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The Shooting Gallery

December 12 - January 3, 2010

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839 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA 94109
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Lifetime Companions
Opening December 12th 2009 7-11pm The Shooting Gallery is proud to present Lifetime Companions, new works by Travis Louie. This will mark Louie’s first major solo show at The Shooting Gallery with fifteen intimate portraits. Please join us for the opening reception of Lifetime Companions on Saturday, December 12th 2009, from 7-11 pm. Travis Louie’s portraits are developed from another time and reality. They entice the viewers bringing them a step closer to the imagination of a man whose stories are as wondrous as his paintings. Referencing bits of particular moments, journal entries and obscure facts; Louie creates haunting dreamlike creatures. Dressed in pea coats, top hats and other Victorian fashions the otherworldly beings possess odd human characteristics. Some of their origins are a complete mystery while others are hinted at. A man is cursed by a goat, an engine driver can’t seem to stop vibrating in his sleep, a man overcomes his phobia of spiders, or a groomsman’s head mysteriously shrinks on his wedding day. In this particular collection, most of the paintings are family portraits of people attending weddings and formal events. The visual style of Travis Louie’s work is strongly influenced by the lighting and atmosphere of German Expressionist and Film Noir motion pictures from the Silent Era to the late 1950’s. Films from directors like F W Murnau, Fritz Lang, Orson Welles, Robert Siodmak, Robert Aldrich, Jacque Tourneur, and cinematographer, Greg Toland, has a great effect on the way his paintings to look. To achieve the dramatic “mood” he sets for his paintings, the works are produced primarily in black and white or limited color. He uses acrylic paints over tight graphite drawings on smooth grounds, such as “plate” finish illustration board or finely sanded, primed wood panels. When he is not painting, his time is spent writing in his notebooks and journals. Many little drawings and sketches are made from those writings, most of which are less than ten centimeters square. Please join us for the opening reception of Lifetime Companions on Saturday, December 12th 2009, from 7-11pm. This event runs through January 2nd 2010, and is open to the public.