Artist Robert X. Burden. Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired

Robert X. Burden‘s show Toy Box opens tonight in the Shooting Gallery, and in anticipation, the ‘techie’ magazine Wired just posted this highlighting the artist. Lewis Wallace interviewed Burden, who paints superhero figurines and comic book characters that are enlarged to epic proportions. The article focuses on the sheer amount of labor that goes into making massive paintings. Working on a ladder to reach every part of the canvas, Burden paints pieces that can reach up to 11 feet high. Buried within the detail of a painting like The Holy Batman are numerous obscure references to the series that only the most seasoned comic conniosseur could decipher. Burden explains ” “Somebody asked me why the hell would I put Predator in there?” (It’s a reference to a DC Comics/Dark Horse crossover titled Batman Versus Predator.) Elsewhere in the gridlike composition, Disney’s Mad Hatter and The Wizard of Oz’s Scarecrow make appearances. Discerning eyes will spot nods to individuals, both real and imagined, who inspired Batman’s creators, Bob Kane and Bill Finger.”

Burden also explains that the essence of his work is not to solely fetishize a nostalgic toy, where collectors own and showcase specimens from their childhood. In these paintings, Burden wishes to go a step further by re-imbueing them with the wonderment and majesty they once possessed – to elevate them to the same reverential degree as they appeared to a child, “Burden stresses that his paintings, which turn tiny plastic superheroes into towering immortals akin to Greek gods, are not about his love for the toys themselves. ‘It’s about my love for my view of it when I was a kid,’ he said, recalling the now-distant excitement he felt when he received a new plaything as a child. ‘I don’t really consider myself a toy collector, because if the toy was enough, I wouldn’t make the paintings. If I was still in kind of awe of the toy, and still absolutely adored the toy, then I could just put that on my shelf and that would be enough. But it’s not anymore.’”

Come tonight to see the opening of Robert X. Burden’s solo show Toy Box at the Shooting Gallery!

Toy Box, A Solo Show by Robert Xavier Burden
Opening Reception – Saturday, May 11, 7-11 pm
On View Through June 01, 2024
@ Shooting Gallery (shootinggallerysf.com)
886 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94109

RSVP.

View more images of Burden’s work, and excerpts from the article after the jump! Read more »

Robert X. Burden in his studio. Photo by Randy Dodson.

Artist Robert X. Burden paints largescale, intricate representations of small, plastic figurines from his childhood. The pieces also contain the actual toy or a taxidermied animal that relates to the work, in the same fashion that a Catholic reliquary displays the body part of a saint under their respective icon. These paintings feature ornate backgrounds that infuse the composition with an almost frenetic religiosity, and Burden acknowledges that his Catholic background may have affected his aesthetic adding, “but maybe an equally religious experience as a kid was going to the toy store.” In this exclusive interview, the artist discusses what it’s like to be part of the last generation of children who grew up without the internet, how many hours it takes to paint an 11 foot piece, and what it takes to keep “the code of Thundera alive.”

Come this Saturday to see the opening of Robert X. Burden’s solo show Toy Box at the Shooting Gallery!

Toy Box, A Solo Show by Robert Xavier Burden
Opening Reception – Saturday, May 11, 7-11 pm
On View Through June 01, 2024
@ Shooting Gallery (shootinggallerysf.com)
886 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94109

RSVP.

View images of Burden’s work, and the interview, after the jump. Read more »

Hi Fructose just posted this on the opening of Van Arno‘s solo show Tame Nor Sane this Saturday in the SG Project Space from 7-11 PM. Van Arno’s hyper real depictions of the human form are as classically Mannerist as they are plastically pornographic. Author Nastia Voynovskaya describes the figures as “nude women with voluptuous bodies partially covered by fetish costumes [who] find themselves battling death or conjuring Earth spirits. Van Arno’s deft hand captures their straining muscles and knitted brows in these exaggerated struggles.” We certainly enjoy this erotic twist on the classics!

Don’t forget to RSVP.

Tame Nor Sane, by Van Arno
Opening Reception – May 11, 2024, 7-11 pm
On View Through June 01, 2024
@ Shooting Gallery Project Space (shootinggallerysf.com/projectspace)
886 Geary Street, San Francisco CA 94109

See more images of Van Arno’s work after the jump. Read more »

Van Arno and Lydia Emily’s mural in LA. Photo courtesy of artist.

Van Arno recently painted a mural in LA with artist Lydia Emily, sponsored by Gucci’s non-profit project Chime for Change – which strives to raise funds and awareness for the betterment of women worldwide. In June, the organization will host The Sound of Change featuring Iggy Azalea and John Legend among many others.

This is the first mural commissioned for the infamous Skid Row, a stretch of the city which is known for its destitution and poverty. The portrait is of a woman named Jessica, who is a survivor of human trafficking. She currently works for the Mary Magdalene Project – an organization which has been helping women leave the sex industry since 1980. Van Arno’s solo show Tame Nor Sane is opening this Saturday in the SG’s Project Space, RSVP here and join us from 7-11pm.

