Artist and curator Jeremy Cross‘ fourth solo exhibit is now on display at the Hyaena Gallery in Los Angeles until the end of the month! With thirty plus works in the house, Cross examines the human condition and its relationship with faith, by placing religious symbols and iconography alongside human body parts. The above piece, It Swallows You, features mixed media and pyrography, the art of decorating wood with the controlled application of a heated object.

www.myspace.com/botchedcross
www.hyaenagallery.com

A documentary started by artist and art promoter Mark Murphy of Murphy Design, Scribble.08 follows the Los Angeles art scene by honing in on the works of artists like the Clayton Brothers, Camille Rose Garcia, Jeff Soto, Kevin Christy, Martha Rich, Tim Biskup, and Joe Sorren (pictured above). Newly edited and reworked, the film features interviews and takes a look into the creative process of these individuals. You can read more about the documentary on Murphy Design’s Blog.

www.murphydesign.com
www.claytonbrothers.com
www.camillerosegarcia.com
www.jeffsoto.com
www.kevinsayshi.com
www.martharich.com
www.timbiskup.com
www.joesorren.com
murphydesign1.blogspot.com

TONIGHT at The Together Gallery in Portland, Oregon: the decorative mixed media works of Evan B. Harris are on display for what will no doubt be an extremely impressive solo show. Utilizing broken boards, oil paints, acrylic paints, charcoal pastels, resin, wax, and many more mediums, Harris creates textured works that recall Victorian eras and ornamental wallpapers. Portland musicians Horse Feathers will also be playing a show on the back patio, to complete the aural/visual picture!

www.togethergallery.com
www.evanbharris.com
www.myspace.com/horsefeathersmusic

Greg Ferris is inspired by machines, architecture, and perhaps the mystical. Combine those things, and you get a shiny new .gif-fy take on what all those things might look like when worked together. Here’s what Ferris had to say about this piece:

“This particular work sprouted out of conversations with a local sea-faring veteran I often encounter during my daily routine. I’m a young man, and he has more than a few lifetimes on me… perhaps save this insight as the foundation for visual dialogue.

All the elements are piled about my studio: the wood blocks photocopied, angular rainbow cut outs, white-out, and the final collage hangs. I put it into the computer, then realized how much more it would convey as a 2 frame .gif animation. Like a circulating perspective, through the sextant? Macro/micro conditions? Not the most conventional medium, but undeniable I think.”

gregferris.info

From now until September 5th, the Distinction Gallery in Escondido, California has an extremely exciting group show that shows off what our world might look like if the mystical was paired with the scientific. Floating objects defying gravity, bodies contorting into miscellaneous shapes, and human limbs that look more like jello are all present in full force.

The lineup includes Sean Chappell (with Renewal 1, above), whose time and space-traversing works are modern surrealism at its best. Also on display are pieces by the whimsical Gene Guynn (with Revolution, left), the charmingly unpolished Joseph Borzotta (with Bittersweet Fruit of Knowledge, bottom left), the conceptually-amazing Andy Haynes (with Overhead the Albatross Hangs Motionless Upon the Air, bottom right), and the pop-surreal Joka (with Do Humans Dream of Organic Peace, below).

But seriously, as if these pieces aren’t exciting enough, there are more amazing pieces by similarly-themed individuals such as the amazing work of Christian Rex Van Minnen (see previous blog post here and twisted story book art of Mark Bryan.

This lineup is definitely ridiculous and shouldn’t be missed if you like the surreal at all. So go check out the Distinction Gallery, NOW!

www.distinctionart.com
www.seanchappell.com
www.geneguynn.com
www.josephborzotta.com
www.andyhaynesart.com
www.myspace.com/joka444
www.seevanminnen.com
www.artofmarkbryan.com

One of Seattle’s newest galleries, Flatcolor Gallery, will be holding a monthly drawing event entitled Drum of the Draw, starting Saturday, August 22nd, from 5:00pm to 8:00pm.

Drum of the Draw will be a live drawing event that brings artists into a public forum where passerbyers can witness works of art from beginning to end.

August’s event features well-known local artists like Joe McSween (2H), Warren Dykeman, Robert Hardgrave, Amy Huddleston, Sean Hurley, Jesse LeDoux, Parskid, Darin Shuler.

The event is the conception of artist Robert Hardgrave, who saw it as an idea to create an intimate art event that bridges the relationship between artists and the community. “I have always enjoyed watching others draw. This sort of event allows folks to take a peek at the creative process, something which is normally inaccessible.” says Hardgrave.

Drawings created during the event will be for sale from 8:00pm to 9:00pm, with low prices ranging from $40 to $200. It will truly be an event that tears down the walls and brings artists face-to-face with a curious community.

www.flatcolor.com
www.flatcolor.com/draw/
www.myspace.com/2hatred
www.warrendykeman.com
www.farmerbobsfarm.com
www.amyhuddleston.com
www.myspace.com/seanedwardhurley
www.ledouxville.com
www.parskid.com
www.darinshuler.com

Tuesday, August 11th, Seattle artists D.K. Pan, NKO, and Holly Brown will be undergoing a 24-hour project that merges art with the literature of famed Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami. The performance / reading of Murakami’s A Wild Sheep Chase will unfold as one pens the exterior of a box truck, another types the text on an endless scroll of paper, and the third reads the novel atop the truck. The reading begins at 11:00am and will continue through the night, until morning.

An overnight event sponsored by Seattle’s ArtsParks program, the performance will be a test of endurance and dedication. Five Murakami-related site-specific performances have been slated to run from June through October, with the following artists and art organizations conducting them: Doug Jeck, dk pan / nko rey, 826 Seattle, Steve and Katie Messick with Orchestra Seattle, and Gina Coffman with Seth Damm and Kristin Ougendal.