP - BRAZIL
Felipe "Flip" Yung is hailed by many as one of the most talented Brazilian artists of his generation, having painted and exhibited his work throughout the streets and galleries of Brazil, Europe, and the US for over a decade. Away from the wall and canvas, he has also lent his distinctive style to the world of designer plush and vinyl toys.
[img]http://www.carmichaelgallery.com/images/august162008hushthumb.jpg[/img]
HUSH - UK
The work of Hush has been described as a sensory assault of shape, color, and character. With his singular blend of anime, pop-infused imagery, graffiti, and graphic design, the Englishman who worked as a graphic designer and illustrator in Hong Kong for a number of years attacks contemporary culture and established societal norms with an overwhelming proficiency and superb dry wit.
[img]http://www.carmichaelgallery.com/images/august162008otherthumb.jpg[/img]
OTHER - CANADA
Even though the artist himself does not always accompany it, the artwork of Canadian painter Other travels by train through North America at all hours of the day. When not at work in his studio or exploring the world, the restless Other, who possesses "a nasty habit of scribbling on things that aren't mine", wanders into deserted train yards where he renders highly-skilled etchings of mournful men and beautiful creatures onto the sides of freight trains, then stands back as his canvas awakens and disappears into the darkness.
[b]
About Carmichael Gallery[/b]
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art exhibits international, emerging artists, with an emphasis on underground, pop, outsider, lowbrow, street art and graffiti inspired work. In August 2007, co-curators Seth and Elisa Carmichael opened Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art as an exhibition space for presenting emerging art from around the world. Carmichael Gallery is located at 1257 N. La Brea Avenue, on the SW corner of La Brea and Fountain, West Hollywood, CA 90038. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., and by appointment. For more information, please visit our website www.carmichaelgallery.com, email art@carmichaelgallery.com, or call 323.969.0600.
[i]
[size=20]You've Been Wasting Your Time[/i][/size]
[img]http://www.carmichaelgallery.com/images/august162008.jpg[/img]
Featuring New Works by Flip (Brazil), Hush (UK), Other (Canada)
Opening Reception: August 16th, 2008, 8PM - Midnight
1257 N. La Brea Ave.
West Hollywood, CA 90038
Exhibition Dates: August 16 - September 14, 2008[/b]
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art is proud to present You've Been Wasting Your Time, a group show featuring Flip, Hush, and Other, three emerging young street artists from Brazil, the UK, and Canada, respectively. Employing expansive color palettes and innovative techniques, the trio collides to contribute an eclectic range of paintings, drawings, screen prints, works on wood, and mixed media collages inspired by their diverse cultural backgrounds. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, August 16th, 2008, from 8pm - Midnight. The exhibition will be open for viewing through Sunday, September 14th, 2008.
The depth and command of the artwork of Flip, Hush, and Other both challenges and seduces the viewer. Fascinated by the portrayal of the female form in art, Hush builds up and tears down layers of paint and images as he works, "letting the canvas and marks take their own path." His stylistic fusion of the East and West is enriched by his interpretation of the inherent power play in graffiti and street art. Flip, too, draws inspiration from Asia in his new body of work. Observing the relationship between human beings and nature, he plants a tranquility of communion beneath his passionate explosion of Japanese brushstrokes. A similar dichotomy prevails in the work of Other, who both provokes and calms in pieces that were composed within rattling train carriages and buzzing coffee shops. The ideas and characters he coaxes out of hiding "come from blotches of paint and wet drips on paper...sort of like ink blots in psychology."
[b]About The Artists[/b]
[img]http://www.carmichaelgallery.com/images/august162008flipthumb.jpg[/img]
FLIP - BRAZIL
Felipe "Flip" Yung is hailed by many as one of the most talented Brazilian artists of his generation, having painted and exhibited his work throughout the streets and galleries of Brazil, Europe, and the US for over a decade. Away from the wall and canvas, he has also lent his distinctive style to the world of designer plush and vinyl toys.
