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Archive for June, 2024

James Charles’ Process Shots: Minnicacihuatl

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It’s hard for me to imagine how many hours James Charles must spend to put all the details into the many pieces for his upcoming solo show 333 Conspiracy. You can see the development of  one of these drawings  in the process shots below. The final resulting text on the piece reads “Minnicacihuatl,” a play on the name Mictecacihuatl, who, according to Aztec myth, was the Queen of the underworld and acted as a protector of the bones of the dead. In postconquest Mexico, the traditions surrounding the Aztec underworld evolved into Dia de los Muertos, with Mictecacihuatl  given the name Lady of the Dead, or Santa Muerte.

Keep an eye out for more studio shots and mark your calendar for the opening of the show- July 14th, 7-9pm at Shooting Gallery.

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Press Release: “333 Conspiracy,” a Solo Show by James Charles

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Shooting Gallery is pleased to present James Charles’ 333 Conspiracy, opening July 14th, 2024 from 7-11 pm. The exhibition is free and will be open to the public for viewing through August 4th, 2024.

333 Conspiracy will be composed of more than 40 ink drawings on U.S. bank notes. The iconic pop characters appropriated and rendered on the bills by artist James Charles, range from comedic to tragic; from important figures to trivial cult heroes from both past and present. The artist titles or adds commentary to the pieces by altering the script along the bottom of the note. With inspiration drawn from rock and roll, bad sitcoms, sideshow performers, chessboxing, folk tales and fast food, he shines a light on the ridiculous and the worshiped, reminding us that both what we love and what we hate about pop culture is a reflection of ourselves.

In his second year of working with currency as an artistic medium, James Charles has begun to allow these works to evolve beyond simple portraiture, and has been adding backgrounds and attaching notes together, blending the various seals and government images on the bills with his own; creating more complex compositions, using his own mythologies, and pushing his artistic boundaries even farther.

From the Artist:
The 333 Bank Note Project is a constantly evolving work in progress. I began this project in 2024 purely for self-amusement, crudely drawing and painting on dollar bills, altering the presidents’ faces to become monsters, celebrities, etc. My methods are part art making, part parlor trick; achieved simply with ink and paint; attempting to direct the viewer to see what I want. After working at improving my artistic “sleight of hand” techniques and materials, the bills are now freely morphed and manipulated; the presidents’ faces change into almost any character, while keeping the overall “minty” look of the bill intact. While I tend to prefer working on fives, a body of work in all denominations was formed that continues to grow and change.

Media Opportunities:
Interview with artist James Charles
Interview with owner/founder/curator Justin Giarla
High-resolution images available upon request

Event Information:
333 Conspiracy
Opening Reception July 14th, 7-11pm
On View Through August 4th, 2024
@ Shooting Gallery (shootinggallerysf.com)
839 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA

Opening For Kevin Peterson’s show ‘Prospective’ at Shooting Gallery

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Kevin Peterson‘s solo exhibition ‘Prospective’ opened at the Shooting Gallery on Saturday, June 9th. The Houston-based artist works from photographs, and paints with oil color. His brand of photorealism contrasts images of innocent youth with decaying, graffitied backgrounds. The show will run through July 7, 2024.
View more photos after the jump!

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A Conversation with Kevin Peterson

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Houston-based painter, Kevin Peterson, answers some questions his latest show “Prospective” stirred up in us:

You refer to the pillaring figures in street art – Banksy, Haring, – in your paintings. How is their graffiti being used in your paintings? As a nod to a respectable art form, or as the back-drop for an eroding society? Is graffiti a cause or symptom of the state of our urban environment?

That is kind of a difficult question for me. I first started using graffiti in my backgrounds because I was trying to set a certain mood. I wanted a background that looked urban, run-down, and abandoned. I was trying to create a setting where you wouldn’t normally see a well dressed child alone. Overall, I really like graffiti and street art. I think it gives our environment character and makes the urban landscape more interesting. I know that some people would disagree and call it a nuisance. The lawless and defiant aspect of graffiti is partly what makes it great and such a fascinating part of our society.

You use children as subjects to represent the innocence lost in urban childhoods. Why do you strongly prefer girls over boys to convey this message?

I think the main reason is the innocence and purity a girl possesses as a child, sort of uncorrupted. Not to say that boys don’t have that as well, but I’ve just found that the contrast often works better with a female. I’ve completed several pieces with boys as the subject and they have worked out pretty well, but boys are often times more boisterous and rowdy. Maybe it’s because I was a little boy once and it’s hard to think of a time when I was pure and innocent. I know that I was, that we all were when we were young, it just starts to feel so far removed as adults. Not that we all become monsters or anything, it’s just that we build walls and create coping mechanisms that bury our innocence.

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What is your process like? Do you work from photographs? Do you ever paint the background in situ? Are any of your models painted in a studio, or are these a conflation of photographic images?

