Never a Dull Moment

A Group Show Curated by iO Wright

White Walls Gallery

835 Larkin St

San Francisco, Calif

between O’Farrell & Geary

415-931-1500

Gallery hours

Tuesday - Saturday12pm - 7pm

Opening Reception: 

Saturday, February 6th through February 27th, 2010

Open to the public.

[ This will mark my first time showing works at White Walls and I’m looking forward to this. I will have a number of recent works on display for the duration for the show as well as a wall painting that will merge with Remi Rough over the entrance way. This will be a classic.]

White Walls is proud to present Never a Dull Moment, a group show curated by iO Wright. Never a Dull Moment will transform the gallery into a cohesive environment that embraces all mediums of creativity from sixteen artists. Please join us for the opening reception on Saturday, February 6^th, 2010, from 7-11pm.

Never a Dull Moment features Anthony Lister, Alessandro Zuek Simonetti, Jaybo Monk, Angela Boatwright, Augustine Kofie, Dave Potes, Jonathan Darby, Ray Potes, Remi Rough, iO Wright, Erik Otto, Cheryl Dunn, Armsrock, Dave Schubert, Sam Ash and Clayton Brothers. 

iO Wright has chosen these artists for their “get your hands dirty” and “don’t worry just do” mentality. Without considering outside forces, they are urged to continuously create and express themselves. With shared roots in graffiti art, this group has a flare for action, immediacy, and unpredictability. Never a Dull Moment exposes viewers to the creative mind’s raw inner workings and draws distinct parallels between everyday immediate expression and fine art.

Never a Dull Moment will be a transformation of the gallery space into a chaotic, organic environment close to the heart of the artistic process. Film, sculpture, installation, and large-scale wheat paste can be expected from this multi media, multi talented group of artists. Embracing the connection between photography and fine art, Never a Dull Moment will meld the two together just as they are in everyday life. Several artists including Jaybo Monk, Remi Rough, Erik Otto, Augustine Kofie and Jonathan Darby plan to create a site-specific installation to accompany their works in the gallery. The installation will no doubt be interactive and multi sensory, with few white walls in sight.

iO Wright is a photography based artist, writer, and curator. Along with co-founding the street art quarterly, Overspray Magazine, iO curated Climb in the Back Window at Shadow’s Space Gallery in Philadelphia in 2009. Keeping close tabs on urban art, she has also interviewed such influential artists as Shepard Fairey and Erik Foss. This exhibition is curated by iO Wright and sponsored by White Walls, Hamburger Eyes, and New Order Magazine.

White Walls BLOG post

Infastructure In Development [2009]

24 x 24 x 1 5/8 inches

Pencil, acrylic ink, gel transfer and letraset type on masonite.

Finished in matte satin gel medium.

[Built and drafted at my Temple studio. December 2009]

This is one of 2 grayscale like pieces I will have on display at White Walls Gallery during the NEVER A DULL MOMENT Group Show. A series of gel transfered images of office/workspace/industrial like themes intermingled with my structurally bent line work and washes. I’m working on a light weight masonite like sheet of wood and premiering them with layers of flat house paint, basically making my own clay-boards. I then sand them down to a smooth surface and then proceed.

Files Just Released from Ampex [2009]

24 x 24 x 1 5/8 inches

Pencil, acrylic ink, gel transfer and letraset type on masonite.

Finished in matte satin gel medium.

[Built and drafted at my Temple studio. December 2009]

This is one of 2 grayscale like pieces I will have on display at White Walls Gallery during the NEVER A DULL MOMENT Group Show. A series of gel transfered images of office/workspace/industrial like themes intermingled with my structurally bent line work and washes. I’m working on a light weight masonite like sheet of wood and premiering them with layers of flat house paint, basically making my own clay-boards. I then sand them down to a smooth surface and then proceed.

Contribution #19/ Heart of the City [2009/2010]

Acrylic & spray paint on primed cotton duck canvas.

Finished in matte satin gel medium.

50 x 49.5 x 1.5 inches

[Re-painted and stretched in the Temple studio. January 2010]

Originally this was painted back in september of 2009 for my Portland show. It never felt like it was finished tho. Finally revamped the old girl and brought out it’s true character this past week. Strengthened some line work, pulled forward tome angles and aged it all down a touch. This piece will be on display during the ‘NEVER A DULL MOMENT Show at White Walls gallery in SF the month of February.

The Triangulation’s of the Letter K [2009]

54 1/2 x 54 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches

Spray paint and acrylic on primered duck canvas.

Finished in matte gel medium.