[img]http://www.carmichaelgallery.com/images/august162008hushthumb.jpg[/img]
HUSH - UK
The work of Hush has been described as a sensory assault of shape, color, and character. With his singular blend of anime, pop-infused imagery, graffiti, and graphic design, the Englishman who worked as a graphic designer and illustrator in Hong Kong for a number of years attacks contemporary culture and established societal norms with an overwhelming proficiency and superb dry wit.
[img]http://www.carmichaelgallery.com/images/august162008otherthumb.jpg[/img]
OTHER - CANADA
Even though the artist himself does not always accompany it, the artwork of Canadian painter Other travels by train through North America at all hours of the day. When not at work in his studio or exploring the world, the restless Other, who possesses "a nasty habit of scribbling on things that aren't mine", wanders into deserted train yards where he renders highly-skilled etchings of mournful men and beautiful creatures onto the sides of freight trains, then stands back as his canvas awakens and disappears into the darkness.
[b]
About Carmichael Gallery[/b]
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art exhibits international, emerging artists, with an emphasis on underground, pop, outsider, lowbrow, street art and graffiti inspired work. In August 2007, co-curators Seth and Elisa Carmichael opened Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art as an exhibition space for presenting emerging art from around the world. Carmichael Gallery is located at 1257 N. La Brea Avenue, on the SW corner of La Brea and Fountain, West Hollywood, CA 90038. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., and by appointment. For more information, please visit our website www.carmichaelgallery.com, email art@carmichaelgallery.com, or call 323.969.0600.
Malicious Descent
Dates:
Sat Jul 12, 2008 00:00 - Sun Jul 06, 2008
Carmichael Gallery Presents
MALICIOUS DESCENT
Exhibition Dates: July 12 - July 27, 2008
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 12, 2008, 8PM - Midnight
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce MALICIOUS DESCENT, a five man group show featuring new artwork by young American artists Blinky, Downtimer, Dan Fleres, Josh Taylor, and Zoso. The showcase of pop-surrealist, lowbrow, and graffiti-inspired pieces encompasses a wide range of media, including acrylic, spray paint, oils, ink, collage, and sculpture. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, July 12 from 8PM - Midnight.
Los Angeles artist Blinky's confident hand infuses what are often dark, dangerous scenes with vibrant colors and a wry sense of humor. Drawing inspiration from pop culture and his infinite imagination, Blinky's works of acrylic, ink, and spray paint on wood and canvas both startle and engage as his trademark girls, cats, and monkeys play with and defend themselves from evil squid, giant milkshakes, and the heroes and villains of comic books, cult films, and cartoons.
The juxtaposition and frequent battle between the natural and man-made worlds provides Downtimer with the opportunity to explore the ways in which these opposing forces interact, attack, and even complement each other. With a focus on depth, flow, and perspective, Downtimer's new works range from abstract graffiti to figurative and three-dimensional pieces. Although his technique often varies, the interplay of natural patterns remains at the core of his art. "These patterns are complex, yet totally sporadic and free," he says, "Perfect yet completely imperfect. I call them 'planned imperfections'."
Life and all of its complexities is the source of artistic inspiration for Dan Fleres and what pushes him to take his work to new levels. Through his experimentations with acrylic, paper, and mixed media on canvas, wood, and found objects, Fleres creates streamlined portraits of mournful yet vividly colored characters against skillfully rendered backgrounds. His work is flavored with his subtle yet insightful views of pop culture and society.
Florida's Josh Taylor unveils his latest collection of artwork, featuring many of his much-loved characters plus some exciting new additions, who do not fail to captivate the farthest regions of the viewer's imagination. For MALICIOUS DESCENT, Taylor builds upon past themes of girls, tentacles, and "Japanese things" to create a private world peopled with oddly lovable, alien-like beings, their wide eyes pooling with secret emotion. Taylor works mainly with acrylic and ink on wood, dabbling occasionally in mixed media and collage to give each piece a unique texture and depth.
Los Angeles based artist, Zoso, delves into the vast recesses of his imagination to create his provocative artwork. The surreal edge to his newest pieces, which include oils on panel and a hanging sculpture, reflect his current introspection and observations of both home and abroad. The soft texture of oil paired with his stimulating subject matter and distorted imagery complements the dualistic nature of Zoso's personal wanderlust and his perception of the damaging effects of the media and government on individuals.
