MAD WORLD
Above artist: John Casey
Los Angeles curators, IDOLWILD, consorts with San Francisco’s Luna Rienne Gallery and Keystone Art Gallery to bring an exhibition of emotive syndrome. Mad World revels in the artist’s psyche, complex moments where the artist felt compelled to make visual commentaries on their personal convictions both in the physical and metaphysical realms. The world is forever in flux and overwhelmed by constant information, it is a reflection of humanity today. In order to make sense of it all this exhibit explores the unsettling expressions of chaos, curiosity and tranquility by artists Scott Greenwalt, John Casey, Norm Maxwell, Mack Hill, Eric Curtis and Micke Tong. The exhibition opens on September 27 and remains on view October 9, 2018. An opening reception will take place on Saturday, September 29th from 7:00pm until 11:00pm.
Show will run: Sept. 27-Oct.9: Monday-Friday 11am-5pm & by appointment.
Opening Reception Saturday, Spet.29
Where: Keystone Art Gallery: 338 S. Avenue 16 | Los Angeles, CA 90031
When: Saturday, March 21, 2015 (Opening Reception) Start Time: 7pm End Time: 11pm URL: www.keystoneartspace.com | idolwild.com Phone: Micke Tong designastronaut@gmail.com or text 415-424-6538 Free Event / Plenty of parking / Refreshments + Light snacks will be served.
Scott Greenwalt contemplates the inevitable rise and demise of complex systems throughout history, his work explores notions of a manipulated, beautified world on the constant verge of collapse. He envisions moments in time that reflect a tumult lurking just beneath the surface, threatening to rupture with magnificent force. A place where spiritual effluvia roam’s through space, leaving behind husks of the living things it once occupied, where new forms of life will again flourish with time.
John Casey has been exploring open-ended narratives. Using mostly a portrait format, he taps into his subconscious and psychological brain space, to conjure loose metaphors and symbols, and weaves them into compelling characters. Some of these beings represent a kind of psychological self-portrait. Others represent people he has encountered throughout his lifetime, friends, neighbors, and generally everyday folks. Often these characters are amalgamations. These beings are not specific portraits, more like the impression of various people. The character’s life-story is left open to interpretation, inviting the viewer into the story-telling process. The results are what appear to be damaged or vulnerable beings, but a second look reveals complex and sensitive spirits, more like enthusiastic upstarts, rather than rejects or troublemakers.
Norm “Nomzee” Maxwell was a visual artist whose education came via the streets (Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles) and the Hussian School Of Art. His combination of urban upbringing and fine art training resulted stylistically in an esoteric combination of color, light, and subject matter. Culturally, Maxwell was a quintessential urban contemporary artist, with a portfolio that included graffiti, street wear design, club flyer and album art, graphic design, set design, and fine art painting. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 47.
Mack Hill culls from a long list of influences – Kricfalusi to Kubrick, Bakshi to Bass, Darrow to Daguerre, Hubley to Harryhausen, Twain to… – his approach to art, animation and visual development lingers through time and meanders across media. With a process that traverses back and forth between the digital and the analog worlds incorporating illustration, painting, photography, collage, printmaking and design – the symbiotic end result remains both harmonious and tense. Thematically and visually self-reflective of contemporary society and all of it’s fame and follies, notions of nostalgia across both the urban and suburban landscapes are present allowing an off kilter and inquisitive, sometimes disturbing, fond familiarity to exist. Alternate and fantastical realities with pop cultural homages coupled with the sting from a crack upon the world’s funny bone are presented. A hand drawn style of animation placed among photographic elements, found imagery, graphic shapes and painterly marks creates a tone and narrative about us and the spaces we inhabit.
Eric Curtis: Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Eric moved to California after college and lives in LA, where he has photographed such Hollywood notables as David Lynch, Danny Glover, rocker Tommy Lee, the bands My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park, and rapper Method Man. Eric’s unique approach to photography emphasizes bringing studio lighting to the outside world, which allows him to dictate the terms of the environment he’s shooting.
Micke H. Tong works in a variety of mediums, including sculpture, digital, drawing, performance and installation. His work focuses on otherworldly historic manipulations. Tong completed his BFA at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, in New Media in 2000. His work has been exhibited at galleries both nationally and internationally. More recently his series, “No Space, No Time”, has been shown at Think Tank Gallery, Los Angeles, and the Orange Country Center of Contemporary Art in Santa Ana, California. He lives in Los Angeles, California and is a resident artist at Keystone Art Space in the Lincoln Heights district.
