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Project One Presents: Ceci n’est pas une Galerie ContemporaryPost an Event »

Project One

May 3 - June 3, 2012

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http://p1sf.com

251 Rhode Island St. San Francisco, 94103

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Project One Presents: Ceci n’est pas une Galerie Contemporary

Lee Harvey Roswell, The Light Pours Out of Me

Opening Reception: Thursday, May 3rd, 2012, 7:00pm with special guests DJ Felix the Dog, Manicure Versace & iNKa Siefker Project One Gallery is proud to present Ceci n’est pas une Galerie, a tribute to Surrealism’s continuing impact on contemporary art. Though the Surrealist movement dates back to the early 1920s, its powerful influence can be found in any work that seeks to transform consciousness and inspire imagination through absurdity, non sequitur, juxtaposition, and surprise. Viewers are invited to ask themselves, if this is not a gallery, what is it? Ceci n’est pas une Galerie creates an opportunity to lose oneself in an idiosyncratic dreamworld wherein the ordinary and familiar are left behind in order to delve into the extraordinary and unknown. Beyond our preconceived notions of established meaning, awash in symbolism, unafraid of madness, we are momentarily immersed in infinite possibility. Deconstructed, captivatingly detailed landscapes by Ricky Watts and Justin Margitich play with our impressions of space and depth, while the three-dimensional oddities of Aline Dargie and Jeff Schomberg provoke interactive wonder. Robert Bowen, Lee Harvey Roswell, Vladimir Kush, and John Hundt present various depictions of women, allowing viewers to examine their own interpretations of femininity, whether inherent or projected. These artworks usher us into the alternate universe of the unconscious mind, encompassing the nightmarish and the sublime. By embracing the peculiar, the uncanny, the disconcerting, and the strange, we gain insight into the depths of our own minds and, perhaps, evolve our understanding of reality. Robert Bowen - A visual artist living and working in San Francisco, Robert Bowen got his start through graffiti and street art, and went on to attend art school and obtain a classical education as a painter. "Robert Bowen’s work is a strange, swirling brew of colorful contradiction that is not easy to define or even understand, but that seems quite the point. Throughout his body of work, Bowen takes familiar iconography and handily corkscrews it with his own unique brand of humor and distinct painting style. Bowen’s ability to re-appropriate contradictory symbols into unsettling situations puts him in league with greats like Ron English, and Andy Warhol. He continues to walk the line between charming humor and blasphemous sarcasm with symbolic imagery that leaves the viewer both curious and confused." -Stacey Ransom www.robertbowenart.com John Hundt - John Hundt is a painter/collage artist that uses old source materials to make images that call into question topics dealing with God, Afterlife, the Human condition and their relationships and other such themes. John lives and works in San Francisco with his wife and their four terriers. www.johnhundt.com Ricky Watts - San Francisco native Ricky Watts currently works out of his Sebastopol California studio as an illustrator, painter and graphic designer. A primarily self-taught artist, Watts learned color theory and technique while experimenting with spray paint as a teenager. Since 2004 he has shown in galleries in San Francisco, Oakland, New York City, Los Angeles, Portland, and San Diego, and his art has been featured in numerous international print and web publications. www.rickywatts.com Lee Harvey Roswell - Lee Harvey Roswell is a self-taught artist from Freefall, New York, whose work is noted for its blend of angst and humor. Themes of death and entropy, tribulation and futility run amok in his distinctly surreal, often-slapstick/ often-nightmarish world. The result is at once mocking and melancholic. For the past decade plus his attention has turned almost exclusively to oil painting, though it's always a surprise what direction he'll steer things next. Lee now lives in San Francisco, and his work is shown, collected and published internationally. www.leeharveyroswell.com Aline Dargie - Aline Dargie is the co-founder and curator of Make Hang’s textiles gallery, studio and woodshop - a unique space where 3 dimensional, tactile art is explored and made. Since its founding in June 2010, this innovative space for creativity and community engagement has had numerous parties and exhibitions by various Bay Area emerging artists. Aline has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Textiles from California College of the Arts, she weaves and exhibits her textiles everywhere she sails and travels. Aline's Air Warp series is inspired by sailing over ocean swell flooding through the Golden Gate Bridge, layered with San Francisco’s fog rolling over her hills, burning into skies. Air Warp weavings are light and airy, draping from walls and ceilings, like fog blanketing waves floating into horizons. www.alinedargie.com Vladimir Kush - Vladimir Kush was born in Russia, in a one-story wooden house near the Moscow forest-park Sokolniki. At the age of seven Vladimir began to attend art school until late evening where he became acquainted with the works of great artists of the Renaissance, famous Impressionists, and Modern Artists. Vladimir entered the Moscow Higher Art and Craft School at age 17, but a year later he was conscripted. After six months of military training the unit commander thought it more appropriate to employ him exclusively for peaceful purposes, namely, painting propaganda posters. After military service and graduating the Institute of Fine Arts, Vladimir painted portraits on Arbat Street to support his family during the hard times in Russia. In the year 1987, Vladimir began to take part in exhibitions organized by the Union of Artists. At a show in Coburg, Germany in 1990, nearly all his displayed paintings sold and after closing the exhibition he flew to Los Angeles where 20 of his works were exhibited and began his “American Odyssey.” In Los Angeles, Kush worked in a small, rented home garage, but was unable to find a place to display his paintings. He earned money by drawing portraits on the Santa Monica pier and eventually was able to purchase a ticket to his “Promised Land,” Hawaii. In 1993, a dealer from France noticed the originality of Kush’s work and organized an exhibition in Hong Kong. Success surpassed all expectations. In 1995, a new exhibition in Hong Kong at the Mandarin Fine Art Gallery brought more success. In 1997 he had a new start in the USA exhibiting in the galleries in Lahaina, Hawaii and in Seattle. In 2001 Kush opened his first gallery, Kush Fine Art in Lahaina, Hawaii. He now has 4 gallery locations in the USA with future plans to open more galleries around the world. www.vladimirkush.com Jeff Schomberg - Jeff creates large-scale installation pieces as well as some functional objects, smaller sculptural pieces and even a few vehicles. Through these manifestations, this versatile artist addresses sustainability as he collects artifacts from our throw-away culture and integrates them with steel. Schomberg also enjoys the interaction between these found objects and those that he has concocted. These sculptures offer a playful familiarity as everyday objects compose themselves on a wall or an old bolt extends appendages and comes to life. www.jeffschomberg.com Justin Margitich - "Disassembling Landscape" is part of a body of work made by imitating the techniques and language of digital construction to produce a visual space. Early computers and especially video games used the scrolling repetition of images in a flat, or isometric, perspective to create a space of movement. Applying this idea, and extracting directly from the jargon of code and game design, 'sprites' or icons of natural shapes are created to form drawings and to form a sort of lexicon which can be used in later drawings. They are influenced by a much discussed idea of the sublime in nature. They also reflect a contemporary idea of sublimity, one in which technology is compared to the overwhelming complexity and wonder associated with the natural world. Justin Margitich received his BFA from California College of the Arts in 2008 and is finishing his first year of studying for an MFA at San Francisco Art Institute. He shows in numerous galleries around the Bay Area. www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/86658-justin-margitich

John Hundt, Botanical Figure

Ricky Watts, Symphony of Perception