ABOUT CARMICHAEL GALLERY
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art exhibits international, emerging artists with backgrounds in street art, illustration, outsider art, and design. With an emphasis on creating an environment for contemporary artists to experiment and exhibit new directions of their work, Carmichael Gallery provides many of their artists their first U.S. group and solo exhibitions, quickly establishing artist growth and recognition in a global art marketplace and introducing eclectic cultural styles to collectors and audiences. After moving to Los Angeles in September 2006, husband and wife duo Seth and Elisa Carmichael began to curate shows in various locations around the city, frequently converting raw retail spaces, high-end luxury lofts, and other non-traditional spaces into alternative galleries. In August 2007, the co-curators secured a permanent space on La Brea Avenue in West Hollywood, CA, founding Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art. The Carmichaels bring the raw, spontaneous aesthetic of a project space to their gallery, allowing for artist collaboration and community.
Carmichael Gallery is located at 1257 N. La Brea Avenue, on the SW corner of La Brea and Fountain, West Hollywood, CA 90038. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., and by appointment. For more information, please visit our website www.carmichaelgallery.com, email art@carmichaelgallery.com, or call 323.969.0600.
MALICIOUS DESCENT
Exhibition Dates: July 12 - July 27, 2008
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 12, 2008, 8PM - Midnight
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce MALICIOUS DESCENT, a five man group show featuring new artwork by young American artists Blinky, Downtimer, Dan Fleres, Josh Taylor, and Zoso. The showcase of pop-surrealist, lowbrow, and graffiti-inspired pieces encompasses a wide range of media, including acrylic, spray paint, oils, ink, collage, and sculpture. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, July 12 from 8PM - Midnight.
Los Angeles artist Blinky's confident hand infuses what are often dark, dangerous scenes with vibrant colors and a wry sense of humor. Drawing inspiration from pop culture and his infinite imagination, Blinky's works of acrylic, ink, and spray paint on wood and canvas both startle and engage as his trademark girls, cats, and monkeys play with and defend themselves from evil squid, giant milkshakes, and the heroes and villains of comic books, cult films, and cartoons.
The juxtaposition and frequent battle between the natural and man-made worlds provides Downtimer with the opportunity to explore the ways in which these opposing forces interact, attack, and even complement each other. With a focus on depth, flow, and perspective, Downtimer's new works range from abstract graffiti to figurative and three-dimensional pieces. Although his technique often varies, the interplay of natural patterns remains at the core of his art. "These patterns are complex, yet totally sporadic and free," he says, "Perfect yet completely imperfect. I call them 'planned imperfections'."
Life and all of its complexities is the source of artistic inspiration for Dan Fleres and what pushes him to take his work to new levels. Through his experimentations with acrylic, paper, and mixed media on canvas, wood, and found objects, Fleres creates streamlined portraits of mournful yet vividly colored characters against skillfully rendered backgrounds. His work is flavored with his subtle yet insightful views of pop culture and society.
Florida's Josh Taylor unveils his latest collection of artwork, featuring many of his much-loved characters plus some exciting new additions, who do not fail to captivate the farthest regions of the viewer's imagination. For MALICIOUS DESCENT, Taylor builds upon past themes of girls, tentacles, and "Japanese things" to create a private world peopled with oddly lovable, alien-like beings, their wide eyes pooling with secret emotion. Taylor works mainly with acrylic and ink on wood, dabbling occasionally in mixed media and collage to give each piece a unique texture and depth.
Los Angeles based artist, Zoso, delves into the vast recesses of his imagination to create his provocative artwork. The surreal edge to his newest pieces, which include oils on panel and a hanging sculpture, reflect his current introspection and observations of both home and abroad. The soft texture of oil paired with his stimulating subject matter and distorted imagery complements the dualistic nature of Zoso's personal wanderlust and his perception of the damaging effects of the media and government on individuals.
