A Bad Crit

Art Extravaganza 2/11

By: Magtotoart

This is a very late post, but I think it’s worth it.

Two weeks ago, I made appearances at the opening of two shows that are worth talking about. The opening of “Outside In” at 1:AM gallery, and the opening of an all female show, “Yin” at Drip Studios Gallery.

“Outside In” featured local talents such as Buter, Jurne, UFO, Wand, Keb, and a few others.

Everything from a classic 90’s street piece, to a combination of found art, paint, and letters were found at this evening’s packed event. There was such a wide array of styles that it was hard to absorb everything all at once. It took me a few laps around the gallery to take it all in.

The atmosphere was a little like a house party, but slightly more organized. There were familiar faces, new faces, and of course, party faces. The choices in style, color, and composition were unique to the artist’s taste, flair, and placement in the gallery. Being a graffiti show, one expects nothing but spray paint, but these artists really took it a step further.

Above is a mixture of found and created art. It looks like the artist literally cut this wall out of an alley and posted it in the gallery. To bring something indoors that we are so used to seeing outdoors is a bold move. The color and placement choices for each of the panel provided a large statement without being overwhelming.The work overlapped, built on, and separated the panels. The letters were in the background, on the panels, underneath them, around them, and hidden inside them. If you were not looking closely, you would miss some of the hidden messages in the piece.

Because of the foot traffic, most of these pictures are only pieces of the work. To see more images, go to the 1:AM website. Above, the use of complimentary colors against a white and black background caught my eye. this piece is a little busy, but it kept me intrigued for quite a while, noticing more small details, the longer I stood there. Five separate pieces came together to make one very busy piece. I could go on and on about variations in can use, but I’ll let you linger on that one on your own.

Jurne’s piece used overlapping positive and negative stencils. The color choices caused parts of the piece to vibrate. The use of a blurred background with sharp clean edges in the foreground made the work pop off the wall. I really enjoyed looking at this huge series of panels.

Here are a few highlights from the 1:AM show, including a surprise guest appearance by Lousy Right!!!

nice use of overlapping type here :) see if how much of it you can read.

All of the artists showcased above on the show’s title piece “Outside In”.

Surprise visit from LOUSY RIGHT!!!

Nice use of stencils and can control!

Overall this was a great show!

On to Drip Studios’ opening, “Yin”, featuring ten kick ass women. This show was much different from the 1:AM show, but was a necessary stop on my list because of the theme. Hope you enjoy:

There were many styles, aesthetics, and choices of subject matter to choose from at this show.

Below are some of my favorites from a huge wall piece by Susan Wu:

The juxtaposition of old world and new world, east and west, past and present, make this piece into a comforting and yet still provocative pastiche of the artist’s cultures. The different mediums used in this piece: paint, pencil, collage, etc. make the work that much more meaningful. The artist’s fearlessness in showing her family’s heritage and her own culture now are exciting for me personally as well.

Here are some close up shots of another piece by Susan Wu. These faces are so tiny in real life!!

Some work by LAurus Myth with themes of nature laced with technology:

Two psychedelic pieces by Jessica Perlstein:

Some interesting and curious pieces by Adriana Sparkuhl:

The lighting in the one below caused some massive out-of-focusedness but I had to show it:

And last but not least, at the end of the night I had the pleasure of meeting the wonderful Miss Winifred. An amazing printmaker and jewelry designer. Here are a few of her beautiful pieces:

The night was filled with free (or semi-free) beer, friends, surprises and a lot of meeting new people. An eclectic mixture of work, old and new styles.

There were some totally different styles, but all are styles that are absolutely crucial to our San Francisco art culture. We are a city that thrives because of our diversity. And these two shows are only a tiny snapshot.

An Interview With Sean Chao

Inerview: Monica Magtoto

ABC: Tell us a little bit about what you do

SC: I draw, I paint and I create sculptures that make people smile.

ABC: What was the worst critique/review/feedback you were ever given and how did it make you feel?

SC: Back in college, I was trying to develop an unique personality to my drawing. I began researching and examining artworks from various publications and exhibitions. Unconsciously I started to draw like one of the popular illustrators at the time. My instructor wasn’t happy about my drawing and gave me a harsh critique because my work wasn’t original. It was an embarrassing moment, but it struck me and woke me up.  

ABC: How did that experience change or not change the way you feel/felt about your work?

SC: After the critique I understood the differences between inspiration and mere imitation of other people’s work.

ABC: What did you do about it?

SC: I started to draw freely; I looked for things that have truly interested me in my life to inspire myself. I want my work to represent me, and to represent the person I want to become.

ABC: Where do you draw inspiration from for your work?

SC: When I work, I often doodle with a pencil, drawing lines and shapes without having a definite idea in mind. There was this one time, when I saw a silly smiley face in a few randomly placed lines. I liked the smile and I imitated and modified the smile over and over until it became a personality within the world I created.

My works are inspired from a variety of things I have learned to appreciate over the years. One of my inspirations is to observe people and animals. In their movements and body language, I found resemblance to my characters. A simple pose portrays an action. From the expressions I observe, I can create exhilarated scenery as if it is coming from a stop motion picture.

ABC: There seems to be a good sense of humor about your work. Where does it come from? Where do you get ideas for works like “Ear Drum” and “Mouth Watering”?

Most of my works involve bizarre and odd humor. I enjoy planting comedy within art. Happiness is an essential emotion to people, and comedy helps create happiness. People suffer from depression everyday, especially in the society we live in today. It is crucial to find humor and add some comedy into our life.

I grew up in Taipei, Taiwan. The culture is highly influenced by Japan. One of my favorite comedians is from Shimura Ken from Japan. He is a wonderful performer. He can create comedy in an instant, simply with a little twitch of facial muscles. Most of his humor is bizarre and unusual, and I think that’s the earliest influences for my sense of humor.

I grew up in a city with a very high population density. We were surrounded by so many different noises we couldn’t escape from. I believe that was one of the earliest influences and reasons most of my characters have no ears. However, besides the junk we are forced to listen to everyday, there are also beautiful melodies and touching words we sometimes forget to appreciate. Therefore, I created a character out of an ear just to emphasize the good of listening by adding humor into the character. The rest of the facial feature characters emerged from my mind one after another and became the series.

ABC: How long does it take you to make a piece such as “You Are Not Alone”?

SC: It took me few days to brainstorm the idea. The actual time I spent to create the piece is about one to two weeks, approximately about 4 to 5 hours a day.

ABC: Where do you hope to take your work? Will your pieces always be individually made or do you someday want to mass-produce them?

SC: I like the idea of hand sculpting my art individually. The concept of individuality and originality are essential to my work. Therefore if I someday have the opportunity to mass-produce my work as a toy or an art display, I will still continue to create hand-made artworks.

ABC: Do you have any new projects up your sleeve?

SC: I am starting to work on some new pieces for a show in October at Tinlark Gallery in Hollywood. It will be a two-person show with a wonderful artist James Ulmer. I will keep updating new pieces on my blog.

ABC: What would you like to say to all the other underdog artists out there?

SC: No matter what reason you decide to pursue a career as an artist, keep it going and keep it original!  I am still working toward my goals too. Don’t give up your dream.

You can see more of Sean’s work at: http://www.seanchao.com