Take an inquisitive peek into the life and work of that most obscure Spanish master, Francisco Goya, and you will find there demons and curiosities that go well beyond the canvas. That happens when one takes risks, going against the standards of his day. Throughout his career-- which at it's most prestigious and audacious was as courtier to King Ferdinand VII, then Napoleon’s nepotistic implant, King Joseph Bonaparte, and then again to an astonishingly forgiving Ferdinand-- Goya always did things his way. During his tapestry period, he composed scenes that fell blatantly outside the flowery guidelines of the medium. His later portraits for the royal family were subtle mockeries of the paintings' subjects. His notorious Nude Maja was even stripped of her background, and what's more her eyes-- those wanton eyes of the Maja-- looked directly at the viewer! All aesthetic faux-pas in the days of the late 1700s, but Goya got away with it every time, no matter what the "it" was. And his Black Paintings-- those dense, and eerie Black Paintings for which he is now perhaps best known-- those "its" were never even intended for a viewing public.

This September 9th the Shooting Gallery will be unveiling it's own unique exhibit of curiosities, demons, witches, and grotesques, Lee Harvey Roswell's Red Paintings. In this thirteen piece series of interpretations from Goya's various periods, Lee Harvey Roswell is once again reshuffling the cards, and it's no coincidence that he should play his latest hand here at the Shooting Gallery. Out of nowhere Lee hit the San Francisco art scene in the beginning of 2003, and his first acquaintance within that scene was none other than Shooting Gallery owner and curator, Justin Giarla. Now, in his eleventh appearance at the gallery, Lee Harvey Roswell continues to defy the pigeonholes many of his contemporaries have fallen into with another round of visual delirium.

Of course, every good painter-- regardless of how erratic their periodic shifts-- has some trademark thread that stitches together their life's work as a continual pursuit, and the Red Paintings are thankfully in this sense no exception. Lee Harvey Roswell is an admittedly incurable surrealist, and as such his collective homage to Goya is scattered with the irrational assassinations he's become known for. In all truth, it doesn't matter whether you're a text book scholar on art history, or completely oblivious to the works of Francisco Goya. The Red Paintings are decidedly personal Roswellian intrigues, and beyond the historical insight these works offer, it's that intimacy, and that enigma, that make it an exhibit not to be missed.

Opening reception: Friday September 9th. 2005 - 7pm to 11pm

Showing through: October 1 st, 2005

The Shooting Gallery
839 Larkin St.
San Francisco Ca 94109
415-931-8035
www.shootinggallerysf.com