ABOUT CARMICHAEL GALLERY
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art exhibits international, emerging artists with backgrounds in street art, illustration, outsider art, and design. With an emphasis on creating an environment for contemporary artists to experiment and exhibit new directions of their work, Carmichael Gallery provides many of their artists their first U.S. group and solo exhibitions, quickly establishing artist growth and recognition in a global art marketplace and introducing eclectic cultural styles to collectors and audiences. After moving to Los Angeles in September 2006, husband and wife duo Seth and Elisa Carmichael began to curate shows in various locations around the city, frequently converting raw retail spaces, high-end luxury lofts, and other non-traditional spaces into alternative galleries. In August 2007, the co-curators secured a permanent space on La Brea Avenue in West Hollywood, CA, founding Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art. The Carmichaels bring the raw, spontaneous aesthetic of a project space to their gallery, allowing for artist collaboration and community.
Carmichael Gallery is located at 1257 N. La Brea Avenue, on the SW corner of La Brea and Fountain, West Hollywood, CA 90038. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., and by appointment. For more information, please visit our website www.carmichaelgallery.com, email art@carmichaelgallery.com, or call 323.969.0600.
Take a Deep Breath
Dates:
Sat Jun 21, 2008 00:00 - Thu Jun 19, 2008
Carmichael Gallery Presents
TAKE A DEEP BREATH
Featuring New Works by Asbestos, Cherri Wood, The Dark, Kngee, and Know Hope
Opening Reception: Saturday June 21, 2008, 8PM - Midnight
1257 N. La Brea Ave.
West Hollywood, CA 90038
Exhibition Dates: June 21 - July 20, 2008
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce TAKE A DEEP BREATH, a group exhibition featuring new artworks by Asbestos, Cherri Wood, The Dark, Kngee and Know Hope. While their methods of composition are as different as the cities they call home, the artists align to confront innocence, iniquity, alienation, and personal and urban neglect. Artwork on display will comprise of a wide source of media, including hyper-realistic stencils, intricate three-dimensional cardboard works, large-scale photographs, oil pastel drawings, mixed media collages, and raspberry-infused watercolors on paper and canvas. An opening reception for the artists will be held on Saturday, June 21, from 8PM - Midnight, and is sponsored by ALARM Magazine and Imeem. The Dark, Kngee, and Know Hope will be in attendance.
Dublin-based street artist Asbestos finds the dark, dank, and forgotten objects of the street and transforms them into vibrant pieces that share the history and present-day life of the city and its inhabitants. His flair for mixed media combines photography, collage, gold leaf, spray paint and acrylics to create unforgettable imagery bursting with intensity. Highly skilled in portraiture, Asbestos has recently lent his focus not only to his subjects' faces but also their hands, broadening the viewer's perspective to encapsulate the part of the human body he believes conveys the essence of the individual.
Cherri Wood also studies the complex subtleties of the human form, her artwork roving the depths of feminine distress and despair. Describing her pieces as "a cluster of ink explosions," she splashes the paper and canvas with diet coke and smudges it with willow charcoal and graphite. While the faces of her waifish young women are often concealed, their limber bodies express all, at times prostrate with hysteria, at others stiffly upright in what is only an assumed air of calm. In spite of their predicament, however, Cherri's women refuse to surrender, their breathtaking beauty seeping through their anguish. Her current work marks a new direction and vibrant color palette, altering the mood of each works.
Such disconnect can be perceived in the layered urban and natural landscapes of Kngee. "For this show, I tried to re-conceptualize the streets as an outgrowth of the concrete jungle," he explains as he captures the glowing majesty of the contours of Boston and New York against the inner-city grime and contamination. A new direction for the artist, this elaborate stencil series explores the city as a sterile environment, so abuzz with human activity that no one ever has the time to truly stop and connect. With contrasting textures, a colorful, gritty aesthetic, and a unique play on perspective, Kngee's moody shadows and clean-cut lines invite the viewer to simultaneously contemplate two contrasting environments of turbulent streets and Zen foliage.
