Tag: oil

Interview with Pakayla Biehn on Hi-Fructose

Hi-Fructose caught up with our girl Pakayla Biehn to pick her brain on her most recent collection of painting. Check out what Miss Biehn had to say about integrating technology into her artistic process, personal inspiration, childhood embarrassments and what to expect from her next!

“Initially the double exposure effect was a direct image of what I experienced, but as I explored the theme more I began to discover a multitude of transcendental issues within the work. Most importantly the passage of time and thought, the eternal and durable, sustainability versus impermanence; these images very much serve as a metaphor for my relationships. Things that are usually, but don’t necessarily have to be, mutually exclusive.

These paintings are already visually confusing and I think that the only honest and clear way to paint them is photorealism. Coming from a mathematics background, I’m most familiar with having a final product known and plugging my variables in to create an equation that is coherent.” Read the entire post here.

10.28.2011 // Leave a comment // Link →

Alchemist new works by Scott Greenwalt

On Exhibit: November 12th – December 17th, 2011

Opening Reception: November 12th, 2011 from 6-10pm

Gallery Hijinks is proud to present Alchemist, an exhibition of paintings and manipulated portraiture by Oakland based artist, Scott Greenwalt. This most recent collection of works showcases figurative and literal exploration of the unseen moments of transmutation. Please join us for the opening reception on November 12th, 2011, from 6-10pm.

Alchemist depicts the abstracted nature of change, a metamorphosis, seemingly slowed down, broken apart, and frozen in the exact moment before everything unifies to resemble something familiar. Greenwalt’s grotesque paintings draw upon theories similar to the medieval sciences of alchemy, which attempt to realize the concepts of constant transformation, decay, and mutation of all elements that encompass life.

Grounded in traditional formats of landscape and portraiture, the artist creates large-scale acrylic paintings on canvas and wood panel. The dark rich color fields in which Greenwalt’s portraits exist serve to eliminate the context from which they manifested, as if floating within a void. Red drapery hangs from the unrecognizable forms, obscuring their unknown physical state. Vast landscapes are swarmed by alchemical and supernatural phenomenon. Coinciding with the paintings, the artist experiments with prints of iconic portraiture, using viscous semi-transparent adhesives to distort and disguise the human face beyond recognition.

Inspired by the great works of Francis Bacon, Hieronymus Bosch, and Chuck Close the artist professes “I am faced with the challenge of abstracting something that didn’t exist yet. Ratherthan breaking down the existing image into abstract units, I am trying to herd disparate abstract units into an understandable, yet alien image.” Growing up watching 1980’s sci-fi and horror films was an obvious influence on the artist’s overall aesthetic, citing the work done by special effects make-up artist Rob Bottin on John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ as the single greatest influence on Greenwalt’s perspective.

Missouri born Greenwalt has exhibited steadily since 1997, after completing his first degree from Central Missouri, then moving to California to acquire his Masters from CCA. He currently resides in Oakland, California.

Alchemist, by Scott Greenwalt opens November 12th and runs through December 17th, 2011. This event is open to the public.

10.13.2011 // Leave a comment // Link →

Studio Visit: Scott Greenwalt

Last week we took a trip to visit Scott Greenwalt in his Oakland art studio. We caught him in the midst of preparing for his upcoming solo exhibition titled Alchemist, opening November 2011 at Gallery Hijinks.

The works have a sense of chaos, grotesque, scientific phenomenon combined with a mutation of both uncertain origin and destiny. Check out some snapshots we grabbed of the works in progress ranging from small paper pieces to large paintings on wood panel and canvas.

09.21.2011 // 1 Comment // Link →

(t)here new works by Pakayla Biehn

On Exhibit: October 8th – November 5th, 2011

Opening Reception: October 8th, 2011 from 6-10pm

Gallery Hijinks is proud to present (t)here, a solo exhibition by Pakayla Biehn. Featuring new photorealistic multiple-exposure paintings that revisit the cognitive distinction between authenticity and abstraction while utilizing the suggestive combination of critical and substantial realism. Please join us for the opening reception on October 8th, 2011 from 6-10pm.

Building upon the double exposure theme of her previous works, Pakayla uses oil paint on canvas to present dream-like transfiguration of the natural world. The skill and refined beauty of her paintings enlists a realist style that recalls the delicacy, formality, and craftsmanship of old master techniques. She combines the cultivation of the portrait with a very intimate and vibrant observation of nature.

The artist is concerned with themes of ephemerality, melancholy, and the marriage of subjective experience and beauty. Pakayla’s process treats her subjects with a modern approach; the dual imagery provides the viewer with the sense of historical substance or the artist’s version of it.

Pakayla displays the unique potential to capture her subjects in inextricable moments that appear to straddle two worlds at once, that in which we exist and another slightly beyond our comprehension. These indistinct figures lend to the imagination with soft color, faint texture, and shrouded focus, offering the viewer a chance to finish the story that has been laid before them.

(t)here: a point where emotional complexity, dreams and reality are unified in a solo exhibition by Pakayla Biehn. Showing October 8th through November 5th, 2011. This event is open to the public.

09.09.2011 // Leave a comment // Link →

SF Weekly write-up on Beau Stanton

SF Weekly did a blog post today on some of the pieces in Beau Stanton‘s upcoming exhibition, Sanguine Machine. Here’s a little quote from the article, you can read the entire post on the SF Weekly website here.

When it comes to surrealism, we can’t help but moon over artists who produce such detailed and complex pieces that we think to ourselves “Holy guacamole, what am I even looking at?” It’s astounding what the human mind is capable of transferring onto a canvas, just take Beau Stanton’s 19th century letterpress-inspired paintings.

