Artist Brett Crawford looks at his pieces as collaborations between the work and the viewer, each an inviting narrative. His new show at 111 Minna Gallery, “Caravan,” features paintings that blend pop culture, mythology, and otherwise odd moments. The show kicks off on July 6.
“In his latest body of work, Brett Crawford plays with surreal settings and fairytale imagery to evoke the observer’s imagination,” a statement says. “Viewers must fully immerse themselves in each work to find the hidden story within. Here, there are no wrong answers. Each piece is an intentional collaborative exchange designed to stimulate creativity in the observer. Trailed throughout the collection are familiar pop references and iconic symbols, conspicuously placed like Easter eggs as incentives to delve deeper into his reality of limitless love and inspiration.”
See more below.
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Italian painter 
Iranian painter Ali Esmaeillou reveals haunting parallel universes beneath the pleasant facades of everyday life. In each series of paintings, Esmaeillou explores the psyche of specific archetypes, such as warriors, or digs into the personalities of the characters that compose a particular story, like the great 10th century Persian epic, the Shahnameh.