Haunted since childhood by visions of the apocalypse, Vancouver-based artist The Dark interprets what he has seen in spectacularly large-scale street pieces, then stages unsolicited installation snapshots of his spellbound public. Amused by the irony of the street art movement - "the romanticized notion of the creative process, a sort of ‘everybody loves an underdog idealism' with the artists enveloping themselves in a kind of untouchable mysticism" - the provocative artist thrashes out a novel perspective on the ownership of information and the conceptual representation of perceived intangibility. The magical desolation of The Dark's visions conveys a stark, poignant narrative of a civilization in decline, overwhelmed by an overarching theme of indifference.
For Know Hope, the impressive installation and body of work he has created for this show depicts a series of moments for a lovable hooded hunchback who wears his patched heart on his sleeve and wanders the world committing simple but powerful acts of kindness. A literal manifestation of a significant life chapter in which his character examines his relationship with himself, his surroundings, and what has led him to where he is today, the installation is composed of three layers: mural, multi-dimensional framed pieces, and free-standing elements. Through observations and reactions to a "busted" world, Know Hope's character enters varying states of anticipation, awkwardness, disappointment, and despair, before finally discovering a place of contentment. Says the artist of his politically charged thematic material, "I try to deal with the minor human conditions and situations that make these issues up, rather than directly address the issues themselves... I hope it doesn't sound arrogant of me to want those things to be seen, but I do try my best to be as honest as I can when saying that we're all in this together."
---
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Asbestos - Dublin, Ireland
"My works are all intended to entertain and provoke anyone who sees them," reflects keen-eyed Dubliner Asbestos. Amongst the intriguingly varied subjects and themes he explores in his work, Asbestos is famous for his series of paintings which focus on the hands of street artists and his friends. Each work "serves to draw out the expression and personality that is ingrained in each and every pair of hands. They're the tools that separate us from other animals - they can create and they can destroy, that's why they're so fascinating to paint. Every pair has its own unique grain that highlights the personality of its owner."
Some of Asbestos' most memorable pieces to date include his mixed media portraiture. "The main idea behind [my portraits] is to produce unique and detailed paintings for the street. As an artist, it's more important to me to create one good piece for the street than to bomb the fuck out of a city. These pieces are painted onto wood and metal found in skips and on footpaths, the idea being that I take what has been discarded and return it to the street as a painting."
Cherri Wood - Saint Paul, Minnesota
Cherri Wood is a young illustrator based in the Mid Western region of the US. She primarily works with watercolors and ink, engaging her brush and paper in a dialogue of alienation, idiosyncrasies, hopeless romance and psychosis. Many of her drawings contain quotes from classic plays, short stories, and snippets of conversations she has overheard from random inhabitants of her hometown of Saint Paul.
Cherri's pieces frequently consist of a solitary figure slowly disintegrating into the empty white space surrounding it. She makes her drawings in black and white with faint traces of muted colors, shadows, and ghostly shapes behind the figure, techniques that intensify the atmosphere in her work. While often concealing her subjects' faces in ink, her most recent works lift the curtain to show more signs than ever of the vibrant life beneath.
Cherri likes to study the effects of stains and splatters of different materials such as condiments and soft drinks. She also draws inspiration from film, fashion, fog, photography and the art of graphic novels.
The Dark - Vancouver, British Columbia
Inspired in part by Tristan Manco's book, "Stencil Graffiti", The Dark has been putting up work all over the streets of Vancouver, Toronto, and Winnipeg for the past five years. The Canadian attributes his unique style and imagery to the influence of life in his home city, Vancouver - "I live just on the cusp [of the downtown eastside] and it's really harsh sometimes." In an environment where street art isn't always appreciated, The Dark is more than willing to take the risk to put up his work and let it be seen, often receiving a compliment or two along the way. "I've had cops stop me in the middle of a stencil and tell me that it's cool art and I should be getting paid for it. They did ask me to pack up and go but in a very nice way. They didn't even get out of their car."
