While snooping around the SF ARTMrkt fair last month, we stumbled upon a tiny treasure of a painting by Rachell Sumpter. Like a small shiny gem sparkling in a mine, the painting called out and drew us in.
Looking at Bob Recine’s book ‘Alchemy of Beauty’ it becomes apparent that to label Bob just “a hair artist” would be a travesty. Bob is an artist of many hats – a makeup and hair artist, fashion designer, an installation artist and a sculptor.
The recent advertising campaign Discover the Full Story, designed by Saatchi & Saatchi Moscow, comprises a series of incredible illusions of iconic Russian architecture. The upper part of each image is a detailed rendering of a famous building and at ground level, imagination takes over, portraying a fantastic underground city deep in the bowels of the earth.
Almost as if it were planned, an electrical explosion in a nearby manhole during the grand opening exhibition was an apt symbol for the impact that Bash is likely to make on the San Francisco art scene. Bash Contemporary’s Grand Opening dominates because of the high level of praise we have for every single piece of art selected for their inaugural show. Full of many familiar artists, the selections are surreal, proficient, imaginative works full of vision and symbolism. There’s nothing boring or mundane here. It’s one killer vision after another.
Camille Rose Garcia is one of today’s top artists, creating surreal fantasies of darkly narrative works which pack a graphic and mindful punch. Her works are a trip into her own twisted theme park, a riot with neons and pastels, layered depth and contrasting dripping blacks. At any given moment – circus stripes, dashes of glitter, dangerous icicles or swirling highlights may surround her personas, alive with dreamy visions and forest critters. Creepy cartoon children and dancing polar bears are found fighting against a polluted wasteland and corporate greed. Sometimes, her signature hand lettering will add worded perspective in a warped and wonderful way.
Adrienne Slane creates kaleidoscopic collages, carefully orchestrated and arranged mosaic inspired imagery. Each piece is composed using the white background as a frame, highlighting the individual element and uniting them all into the overall final design. Influenced by vintage, sacred and anatomical themes – they work together like the tiles in a mosiac, beautifully intricate and engaging works.