08.18.2011 // Leave a comment // Link →

Sanguine Machine new works by Beau Stanton

On Exhibit: September 3rd– September 24th, 2011

Opening Reception: September 3rd, 2011 from 6-11pm

Gallery Hijinks is proud to present Sanguine Machine: Antediluvian Artifacts from Futures Past, a solo exhibition by Beau Stanton. This collection of paintings is heavily influenced by the relationship between destruction and creation, the end of a cycle, and the beauty that can be found in its degradation. Please join us for the opening reception on September 3rd, 2011 from 6-10pm.

In Sanguine Machine Beau Stanton takes an optimist’s approach to the apocalypse. He explores the dynamic between graphic iconography and classicism, juxtaposing destructive imagery with the aesthetic excess of Victorianism. The collection provides visual touchstones for the viewer through iconic symbols that hold esoteric meaning revealing a complex narrative.

The work combines classical oil painting with intricate silkscreen patterns inspired by pre-modern architecture, ornamentation, letterpress printing designs, and decayed infrastructure. In search for historical reference, Stanton begins his artistic process by exploring abandoned 19th century sites around the greater New York City area. He collects photos and artifacts from these places to create a foundation for a compelling image. The initial drawing and designs are combined into single silk screens that are used to formulate the composition. After the ornate environments are completed, he then goes on to render the entire piece in oil paint. Combining letterpress designs with masterful oil painting techniques, Stanton manipulates focus, light and perspective.

A member of the third generation of Pop Surrealism, Stanton hails from California and is influenced heavily by Realist painters Andrew Wyeth and Alphonse Mucha as well as the Aesthetic Movement of the late 19th Century. He relocated to New York after graduation in 2008, and has since been mentored by New York Pop Surrealist Ron English. He has also curated pop-up exhibitions in both New York and Los Angeles and has shown work with Ad Hoc Art, Opera New York, and Last Rites Galleries.

Sanguine Machine: Antediluvian Artifacts from Futures Past opens September 3rd and runs through September 24th, 2011 and is open to the public. For more information on the exhibition or Beau Stanton please visit galleryhijinks.com or email us at info@galleryhijinks.com

08.16.2011 // Leave a comment // Link →

Point of Vision new works by Gregory Ito

On Exhibit: August 6th – August 27th, 2011

Opening Reception: August 6th, 2011 from 6-10pm

Gallery Hijinks is proud to present Point of Vision, a collection of painting, sculpture, and installation by Gregory Ito. In this new body of work Gregory continues his exploration of the concept of time, broadening his focus from lunar cycles to the cycle of a day, or rather everyday, from dawn to dusk and back again. Please join us for the opening reception on August 6th, 2011 from 6-10pm.

Throughout our humanly existence, time is depicted through the sequenced deconstruction of the constant relationship between night and day. The relationship we hold with the Sun, Moon, and Earth has been an evolution of ideas that continues to the days of contemporary society. The tools we use to define time have changed from Stone Hedge to the modern day calendar.

Gregory Ito’s current body of work is a reflection of human perception of these shifts presented through the mediums of painting, sculpture, and installation. The images he creates depict new ways to visually understand the concept of time, and use the celestial forms: Sun, Moon, and Earth, as reference points to the relationships that are discussed within each piece. The body of work carries this dialogue of our human connection with the linear progression forward into the future.

The atmosphere of a space also plays a crucial role in the presentation of ideas like these. Awnings and shrine like architecture is present in many installations, to aid in the construction of sacred space. Sacred space is commonly used to house ideas that are much larger than our collective consciousness, and are extremely difficult to grasp. Ito’s constructions of sacred space are intended to contain the concept of time and the ideas related that shift our human perception of time, and create new avenues of understanding.

“My work is my intention to transcend an individual to a basic way of looking at the world we live in, and the universe we are part of. I hope to reveal the value and power we have to seek the true reasons we are living for. It is to inspire people to grow together.” -Gregory Ito

Gregory received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2008. He is Co-Founder of the Ever Gold Gallery, and Co-Founder/Editor of The San Francisco Arts Quarterly (SFAQ). He currently works and lives in San Francisco.

Point of Vision opens August 6th and runs through August 27th, 2011 and is open to the public. For more information on the exhibition or Gregory Ito please email us at info@galleryhijinks.com.

07.13.2011 // Leave a comment // Link →

Studio Vist with Gregory Ito

Last week we stopped by Gregory Ito’s art studio in the SOMA district of San Francisco. We took a quick peek as he builds a new collection of work titled Point of Vision opening this August 2011. The body of work comprised of paintings, sculpture, and installation are very much influenced by the concept of time, and use the celestial forms: Sun, Moon, and Earth. “My work is my intention to transcend an individual to a basic way of looking at the world we live in, and the universe we are part of. I hope to reveal the value and power we have to seek the true reasons we are living for. It is to inspire people to grow together.”-Gregory Ito

Luna the cat.

07.05.2011 // Leave a comment // Link →

The New Guard

We received the latest issue of 7×7 Magazine yesterday and are pleased to be in company with new art galleries such as Baer Rigdgway, Ever Gold, Guerro Gallery and McLoughlin Gallery. As 7×7′s Allison McCarthy states, “Wake up: It’s art o’clock. We peek into five of the city’s newest galleries to find out what they’re showing, which local artists their watching, and how to start your own collection here and now.”

If you get a chance to pick up the July 2011 issue, make sure to check out The New Guard feature on Gallery Hijinks, page 60.

06.07.2011 // Leave a comment // Link →

Robert Minervini’s Paintings & Opening Reception Pics

We had a great time at the opening of Sunken Dreams by Robert Minervini and we hope you did too. We are psyched out of our minds because we love his work so much. We had an awesome opening reception, thanks to all you who made it out and we are looking forward to spending the rest of the month with Minervini’s work! We would like to take this time to show you some of his past paintings mixed with some new. Enjoy