Kngee - Hokkaido, Japan
Kenji Nakayama is originally from Hokkaido, Japan. He is currently residing in Boston, Massachusetts, where he works as a designer/artist. Kenji has been creating stencils for approximately 4 years. "When I first saw stencils in a book, I was just amazed, especially Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Logan Hicks... those artists were huge influences."
Instead of attending art school, as he would have liked, Kenji graduated from a technical institute and started working for industrial firms as an engineer. In his spare time, however, he remained devoted to his art and in 2004 decided to leave the engineering industry in order to pursue his passion more seriously. "I think it was the right decision at the right time to switch my career; I learned so many things while working as an engineer, and throughout my previous careers. I have always tried to perfect the skills of my craft, and focused on the quality of my work. I have always believed that quality is better than quantity".
Today, Kenji focuses on photorealistic multi-layer stencils with unique abstract backdrops and highly textured foregrounds that capture significant moments in his daily life. Kenji is also a member of NYC/Boston based Artists Collective "project SF" and is a featured artist with the Brooklyn based Tank Theory label.
Know Hope - Tel Aviv, Israel
21-year-old Know Hope was born in California and currently resides in Tel Aviv, Israel. Wise beyond his years, the young artist has been working in the streets since his teens, as well as participating in exhibitions in Israel and the US. "I can't exactly say what kind of social conscience I have, but I do like to think that I react to my surroundings, from some point of observing and suggesting recollections and some sort of subtle commentary on what I pick up," he says. "From these observations, I try to figure out the most basic and even simplistic components and aspects that compose our reality and the forms of communication/miscommunication that are happening all around us at any given time."
Know Hope is inspired by "the awkward struggle of everyday life as a common denominator and as something that happens in real time. The idea that everything is temporary, both physically and metaphorically. Electricity poles and their power lines, and the personification of those elements. Everyday urban surroundings." Through his work, he hopes "to move heavy hearts at least one inch to the side by confessing that I'm petrified and secretly in love with the world."
ABOUT CARMICHAEL GALLERY
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art exhibits international, emerging artists, with an emphasis on underground, pop, outsider, lowbrow, street art and graffiti inspired work. After moving to Los Angeles in September 2006, husband and wife duo Seth and Elisa Carmichael began to curate shows in various locations around the city, frequently converting raw retail spaces, high-end luxury lofts, and other non-traditional spaces into alternative galleries. In August 2007, the co-curators secured a permanent space on La Brea Avenue in West Hollywood, CA, and opened Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art as an exhibition space for presenting emerging art from around the world. Carmichael Gallery is located at 1257 N. La Brea Avenue, on the SW corner of La Brea and Fountain, West Hollywood, CA 90038. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., and by appointment. For more information, please visit our website www.carmichaelgallery.com, email: art@carmichaelgallery.com, or call 323.969.0600.
TAKE A DEEP BREATH
Featuring New Works by Asbestos, Cherri Wood, The Dark, Kngee, and Know Hope
Opening Reception: Saturday June 21, 2008, 8PM - Midnight
1257 N. La Brea Ave.
West Hollywood, CA 90038
Exhibition Dates: June 21 - July 20, 2008
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce TAKE A DEEP BREATH, a group exhibition featuring new artworks by Asbestos, Cherri Wood, The Dark, Kngee and Know Hope. While their methods of composition are as different as the cities they call home, the artists align to confront innocence, iniquity, alienation, and personal and urban neglect. Artwork on display will comprise of a wide source of media, including hyper-realistic stencils, intricate three-dimensional cardboard works, large-scale photographs, oil pastel drawings, mixed media collages, and raspberry-infused watercolors on paper and canvas. An opening reception for the artists will be held on Saturday, June 21, from 8PM - Midnight, and is sponsored by ALARM Magazine and Imeem. The Dark, Kngee, and Know Hope will be in attendance.
Dublin-based street artist Asbestos finds the dark, dank, and forgotten objects of the street and transforms them into vibrant pieces that share the history and present-day life of the city and its inhabitants. His flair for mixed media combines photography, collage, gold leaf, spray paint and acrylics to create unforgettable imagery bursting with intensity. Highly skilled in portraiture, Asbestos has recently lent his focus not only to his subjects' faces but also their hands, broadening the viewer's perspective to encapsulate the part of the human body he believes conveys the essence of the individual.
