General

“Maternal Instincts”
16″ x 20″
oil on canvas

 

Guest Curator: Jon Beinart

Chaos and ruin. Technological trends corrupting. Deformation, anatomical abnormalities, degradation and displacement. Whether related to the human body and spirit or the human environment, it is the ‘anti’ utopia.

The theme of this show, ‘Dystopia’, will place the viewer in a fictional world where personal and societal fears can be explored. Whether figuratively or more literally, the participating artis…ts will present their own interpretation of ‘Dystopia’.

Partticipating artists: Beksinski, Kris Kuksi, Chris Mars, Paul Booth, Chet Zar, Viktor Safonkin, Laurie Lipton, David Bowers, Dariusz Zawadzki, Peter Gric, Matthew Bone, Jean Labourdette Turf One, Paul Rumsey, William Hand, Heather Nevay, Ray Donley, Christian Van Minnen, Dan Quintana, Ben Tolman, Karl Persson, Beau White, Macsorro, Matt Martin, Sandra Yagi, Carrie Ann Baade, Stephanie Henderson, Heidi Taillefer, David Choquette, Scott G Brooks, Naoto Hattori, Michael Ryan, Leslie Ditto, Larkin, Chrystal Chan, Jeff Christensen, Cam De Leon, Christopher Ulrich, Matt Dangler, Brian Viveros, Chris Peters, Yu Sugawara, Santiago Caruso, Rachel Bess, Mark Powell, Brian Smith, Ivan Titor, Jason John, Jon Jaylo, Pamela Wilson, James Zar, Vincent Cacciotti, Pedro De Kastro & Jon Beinart.

Kris Kuksi and Laurie Lipton will be signing copies of their books at the opening reception.

Each artist has been selected for their ability to express themselves imaginatively with exceptional technique and uncompromising individuality. The beinArt Surreal Art Collective is testimony to a huge international movement of figurative artists who have resisted current trends in the art world and remained true to their artistic vision.

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 19th – 8:00 – 11:30 pm.
Exhibit runs from March 19th – April 9th 2011.

CoproGallery
Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Ave,
Unit T5, Santa Monica,
CA 90404, USA.
Ph: 1.310.829.2156

beinArt Collective: http://beinart.org/modules/Word-Press/2011/01/20/beinart-collective-group-exhibition-dystopia/

Facebook Invite: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=108212989239013
Preview of Dystopia: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=268054&id=155906892011

 

Curated by Jared Davis, 18 artists exhibit work centered on the theme of Man’s journey into space. Exploring both science-fact and science-fiction, these artists deliver unique perspectives on the cosmos.

Yeah, we know the opening is on St. Patrick’s Day…but Yuri’s Night is like the St. Patty’s day for Space…so come ‘on and celebrate with our little green men…
…
Exhibiting artists: Chris Bishop, Stephen Blickenstaff, Scott Brooks, Jared Davis, Alan Defibaugh, Dana Ellyn, Elstabo, Todd Gardner, Linas Garsys, Sherill Anne Gross, Rob Hornung, Emily Greene Liddle, Rob Lindsay, Dave Savage, Matt Sesow, Michael Enn Sirvet, Steve Strawn and Andrew Wodzianski.

Exhibition runs through April 30th. Get a preview at www.outofthisworldparty.com.

Also, check out the corresponding cosmonaughty party: Countdown to Yuri’s Night on April 9th. Tickets at www.outofthisworldparty.com.

WHAT IS YURI’S NIGHT?:
Countdown to Yuri’s Night is an artistic spin on a high-science holiday. On April 12, 1961, Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin embarked on the historic first manned space flight. Every year around April 12, Yuri’s Night parties are held all around the world; it’s like St. Patrick’s Day or the Fourth of July for space.

Liberty Leading the People
oil on canvas
36″ x 48″

Curated by Jared Davis, 18 artists exhibit work centered on the theme of Man’s journey into space. Exploring both science-fact and science-fiction, these artists deliver unique perspectives on the cosmos.

