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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Amsterdam-based painter Femke Hiemstra has once again made it across the pond to Seattle's Roq la Rue to delight us with her enchanted lands. The level of detail is uncanny and each piece, whether large or small, has a story to tell. As an added touch, the works in “Let The Devil Wear Black” are all exquisitely framed, demonstrating that Hiemstra's attention to detail doesn’t end when the painting stops. Read more after the jump!
It is fitting that Josh Keyes debuted “Exodus 1” at Roq la Rue in 2011 for the Lush Life 3 show. That painting featured a group of performance animals marching forth in defiance of their former captors. This became a catalyst for Keyes new body of works titled “Circus and the Sea,” which adds to the story, but they are more prequel than sequel. Read more after the jump!
Hi-Fructose recently had the opportunity to visit Vol. 18 cover artist AJ Fosik at his studio in Portland, Oregon while he prepared for his upcoming show at Guerrero Gallery in San Francisco. The studio is more wood shop than cozy drawing space, with the prerequisite tools lining the walls while a table, band and jig saws take up the center of the room. As if on guard, an enormous, multi-faced bear towers over anyone that draws near as it stands on its hind legs. Read more after the jump!
In their first solo US exhibitions, Australian artists Jeremy Geddes and Ashley Wood have proven there is something special in the water in the land down under. Friends for many years, the duo had always planned a gallery show together and it has come to fruition at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York City. Read more after the jump.
In the first show of the fall season at Roq la Rue, great things are afoot in Joseph Park and Marco Mazzoni's (HF Vol. 20 cover artist) two-person exhibition which opened last Friday. The fifteen pieces in Marco Mazzoni’s “River of Milk” exhibition expands on the artist’s repertoire by exploring three different subject matters. “The Pathetics” pieces are a continuation of what we normally would expect from Mazzoni’s colored pencil masterpieces. Colorful flora and winged animals cover a female face with just enough exposed to elicit an emotional response from the viewer. “Muses” examines a similar subject matter, using women from fiction and mythology like Ophelia and Medusa. The final works, titled “The Encyclopedia of Impossible Animals”, is somewhat different than the others. Penciled on moleskin, the pieces look like they could have been torn from Charles Darwin’s sketch book as he explored the islands of another world where the normal laws of nature didn’t apply. Read more after the jump.
When I think of the Lush Life, I envision wealthy celebrities flaunting stacks of cash while smoking cigars and drinking bubbly in the champagne room. On August 10th, Lush Life Four opened at Roq La Rue in Seattle, and I'm happy to say that the exhibiting artists have a much better vision than I. Now in its fourth year, the annual group show brings an eclectic mix of styles and interpretations to the subject matter.
Canadian illustrator Peter Ferguson has three oil paintings in the exhibition, all of which feature maverick explorers dressed for the elements. They could have easily been pulled from your grandparents dusty National Geographics, if not for the other-worldly creatures providing a small level of surreal interaction. More after the jump!
Normally we have to wait until the middle of August for the official Shark Week on cable television. But thanks to PangeaSeed, you can get off your couch and into a gallery or theater for your shark fix, a whole month early. PangeaSeed is using art in a variety of forms to spread awareness and contribute to the preservation of sharks and their habitat. With over 100 artists, the Great West Coast Migration is a touring art show and film festival that will be stopping in six cities down the west coast of the U.S. this summer. Read more about the show after the jump!
Roq La Rue turned fourteen this month, and what better way to celebrate than with a kick ass group show. Running through August 4th, Death and the Maiden takes an age old theme and lets the artists of today take a stab at it. Esao Andrew’s colorful pallet lends a false sense of security to “Joyride to Nettles Summit”. With Death literally in the driver’s seat, things aren’t looking too good for the lovely lady and her pet. With a penetrating stare, the maiden in Madeline Von Foerster’s “The Promise II” seems very comfortable sharing a table with the dead. The roots of a tree are intertwined with their grasp, possibly suggesting that life and death go hand in hand, and there is much beauty growing between the two. Read more after the jump!
Derek Nobbs’ “Dead Men’s Tales”, on display now at Roq La Rue until June 6th, is aptly titled. Each piece offers a glimpse into the lives of an eclectic bunch of individuals, each with their own story, or tale, to tell.
You could tell that winter was finally over and spring was here, as Seattleites came out in numbers to the Red Current show opening at Roq La Rue on March 23rd. Curated by Sharon Arnold, Red Current features works from 37 female artists, all of whom have roots in the Northwest.
Roq La Rue is awash with color this month as Lynne Naylor and Nicoletta Ceccoli both display new works. Lynne’s vibrant work has deep roots in her animation career which has spanned over 20 years and many notable endeavors. Her new collection of fine art titled “Eros” features Lynne’s vision of Goddesses from many cultures over the world. The smiling Lynne Naylor was at the show opening, doing some sketches for a few lucky fans and talking about her time on The Ren & Stimpy Show.