Yes, I always work with photo references. I often take photos of urban environments and alter them in certain ways using sketches or Photoshop. All of the painting is done in my studio. The child or figure is not necessarily photographed in the environment, but at a separate time and place. I often compile different photos to create a new composition. My paintings usually take tons of hours to complete and kids are not very good at staying still so photos are important.

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You’re known for your hyper-realistic style, but some of your paintings also have fantastical elements in them – such as the shooting stars with the statues. Are these just a brief departure from your brand of realism?

My style is quite realistic, however, I very rarely paint a scene or situation that actually occurred or exists in the real-world. The great thing about painting is that you are not limited to reality. Things can be manipulated or altered to get a point across. I always loved that Picasso quote, “art is a lie that makes us realize truth”.

How are the shooting stars to be interpreted within the scope of your work? Were they inspired at all from the Aquarid and Lyrid meteor showers that occurred earlier this year?

I guess in a way, yes. In a lot of ways my work is about time. How things change. How we change over time and the environment around us changes as well. At one point the backgrounds in my work were new- they were untouched and pristine, now they are old and abused. The children are new but they will one day be old and abused. It happens to us all. Time changes everything. I recently saw a TV show discussing meteors. They are hitting Earth constantly. They are usually small and often hit the ocean so are rarely noticed. Every 70 or 80 million years a huge one comes along. The last big one hit 65 million years ago and took out the dinosaurs. So, it’s almost time for another one. You know- within the next few million years.

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You mention that you recently have been addressing childhood memories through your work, is that why young children are often your subjects? Or was it through painting children that your own memories of that age started to surface?

I really started painting children after I finished an alcohol/drug treatment program. They really forced us to examine our past so I did. Everybody in the program had to do it and so I got to hear from a lot of different people about their pasts. I found it really interesting to examine how childhood memories and experience effects our development. We all experience traumas at some point growing up. It’s nothing to be afraid of or bury. It makes us who we are. It often makes people stronger and more resilient than you could ever think possible.

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Alongside a degree in Fine Art you have a degree in psychology. Do you think that this helps you create work that stirs an emotional response in its viewers? Should art, like psychology, be used to shine light on the human condition or do you think it serves a distinct purpose?

It’s always my goal to create art that elicits an emotional response. Do I think studying psychology helped? Yeah, it probably does. I think it is important to reflect on ourselves as well as others in different situations. What drives us, why do we become the people we do? That reflection is important but doesn’t require any degree. I would hesitate to say that art “should” or “should not” do anything. My favorite art tends to deal with our emotions or psychological states so I am inspired to attempt to do the same with my work.

The Beautiful Details of Kevin Peterson

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Kevin Peterson’s oil paintings arrived today and seeing them up close gave me a new appreciation for works that I already thought were beautiful. Each detail, from the worn bricks of a city wall to the peeling stickers affixed to it, add to the evidence that Peterson’s talent is ever-growing. In almost photo-realistic precision, Peterson paints scenes made more powerful by the inclusion of the individual particularities of each person and place, effectively bringing them alive in the eye of the beholder.

Attend a preview of Peterson’s solo show “Prospective,” at Shooting Gallery tonight from 6-10pm as part of the Lower Polk Art Walk and join us for the official opening this Saturday, 7-11pm- RSVP Here

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Press Release: “Prospective” New Work by Kevin Peterson

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Shooting Gallery is pleased to present Kevin Peterson’s, Prospective, opening June 9th, 2024 from 7-11 pm. The exhibition is free and will be open to the public for viewing through July 7th, 2024.

Prospective delves into matters of the psyche in a subtle manner, offering visual cues that resonate with feelings of isolation and uncertainty. Lone figures are positioned at the center of the composition, almost always with a look that seems to be on the brink of change. Curiosity, surprise, defiance, and resignation appear on the faces of young boys and girls, painted with such lifelike detail that they could be snapshots.

Children are often viewed as symbols of innocence and new hope for a struggling world yet the subjects of Peterson’s works seem to lack the lighthearted spirit of childhood. Placed against backdrops of graffiti-covered city walls, they seem fragile and melancholy. With an expressed interest in how the past shapes our current and future selves, Peterson studies the passage of time through his expertly crafted oil paintings of youth as well as through a new focus on statues, integrating the beauty of classical art into urban life.

From the Artist:

For this show, I continue to examine the varied journeys we take through life. It’s about growing up and living in a world that is broken. These paintings are about trauma, fear and loneliness and the strength that it takes to survive and thrive. They often contain the contrast of the untainted, young and innocent against a backdrop of a worn, ragged, and defiled world. This work deals with isolation, loneliness and longing. Recently I have been addressing childhood memories, fear, and the changes that occur over the passage of time both in our imagination as well as in reality. I am always intrigued about the events of our past which influence our behavior as we grow up. This group of work illustrates life in an expanding urban environment and the prospects for our future.