Yeah, we know the opening is on St. Patrick’s Day…but Yuri’s Night is like the St. Patty’s day for Space…so come ‘on and celebrate with our little green men…
…
Exhibiting artists: Chris Bishop, Stephen Blickenstaff, Scott Brooks, Jared Davis, Alan Defibaugh, Dana Ellyn, Elstabo, Todd Gardner, Linas Garsys, Sherill Anne Gross, Rob Hornung, Emily Greene Liddle, Rob Lindsay, Dave Savage, Matt Sesow, Michael Enn Sirvet, Steve Strawn and Andrew Wodzianski.

Exhibition runs through April 30th. Get a preview at www.outofthisworldparty.com.

Also, check out the corresponding cosmonaughty party: Countdown to Yuri’s Night on April 9th. Tickets at www.outofthisworldparty.com.

WHAT IS YURI’S NIGHT?:
Countdown to Yuri’s Night is an artistic spin on a high-science holiday. On April 12, 1961, Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin embarked on the historic first manned space flight. Every year around April 12, Yuri’s Night parties are held all around the world; it’s like St. Patrick’s Day or the Fourth of July for space.

Liberty Leading the People
oil on canvas
36″ x 48″

“Drifting Away”…my painting for the Corey Helford Gallery show “In the Nursery”. Opening Saturday January 29.

In the Nursery
Corey Helford Gallery
8522 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310.287.2340
www.coreyhelfordgallery.com

“Drifting Away”
oil on canvas
18″ x 24″
2011

Really great piece about my most recent work by Lenny Campello in the latest issue of  American Contemporary Art magazine.

In his recent exhibition at Long View Gallery titled We the People, District of Columbia artist Scott Brooks continues to populate canvasses of all sizes with his own unique vision of “people” and also continues to advance the case for Scott Brooks to be considered as one of the region’s leading artists.

To start, Brooks’ enviable technical skill is of the level seldom seen these days where theory seems to have all but buried the need for an artist to have any technical facility. His remarkable ability to marry this technical skill with a Brooksian vision of a world that both manages to attract and repel the viewer, elevates the artwork to the point where it goes beyond high art and begins to do what some truly great artwork does: deliver social and historical narratives that have an important point to contribute to contemporary dialogue beyond the visual arts.

But where in the past Brooks has done this in a somewhat subtle way, in this show’s 12 works he rolls back his sleeves and assaults our visual senses with his messages, agenda and positions on such things as politics, culture and a popularity-obsessed nation. He does this in a blatant but elegant manner that shouts with paint instead of noise and attacks with scale and numbers.

For example, in the painting We the People, Brooks uses his fear of empty space almost as a weapon by crowding the large canvas with images and artifacts full of almost Victorian-style clues and fascinating objects. The four main figures in the canvas, with the usual slight facial distortions that make Brooks’ works immediately recognizable, are presented to the viewer amongst a backdrop of humanity that assail the mind and eyes with their oddity and visual noise. The worship of the “plugged in” hero (who just happens to be a snake charmer), standing on a symbolic money platform, all buff and strong and perfect, highlights the imperfections of those worshipping him; all but the figure in the top hat to the left, as if a little dejection is creeping in. Meanwhile, tiny video cameras broadcast the snake charmer’s victory to the world.

And if fear of empty space makes the case in this piece, it all but overflows out of Separation Anxiety: An Allegory for the Conflict between Good and Evil where Brooks truly flexes his artistic ideas in a riot of color, forms, stories, mini-dramas within the stories and a mind numbing variety of figures and “peoples” within a canvas so full of information that it is impossible to absorb it all in one visit. There are probably close to 100 figures, animals and things on this canvas, and yet, somehow Brooks still manages to aim our focus and initial (and final) attention to the God-like child figure sitting atop a circus like atmosphere bordering on madness of the senses. Meanwhile, those other 99 figures and objects are punching your eyes with their demand for attention.

Brooks says that his disillusionment with Washington is central to this exhibition. He adds that he “sees inherent flaws in a system that no one man can fix.” He feels that “the world is distracted, choosing to hide in denial behind such diversions as religion, indifference and reality television rather than face the dire truth, which is what Washington intends.”

All marathons start with one step, and in We the People Brooks succeeds in grabbing our attention and hypnotizing us into trying to react to his visual war of color and narrative. We’re no longer distracted.