Cherri Wood also studies the complex subtleties of the human form, her artwork roving the depths of feminine distress and despair. Describing her pieces as "a cluster of ink explosions," she splashes the paper and canvas with diet coke and smudges it with willow charcoal and graphite. While the faces of her waifish young women are often concealed, their limber bodies express all, at times prostrate with hysteria, at others stiffly upright in what is only an assumed air of calm. In spite of their predicament, however, Cherri's women refuse to surrender, their breathtaking beauty seeping through their anguish. Her current work marks a new direction and vibrant color palette, altering the mood of each works.
Such disconnect can be perceived in the layered urban and natural landscapes of Kngee. "For this show, I tried to re-conceptualize the streets as an outgrowth of the concrete jungle," he explains as he captures the glowing majesty of the contours of Boston and New York against the inner-city grime and contamination. A new direction for the artist, this elaborate stencil series explores the city as a sterile environment, so abuzz with human activity that no one ever has the time to truly stop and connect. With contrasting textures, a colorful, gritty aesthetic, and a unique play on perspective, Kngee's moody shadows and clean-cut lines invite the viewer to simultaneously contemplate two contrasting environments of turbulent streets and Zen foliage.
Haunted since childhood by visions of the apocalypse, Vancouver-based artist The Dark interprets what he has seen in spectacularly large-scale street pieces, then stages unsolicited installation snapshots of his spellbound public. Amused by the irony of the street art movement - "the romanticized notion of the creative process, a sort of ‘everybody loves an underdog idealism' with the artists enveloping themselves in a kind of untouchable mysticism" - the provocative artist thrashes out a novel perspective on the ownership of information and the conceptual representation of perceived intangibility. The magical desolation of The Dark's visions conveys a stark, poignant narrative of a civilization in decline, overwhelmed by an overarching theme of indifference.
For Know Hope, the impressive installation and body of work he has created for this show depicts a series of moments for a lovable hooded hunchback who wears his patched heart on his sleeve and wanders the world committing simple but powerful acts of kindness. A literal manifestation of a significant life chapter in which his character examines his relationship with himself, his surroundings, and what has led him to where he is today, the installation is composed of three layers: mural, multi-dimensional framed pieces, and free-standing elements. Through observations and reactions to a "busted" world, Know Hope's character enters varying states of anticipation, awkwardness, disappointment, and despair, before finally discovering a place of contentment. Says the artist of his politically charged thematic material, "I try to deal with the minor human conditions and situations that make these issues up, rather than directly address the issues themselves... I hope it doesn't sound arrogant of me to want those things to be seen, but I do try my best to be as honest as I can when saying that we're all in this together."
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Asbestos - Dublin, Ireland
"My works are all intended to entertain and provoke anyone who sees them," reflects keen-eyed Dubliner Asbestos. Amongst the intriguingly varied subjects and themes he explores in his work, Asbestos is famous for his series of paintings which focus on the hands of street artists and his friends. Each work "serves to draw out the expression and personality that is ingrained in each and every pair of hands. They're the tools that separate us from other animals - they can create and they can destroy, that's why they're so fascinating to paint. Every pair has its own unique grain that highlights the personality of its owner."
Some of Asbestos' most memorable pieces to date include his mixed media portraiture. "The main idea behind [my portraits] is to produce unique and detailed paintings for the street. As an artist, it's more important to me to create one good piece for the street than to bomb the fuck out of a city. These pieces are painted onto wood and metal found in skips and on footpaths, the idea being that I take what has been discarded and return it to the street as a painting."
Cherri Wood - Saint Paul, Minnesota
Cherri Wood is a young illustrator based in the Mid Western region of the US. She primarily works with watercolors and ink, engaging her brush and paper in a dialogue of alienation, idiosyncrasies, hopeless romance and psychosis. Many of her drawings contain quotes from classic plays, short stories, and snippets of conversations she has overheard from random inhabitants of her hometown of Saint Paul.