Nicoletta Ceccoli’s works in “Girls Don’t Cry” depict a fairytale world where there seems to be a conflict of interests between the cutely dressed girls and larger than life insects or humanized vegetables. Each piece has a different story to tell and the viewer gets to decide what happens next.The show runs through February 4th at Roq La Rue in Seattle, WA. -Robbie Lowery
It was a packed house for the 3rd Annual Lush Life show at Seattle’s Roq la Rue on December 9th. An immensely talented group contributed works in a variety of mediums. Jessica Joslin brought the dead back to life using animal skulls and fine metal work with “Agate”, “Silver”, and “Almond”, while Michael Alm’s hand sculpted “Crocuta Calvaporto” brings to life a life-size hyena. Peter Gronquists somehow managed to meld an AK-47 to fawn antlers in his untitled floor display, daring hunters to make a move.
Fans of acrylic and oil won’t leave disappointed as Andrew Arconti’s “Venus Retrograde” and Mia Araujo’s “Requiem (For The Damaged)” force you to pull up a chair just to pour over the detail. The same can be said for Christian Van’s “Always” which bewilders the eye by being both beautiful and grotesque at the same time. Viewers are left to wonder what became of the lion tamer in Josh Keye’s slice of Africa in “Exodus I” and Chris Beren’s towering “Bed of Ivy” will leave you in disbelief while putting up a solid case that tigers, polar bears, and toucans maybe can live together.
The cold and rain didn't dampen spirits one bit for the opening of Ryan Heshka's "Instinction" (previewed here) and Femke Hiemstra's "The Timid Cabbage" (previewed here) at the Roq la Rue Gallery on November 11th. Both artists are displaying new works that are advancing their abilities with Heshka's vividly distinctive mix of contrasting colors and Hiemstra's extremely detailed graphite drawings.
Using a poem aptly titled "The Timid Cabbage" by Seattle artist Charles Krafft, Hiemstra has illustrated eleven pieces, each with a quatrain detailing the adventures of a cabbage-come-to-life in true fairy-tale fashion. Each quatrain is elegantly hand written by Hiemstra on the mat framing the drawing and details the dreaming cabbage's escape from a mundane life toiling the fields, his journey to far off lands, and finally to his ascension as a heavenly body.
Ryan Heshka once again delves into a world influenced by the sci-fi of the 1940's and 50's, and explores thoughts about technology and architecture. Rather than have you believe you're looking onto another world, Heshka's paintings hint that they are indeed based on Earth, perhaps an altered timeline where the government and society in general has gone too far in experimenting with improving life. Some of these experiments have created building sized monsters while others seem bent on controlling the populace and turning them into non questioning zombies. - Robbie Lowery
The Arbor Collective, a company well known for their snow and skateboards, has amassed an impressive list of contributing artists since the company started in 1995. Two of these artists, Blaine Fontana and Zach Johnsen, were commissioned by Arbor to showcase their artistic and design abilities in a collaborative effort, with "Premium Camping at No Charge" as the result. Along with a wall of the snow and skateboards that Blaine and Zach have designed, there are three pieces of art that they both contributed to, but the star of the show is a floor to ceiling modular installation. Just right of center, two campers share a fire while their truck sits by, and that is where things get interesting. Looking to pounce on the unsuspecting duo are three bright red lemurs, while Kricfalusi inspired creatures emerge from the trees and forest floor. The ceiling tall trees are adorned with decorated birdhouses, provoking thoughts that the creatures are smarter than they look. A few critters have even broken away from the main forest, taking up residence in the crevices and corners around the room. - Robbie Lowery
Roq la Rue could not have planned a better month to showcase the new paintings of Andy Kehoe and Charlie Immer. The work in Andy’s “Arise, Feral Night” is undoubtedly early fall material. Overcast skies and orange leaves, with creatures that could be from another world, or maybe hiding in the woods behind your house just waiting to surprise you. But I don’t think these creatures would harm anyone. They seem too content and contemplative in their surroundings. I think they just want a friend. - Robbie Lowery
With a quick glance, you might say that the Devil was in the details at the Roq la Rue Gallery during the opening of the Blab! Group Show on Friday, August 12th. Curated by Blab World's Monte Beauchamp, the theme for the Blab! Group Invitational was Krampus. For the unfamiliar, Krampus is the demon counterpart to Kris Kringle for children in Northern Europe. While good children get gifts and candy from Kringle, bad children get punished with rusty chains and birch branches by Krampus. He makes getting coal in your stocking not such a bad proposition.
With over twenty artists displaying work at Roq la Rue, there was a rich mix of interpretation of the horned demon. Brian Despain made sure to keep it dark and moody with ‘The Nature of the Beast’, while Yoko d’Holbachie’s ‘Naughty Heart’ went subversively evil with her usual mix of bright colors and stuffed animal fervor. According to Shag, Krampus enjoys playing Scrabble in ‘Brettspiel’, and the Krampus in Fred Stonehouse’s ‘Off Season’ apparently likes to pick apples when it’s not Christmas time. Chris Buzelli’s ‘And The Children Shall Inherit The Earth’, and Alex Kuno’s ‘Alle Kinder Sind Böse’ both depicted children that must have been extremely naughty, because Krampus has spared them no mercy. While the overall themes are dark and hellish, one can’t help but smile after leaving this show. - Robbie Lowery