Israeli artist Nir Hod once told Interview Magazine, his greatest discovery was that “it’s not easy getting older.” In his painting series “Genius,” Hod pulls at the tension between childhood and adulthood and breaks open a space in between innocence and inurement. His images are of young children smoking cigarettes and looking at the viewer with expressions of disdain, arrogance and suspicion. Though there is certainly an element of dark humor in dressing rosy-cheeked toddlers in rich fabrics and endowing them with sweeping hair, the paintings are disquieting for their ability to reflect one’s now-corrupted inner child back unto him.
The paintings hang together, creating a school of contemptuous children. However, their individual conceit produces a profound feeling of loneliness, of superiority and alienation. One cannot gaze at these paintings for long. The expressions of the children pain the viewer and undoubtedly isolate them from their other hanging peers.
The sculpted figures and paintings of Carlos Ramirez are constructed from a slew of materials and found objects. The Mexican-American artist reflects on "inequalities within Mexican-American communities and champions the common man as underdog." The artists counts among his influences: tattoo art, Oaxacan sign painting, vintage revolutionary posters, and much more.
Look down. Hiding between sidewalk cracks and under train tracks, you just might find one of the people who inhabit 
Giorgiko is the moniker of husband-and-wife team Darren and Trisha Inouye, who craft works that meld classical painting with minimalist figures akin to comic strip characters. Yet, also contained within these works, even with their Charlie Brown-esque characters, is a hint of danger. Their current show at Giant Robot in Los Angeles, titled "Wonderfull," collects their latest experiments. The show runs through July 10 at the space.