Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Preview: “Praeteritum Nunc Futurum” at Merry Karnowsky Gallery

Praeteritum Nunc Futurum. Translation: Past, present, and future. Tomorrow night, Merry Karnowsky gallery closes out the year with past and new works from their roster, serving as a preview of 2015. References to time can also be found, as in the Victorian subjects in Lezley Saar's piece, or Nicola Verlato's sweeping scene starring Kimbra in an old Western gone wrong. Preview after the jump!


Nicola Verlato

Praeteritum Nunc Futurum. Translation: Past, present, and future. Tomorrow night, Merry Karnowsky gallery closes out the year with past and new works from their roster, serving as a preview of 2015. References to time can also be found, as in the Victorian subjects in Lezley Saar’s piece, or Nicola Verlato’s sweeping scene starring Kimbra in an old Western gone wrong. Artists such as Jeff Soto and Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins offer more humorous, character based paintings. Craola’s The Gobbler portrays a knight riding a turkey through a strange combination of holiday symbols. Mark Whalen also inserts humor into his illustrations, which read like a reimagining of ancient people’s life, from arm-wrestling to preparing sacrifices. Take a look at our preview of the show below.


Mark Whalen


Mark Whalen (detail)


Travis Louie


Jeff Soto


Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins


Nicola Verlato (detail)

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
Hi-Fructose Vol. 14 cover artist Greg "Craola" Simkins, featured here on our blog, pulls ideas from his childhood- his favorite cartoons, old comics, and vintage packaging- and ties it all together to create art that gives a feeling of being a kid again. The Los Angeles based artist has said that his journey to being an artist began with drawing on the wall after everyone would go to sleep, and his dreams of things that go bump in the night continue to inform his surrealistic works.
“Paramnesia”, like déjà vu, refers to a supernatural phenomenon in which dreams or fantasies are confused with reality. Joram Roukes explores this concept with his exhibition of the same name, which opened last weekend at Thinkspace Gallery. Previously, Roukes’ work centered on reflections of daily life experiences reassembled in surreal, painterly scenes. For the past six months, he collected new experiences while working in Los Angeles. The result is slightly schizophrenic. Throughout, exotic animals erupt from anonymous figures performing a variety of city professions. In a way, it recalls Craola’s use of anthromorphic characters to personify dreams (covered here), only Roukes’ are sourced from a place more terrifying- reality.

Opening tomorrow, Roq la Rue's new group exhibition "Plus One" gives their artists the opportunity to pair up with their latest inspirations. There are twelve artists in the exhibition, six selected artists and their +1's: HF Vol. 27's Stacey Rozich (+ Matt Craven), John Brophy (+ Deanna Adona), Peter Ferguson (+ Olivier Bonnard), HF Vol. 32 cover artist Travis Louie (+ Dorian Vallejo), Redd Walitzki (+ Meghan Howland), and Amanda Manitach (+ Adam Mars). Take a look at our preview after the jump.
Jeff Soto (HF Vol. 18) celebrated his first solo exhibition in Los Angeles since 2009 on Saturday night with "Nightgardens" at KP Projects/MKG. We recently discussed the exhibition with Soto in our studio visit here, where Soto shared his continued interest in landscapes: "Nightgardens" is an exploration of the magic and mystery in life coupled very loosely with the tradition of landscape painting. For this show I am using the concept of "nighttime" as a symbol of the unknown. I'm working on creating an imaginary world of magic, monsters and daydreams that exists in a different time and place, yet alludes to issues in our chaotic modern world."

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List