Sharks Eat Meat: September 2022

Friday, September 30, 2022

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Monday, September 26, 2022

DAY 4003 - 1/12 Scale Watermelon

Miniature by Kim Fairchild

Saturday, September 24, 2022

The Hole - Los Angeles - "Manscaping" Video Tour

The Hole - Los Angeles - "Manscaping" REVIEW

The Hole has a new group show, “Manscaping,” of contemporary interpretations of man’s relationship to nature and the landscape. I’ve been to The Hole’s well-curated NYC location before, but this is my first time visiting their new LA gallery on La Brea, which opened earlier this year, expanding their galleries to the West Coast. The colorful group show featuring works which explore the human impact on nature is actually curated across both the New York Bowery gallery space and the Los Angeles La Brea space. Spacious and sun lit, The Hole (on La Brea) is currently a brightly painted space. The entryway hosts a boldly pink mountainscape by Brendan Lynch on a wall covered in plastic green leaves and bathed in natural light. The presentation welcomes and transitions patrons from the dusty streets of LA into a cohesive contemporary nature themed environment.

Vibrantly neon, stylish details, and new medias such a vinyl and plastic adorn the diverse collection. Real and virtual landscapes are represented in paint, expressing a contemporary eye towards nature. For a collective show of emerging artists, there are many stand out works and the details of many are enjoyable to spend time with.

Several relief works in the collection remind the viewer of the physicality of the earth. Near the entrance a glistening bubbly cactus made of iridescent vinyl by Jon Young is on display. The voluptuous 3D relief work glistens reflected light as you move past it. Caroline Larsen’s thickly painted cityscape has so much texture that it could be made of yarn. The hefty marks are applied with oil paint in a squeeze bag, and the technique gives radiant life to their work. Every detail from the windows on houses to lush and imaginative plant-life is intimately physical.

A number of pieces in the exhibition explore themes of digital worlds and the Internet. Gao Hang’s “A global Warming Denying Tree” renders a low polygon tree in plasticky acrylic, that looks as if it’s popping off a retro computer screen. Mathew Zefeldt’s Re_S pawn II (Rollover) is a tightly worked painting of an overturned car wreck. Details such as the HUD map in the corner, as well as the title, allude to a digital landscape such as the maps of GTA or Need for Speed. Diverse in medium, technique, and philosophy the cleverly curated space reads as a unified whole.

The full show spread across both coasts contains works from Adam de Boer, Amelia Briggs, Amy Lincoln, Ant Hamlyn, Anthony Miler, Audrey Large, Botond Keresztesi, Brandon Lipchik, Brendan Lynch, Brittney Leeanne Williams, Bryant Girsch, Cara Nahaul, Caroline Larsen, Cecila Fiona Strandbygaard, Chelsea Seltzer, Dan Attoe, Daniel Andres Alcazar, Darryl Westly, Ed Ruscha, Eric Yahnker, Ena Swansea, Gabrielle Garland, Gao Hang, Grant Stoops, Henry Hudson, Hiroya Kurata, Ivan Seal, James Ulmer, Jean Nagai, Jeremy Shockley, J.J. Manford, Jochen Mühlenbrink, Jon Young, Karl Maughan, Kate Klingbeil, Kim Dorland, Krzysztof Grzybacz, Leo Park, Lisa Vlaemminck, Magda Kirk, Martina Grlic, Mathew Tom, Mathew Zefeldt, Matt Belk, Matt Murphy, Matthew F. Fisher, Matthew Hansel, Micah Ofstedahl, Natalie Birinyi, Natalie Westbrook, Nevena Prijic, Paul Corio, Philip Hinge, Rick Leong, Rosson Crow, Shara Hughes, Sholto Blisset, Taylor McKimens, Theo A. Rosenblum, Tim Gardner, and Tim Irani.

“Manscaping” is on view now until October 23rd in NYC and October 29th in Los Angeles, and it is highly recommended you stop by and see these fantastic works in person. Visit the individual artists websites and sign up for The Hole’s mailing list to stay up to date of their new exhibitions. As always, make sure to follow Sharks Eat Meat for all your art and culture news.

http://theholenyc.com/

Thursday, September 22, 2022

DAY 4002 - After Hours

Photography by Kenneth Swoger

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

DAY 4001 - Oil Eater

Artwork by Evan Hobart

Monday, September 19, 2022

ISAAC PELAYO - The New Renaissance

DAY 4000 - Castle Crawl

Artwork by Dan Hernandez

ISAAC PELAYO - THE NEW RENAISSANCE

Isaac Pelayo is a young Los Angeles artist whose work dissects and deconstructs the classical art masters. Having recently returned from a trip to Europe to see many of the masters’ work in person, Pelayo demonstrates a clear understanding and appreciation of traditional techniques. Pelayo’s first solo exhibition, “The New Renaissance” opened Sep 17, 2022, and is on view at Naked Eye Studio near University Park and Exhibition Park, LA. The large, naturally lit, clean gallery space compliments the artwork perfectly, allowing for a totally immersive experience. Golden Baroque frames adorn each work, giving a consistent, cohesive voice and vision throughout the enitre show. The defaced plaster sculptures supplement the painted works and strengthen the space as a whole.

The paintings themselves largely consist of meticulously copied, famous masters’ works in various states of completion, each vandalized with bold contemporary street graffiti.
Select works are presented in a state of incompletion, inviting the viewer to see these art objects as more than just finished images. The art presents the state of change and progress, as well as transition. The portrait situated on an easel in the first gallery also welcomes a line of thought as to the creation and creator of the works.

For their age, Pelayo is quite well seasoned - able to replicate the traditions of history’s best masters. Pelayo’s work shows a careful and detailed appreciation for the works of old masters, such as Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Leonardo, while also deconstructing them. A conversation between the past and preset: old and new, is curated not only across the whole collection, but within each work individually. The styles and techniques of the past are brought into a direct collision with the vocabulary of the new art world. Velázquez and Basquiat are allowed a quiet conversation in one corner, while Leonardo and ALEC argue in another. The ornate and finished oil paintings shine with the spirit of the champions of the old art world while seamlessly blending simplistic street art vocabulary that directly contrast the past and current techniques and language of art. The works present each historic piece in a new dualistic light.

Many old world paintings are thought of as privately collected objects to be viewed by the few and elite. Contrastingly, contemporary street art is public, often unpurchasable and able to be viewed by all. However, a surprising number of old European works were public to some degree. Botticelli’s graceful paintings were paraded through Italian streets, almost like a Macy’s float. Renaissance and Baroque artists, from Caravaggio to Carracci exhibited their holy images in churches for the public to visit and worship under. Over time, the context, patrons, and venues of the art world have progressed, as well as the language used by artists. The symbols, mediums and messages have progressed as well and Pelayo presents a perfectly crafted dialogue of past and present- a duet across time.

Isaac Pelayo’s work asks us to look back while simultaneously looking forward. Icons of the past are repainted with a post-modern view that is distinctly LA. “The New Renaissance” is open currently. Make sure to follow Isaac Pelayo on Instagram at @isaacpelayo and as always, stay tuned to Sharks Eat Meat for all your contemporary art news and media.

https://www.isaacpelayo.com/