Tame Nor Sane
Opening Reception – May 11, 2024, 7-11 pm
On View Through June 01, 2024
@ Shooting Gallery Project Space
886 Geary
San Francisco, CA

Van Arno is coming to the SG’s Project Space for his new show Tame Nor Sane on May 11. Last October the artist had an eye-catching exhibition entitled Ice Loves Rococo with CHG Circa Gallery, where his uber-mannerist style seamlessly translated into contorted postures redolent of Rococo figures. Keisha Raines covered the exhibition in this post for 12 Oz Prophet, where she commented on the way in which Van Arno twists “his human figures into extreme posture emphasizing his keen ability to create tension, form and shadow.” We can’t wait to see the latest from Van Arno in our project space next Saturday!

Tame Nor Sane
Opening Reception – May 11, 2024, 7-11 pm
On View Through June 01, 2024
@ Shooting Gallery Project Space
886 Geary
San Francisco, CA

View photos Ice Loves Rococo after the jump Read more »

HARD TIMES in Oahu Hawaii from Spencer Keeton Cunningham on Vimeo.

Spencer Keeton Cunningham paints large-scale murals across San Francisco and beyond – his most recent work, Hard Times, is in the scenic isle of Oahu, Hawaii. Artist Jasper Wong, who founded the non-profit Pow!Wow!, arranged the space with the organization  Pangea Seed, which promotes ocean awareness, and its offshoot mural project Sea Walls, which strives to install maritime art in cities. Spencer documented his adventure, as well as the process behind his colorful installation, in a short video and  series of photos. He renders humanoid figures through his distinctive primitivist style and bold compositions. Often his subjects are accompanied by attributive objects, such as bottles, skateboards, and pigeons, that signify an urban landscape. Hard Times displays a hybridized shark/man with severed limbs, bleeding into a bowl of shark fin soup. This confrontational imagery references the systematic destruction of shark species world-wide by the commercial fishing industry. The artist’s work was last featured in the Shooting Gallery‘s Winter Group Show earlier this year.

Follow the jump to see more of Spencer’s installation shots in Oahu! Read more »

The Making of the Painting The Birth of a Jedi

Robert X. Burden has uploaded several time-lapse videos on his Youtube page highlighting his artistic process. He will be opening a solo show Toy Box at the Shooting Gallery on Saturday, May 11. His paintings are as large and ornate as Turkish carpets; much planning and foresight goes into each piece before their execution, where the pattern’s geometry is neatly measured and many base layers are applied before detailing. Burden includes the original figurine that inspired the painting in a compartment along its frame, reminiscent of a reliquary for a saint. Indeed, his paintings do express the reverence and majesty of religious iconography. Burden purposefully re-imbues the plastic toys of his childhood with the glory they once possessed by rendering them in epic proportions and with an enlivening palette.

Toy Box, A Solo Show by Robert Xavier Burden
Opening Reception – Saturday, May 11, 7-11 pm
On View Through June 01, 2024
@ Shooting Gallery (shootinggallerysf.com)
886 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94109

Follow the jump of more time-lapse videos of Burden’s art. Read more »

Mary Iverson, “Crater Lake” Acrylic, Ink, and Magazine Photo on Panel, 11.5×8.25″

Painter Mary Iverson currently has a solo show in the Shooting Gallery’s Project Space called Tangle, where she sets op-art grid against naturalistic landscapes. Wertical just posted this interview with Iverson where she likens the container industry as a metaphorical ‘stacking of chips’ with which capitalism gambles the fate of our resources.

Tangle is showing through May 4, so there is only a few days left to see it. View the rest of the show online here.

Follow the jump for an excerpt form the interview. Read more »

Robert X. Burden did a video interview with Electric Playground that was posted a year ago, where he explains his interest in creating art based upon the cheap, plastic toys from his childhood – as well as the childhoods of everyone who was born during the seventies and eighties. He will be opening his show Toy Box in the Shooting Gallery on Saturday May 11, from 7-11 PM. In the interview, Burden discusses the inherent irony of spending hours to produce large-scale, ornate, and unique representations of a mass produced product. Irony aside, Burden’s work is not solely a commentary on commodification; Burden captures an authentic sense of wonderment in how these toys appeared to the eyes of a child. This is the artist’s first solo show with us, though he was most recently featured in White Walls Winter Group Show back in 2024. We think it’s certainly time for his own exhibition!

Toy Box, A Solo Show by Robert Xavier Burden
Opening Reception – Saturday, May 11, 7-11 pm
On View Through June 01, 2024
@ Shooting Gallery (shootinggallerysf.com)
886 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94109

The non-profit Hospitality House has been serving the Tenderloin since 1967,where they offer social services such as housing and benefits advocacy, harm reduction-based substance use counseling, emergency shelter, money management support, creative expression, and job creation. White Walls and Shooting Gallery have donated pieces by some of our top artists including Chad Hasegawa and Ferris Plock to the Hospitality House’s 28th Annual Art Auction. Over 150 works will be on display from various artists, and the event will feature Shoe Shine Wine from the small, San Francisco micro-winery. Come and enjoy complimentary validated parking at 855 Geary Street Garage, delicous wine and hors d’oeuvres, reception entertainment by the Eric Markowitz Trio, and a wonderful atmosphere for supporting Tenderloin community artists!

Go to Hospitality House’s Facebook page to vote for your favorite artist who will be featured at the auction.

Tickets are still available here.

Event Details:
White Walls and Shooting Gallery
886 Geary Street
San Francisco

Thursday, May 9th from 6 – 9 PM.

View some of the works that White Walls and Shooting Gallery have donated to the Hospitality House’s 28th Annual Art Auction after the jump. Read more »