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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
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.
Greg 'Craola' Simkin's childhood memories have long played an important role and inspiration for his artwork. The playfulness of being a child comes together with creatures of the natural world in his mythical landscapes. He calls this world "the Outside", a place where the impossible becomes possible, and a cast of anthropomorphized animals set out on bizarre adventures. Simkins expands on this world in his upcoming solo exhibition, "Where Am I?" at KP Project/MKG, opening Saturday.
Merry Karnowsky set the mood of the holiday season with their year-end exhibition, "Praeteritum Nunc Futurum" on Saturday. Outside, the weather was crisp and colored lights lit the window, while inside the gallery offered a preview of shows to come. Although wide open in theme, works by artists Craola, Travis Louie, Nicola Verlato, Andrew Hem, Lezley Saar, Todd Carpenter, devNgosha, and more compliment eachother nicely. Take a look at our photos from opening night after the jump!
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!
Long Beach Museum of Art (LBMA) presents Masterworks: Defining A New Narrative opening October 23. Masterworks consists of 14 large-scale paintings by accomplished artists who have been charged with providing a singular work that could be considered pivotal in their careers. Coinciding with the exhibition opening, the museum will present its premiere event LBMA After Dark featuring live entertainment from 7pm-10pm. For more information please visit www.lbma.org.
Last Saturday, Merry Karnowsky looked to the La Brea Tar pits for the inspiration behind their pop-up gallery at Tarfest. Produced by LAUNCH, the event is an annual music and arts festival paying homage to Los Angeles' natural wonder, while fostering creative expression. The famous seepage has been happening for tens of thousands of years, and continues to ensnare organisms today. These unlucky flora and fauna were interpreted by artists Greg 'Craola' Simkins, Todd Carpenter, Lezley Saar, Von Sumner, and James Griffith, who used tar as his painting medium. With the pits just a few hundred feet away, their renderings merged new culture with this culturally historic spot.
“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.