[First painted in Los Feliz garage workspace, then completed at Echo Park studio. Stretched in Baldwin Park. January 2009]

This piece was definitely one of the highlights to my Vintage Futurism show at Zero1 in 2009. The positive feedback was to the point of nervousness for me. Nervousness in that I wouldn’t be able to repeat the energy and movement of a work like this. Most of my stretched canvas paintings do bear an obvious familiarity, but ‘Letter K’ stood out. 

Since the closing of the show there had been some interest in the piece, but I selfishly held back on letting it go just yet. I still wanted to take a look at it from time to time. Pulling back the heavyweight plastic it was wrapped in and study, reexamine and ponder on a particular time in my life. A time when I knew I had a golden opportunity to Contribute and represent my works as a whole.

So here we are, almost exactly on year later. I decide to pull ‘Letter K’ out of my storage and exhibit the her at the Street Legal Group show at Rivera & Rivera Gallery knowing fully well that someone may feel the same way I did about her and scoop it up, and that’s what happened. 

Im actually relieved that she’s going somewhere that she’ll be appreciated and displayed. I need to let go and share sometimes.

Circulatory System #01 [2010]

36 x 60 x 1 1/2 inches

Acrylic & spray paint on primed duck stretched canvas.Finished in gel medium

[First painted live @ Bacchanal, then re-tuned at my Temple St. Studio]

[This piece will be on display this month alongside Mear, Retna & El Mac at Rivera & Rivera Gallery, Downtown Los Angeles.This is the next direction in my series of canvas paintings, focusing on the circle and how it can contribute and play off on my construcions of shapes and forms]

LA Art Machine Presents:

STREET LEGAL

Works by Mear One, Kofie, Retna & El Mac

January 22 – February 27, 2010

Artists Reception: January 22, 2010 7 PM

Rivera&Rivera Gallery

1100 S. Hope Street

RIVERA & RIVERA Gallery is proud to announce the opening of Street Legal, an exhibition of original artwork by legendary Los Angeles street artists, Mear One, Kofie, El Mac, and Retna.

Opening in conjunction with Vox Humana, a live art performance by these same artists at the Los Angeles Convention Center during the L.A. Art Show 2010, this exhibition will showcase more than 25 works of art, including the unveiling of Mear One’s monumental sculpture entitled “Pillar of Consciousness.”

While wildly diverse in styles, media, and scale, this unique group of artists have transcended street writing and evolved their work into one of the most challenging and sophisticated contemporary art forms.

[I will have 11 works on display ranging from paintings and collage works from my Vintage Futurism last year as well as recent works on canvas and wood. This is a heavy duty show and one for the books.]

The Circulations of a Formal Convention [2010]

Mear & myself

Live @ the LA Art show 2010

01/22/09

Courtesy of Flickr

Organized by the L.A. ART MACHINE and curated by Bryson Strauss, VOX HUMANA is a live art performance by legendary Los Angeles street artists Mear One, Kofie, Retna, and El Mac that will take place during the L.A. Art Show, January 20 - 24, 2010.

L.A. Art Show 2010

Los Angeles Convention Center

1201 South Figueora St.

January 20-24, 2010

Noon-6 pm Daily

Using acrylic and aerosol paints, Retna and El Mac will collaborate on a canvas that is 12 x 24 feet, while Kofie and Mear One will work independently on 12 x 12 foot canvases. Los Angeles Art Show attendees are invited to witness the completion of the works on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 2 PM, and participate in a closing celebration.

While much attention has recently been given to street artists in the fine art world with the rise in celebrity of Shepard Fairey, Banksy, and Gajin Fujita, VOX HUMANA marks the first time that a top-tier art fair has recognized, and celebrated the evolution, power, and artistic integrity of street artists in a such a bold and public manner. The L.A. Art Show is making history.

What originated in the U.S. as the ‘tag’ has evolved into one of the most sophisticated and challenging forms of contemporary art. This event recognizes the talents of these four artists while celebrating the historic journey and enduring nature of graffiti art, from the caves of Lascaux to the spas of Pompeii and from the streets of Los Angeles to the walls of galleries around the world.

For further information/ press please contact:

Bryson Strauss

L.A. Art Machine

Bryson@laartmachine.com

Organized by the L.A. ART MACHINE and curated by Bryson Strauss, VOX HUMANA is a live art performance by legendary Los Angeles street artists Mear One, Kofie, Retna, and El Mac that will take place during the L.A. Art Show, January 20 - 24, 2010.Using large-scale canvases, the artists will begin to work on January 20 and will paint live each day from noon to 6 PM.