Cherri's pieces frequently consist of a solitary figure slowly disintegrating into the empty white space surrounding it. She makes her drawings in black and white with faint traces of muted colors, shadows, and ghostly shapes behind the figure, techniques that intensify the atmosphere in her work. While often concealing her subjects' faces in ink, her most recent works lift the curtain to show more signs than ever of the vibrant life beneath.
Cherri likes to study the effects of stains and splatters of different materials such as condiments and soft drinks. She also draws inspiration from film, fashion, fog, photography and the art of graphic novels.
The Dark - Vancouver, British Columbia
Inspired in part by Tristan Manco's book, "Stencil Graffiti", The Dark has been putting up work all over the streets of Vancouver, Toronto, and Winnipeg for the past five years. The Canadian attributes his unique style and imagery to the influence of life in his home city, Vancouver - "I live just on the cusp [of the downtown eastside] and it's really harsh sometimes." In an environment where street art isn't always appreciated, The Dark is more than willing to take the risk to put up his work and let it be seen, often receiving a compliment or two along the way. "I've had cops stop me in the middle of a stencil and tell me that it's cool art and I should be getting paid for it. They did ask me to pack up and go but in a very nice way. They didn't even get out of their car."
Kngee - Hokkaido, Japan
Kenji Nakayama is originally from Hokkaido, Japan. He is currently residing in Boston, Massachusetts, where he works as a designer/artist. Kenji has been creating stencils for approximately 4 years. "When I first saw stencils in a book, I was just amazed, especially Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Logan Hicks... those artists were huge influences."
Instead of attending art school, as he would have liked, Kenji graduated from a technical institute and started working for industrial firms as an engineer. In his spare time, however, he remained devoted to his art and in 2004 decided to leave the engineering industry in order to pursue his passion more seriously. "I think it was the right decision at the right time to switch my career; I learned so many things while working as an engineer, and throughout my previous careers. I have always tried to perfect the skills of my craft, and focused on the quality of my work. I have always believed that quality is better than quantity".
Today, Kenji focuses on photorealistic multi-layer stencils with unique abstract backdrops and highly textured foregrounds that capture significant moments in his daily life. Kenji is also a member of NYC/Boston based Artists Collective "project SF" and is a featured artist with the Brooklyn based Tank Theory label.
Know Hope - Tel Aviv, Israel
21-year-old Know Hope was born in California and currently resides in Tel Aviv, Israel. Wise beyond his years, the young artist has been working in the streets since his teens, as well as participating in exhibitions in Israel and the US. "I can't exactly say what kind of social conscience I have, but I do like to think that I react to my surroundings, from some point of observing and suggesting recollections and some sort of subtle commentary on what I pick up," he says. "From these observations, I try to figure out the most basic and even simplistic components and aspects that compose our reality and the forms of communication/miscommunication that are happening all around us at any given time."
Know Hope is inspired by "the awkward struggle of everyday life as a common denominator and as something that happens in real time. The idea that everything is temporary, both physically and metaphorically. Electricity poles and their power lines, and the personification of those elements. Everyday urban surroundings." Through his work, he hopes "to move heavy hearts at least one inch to the side by confessing that I'm petrified and secretly in love with the world."
ABOUT CARMICHAEL GALLERY
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art exhibits international, emerging artists, with an emphasis on underground, pop, outsider, lowbrow, street art and graffiti inspired work. After moving to Los Angeles in September 2006, husband and wife duo Seth and Elisa Carmichael began to curate shows in various locations around the city, frequently converting raw retail spaces, high-end luxury lofts, and other non-traditional spaces into alternative galleries. In August 2007, the co-curators secured a permanent space on La Brea Avenue in West Hollywood, CA, and opened Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art as an exhibition space for presenting emerging art from around the world. Carmichael Gallery is located at 1257 N. La Brea Avenue, on the SW corner of La Brea and Fountain, West Hollywood, CA 90038. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., and by appointment. For more information, please visit our website www.carmichaelgallery.com, email: art@carmichaelgallery.com, or call 323.969.0600.
