Giuseppe Gonella (b.1984) is a painter now living in NYC via Italy. We like.
Gonella Giuseppe (b.1984 Motta di Livenza, Italy) graduated in 2008 from the Academy of Fine arts in Venice (Italy), and lives and works between Venice and New York. Recent solo exhibitions include “Suspended Oscillation” at the 263 Bowery Gallery, New York, Usa (2011); “La Cosa Più Pericolosa da Fare è Rimanere Immobili “ Changing Role Gallery, Naples, Italy (2010); “Personal” Changing Role Gallery, Venice, Italy (2009); Wandering Stuff “ Changing Role Gallery, Rome, Italy (2009); “My space “ S. Gregorio Art Gallery,Venice, Italy (2008). Recent group exhibitions "The Kicking Boot", Le Sorelle Multifunctional Art Space, London,UK(2011); "Luci sorgenti 2" Museo Civico, Cascia, Italy (2010); "Liquida prewiew" Santa Caterina Museum, Treviso, Italy (2010); "Suspance" Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, Venice, Italy (2010). Among the group exhibitions past, The Hockney Gallery, London, UK; The Bluetenweiss, Berlin; The Assab One, Milan, Italy; Permanente, Milan and the Am Roten Hof, Vienna.
Here in Brazil there a lot of projects that have been sponsored by the government, but don't think that the process to make it happen is easy, it is quite the opposite. Imaterial is the conceptual project of Brazilian artists Bruno Kurru and Marília Coelho. Have a look at the official text from the project, and check out the website itself. It's an amazing mental and visual experience.
An endless website. As Bruno Kurru and Marília Coelho believe, endless like our souls. How does one transfer a dancing soul to digital media? That was the challenge of the project Imaterial, sponsored by the Brazilian Culture Ministry.
Both artists believe that the aesthetic, and ethical dimension of art works are deeply connected to the artist that create it, and that is why all life attitudes, conscious or not, reflect directly through the creation.
This consciousness about life, about I/the other/around is to them the Spirituality. These last years they are trying to re-connect with it, and they found a strong connection with Kandinsky's words from the book "Concerning the Spiritual In Art" 1910. This is where their inspiration came from.
During the process, neither separated from their individual lives. They went deep into the concept, certain that it would make them better humans beings (even though they were already an amazing couple in life, and in their respective arts). They became more conscious, they became people that pass on mutual respect, people that search to get out of contemporary anxiety, instead sharing the love for everything around them. Those very important virtues permeate all the choices of the project.
The website was built as a blog, without size limits, where content is posted individually. Content can also be deleted, changed, over posted, etc. For this reason the website is endless, and every time you visit it, you have the chance to see entirely new content, and new aesthetic situations.
What makes me super excited about the website is that the I can directly interact with the content, reorganizing the way I want. It's great to get lost, or to find yourself there, finding yourself in unknown places, open, and flexible to new ideas. It is a direct reflection of the work process, and the lives of the couple, and artists Bruno Kurru and Marília Coelho.
Justin Angelos (living in Santa Cruz via Los Angeles) emailed over some recent collage works. We like his work which is inspired by, in his words: found and discarded objects collected in abandoned houses, vacant lots, roadsides and second hand stores. Primitive culture, the animal world and today’s fast paced and disposable society continue to add fuel to his work.
Midnight on the Sun
Works by Jay Howell & Mark Whalen (KIll Pixie)
Opening: Saturday, February 18th (6-9pm)
San Francisco's FFDG is excited to announce the opening reception for MIDNIGHT ON THE SUN featuring over 60 new paintings by Los Angeles based artists Jay Howell & Mark Whalen (Kill Pixie). An opening reception will be held on Saturday February 18, 2012 (6-9pm). Also on the same night be a zine release for Jay Howell's newest zine THE DARK WAVE published by Unpiano Books & Mt.St.Mtn. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
To be added to the preview, email: info(at)ffdg.net
About Jay Howell
"Artist Jay Howell has been a strong presence in the Bay Area for the past few years (now living and working in Los Angeles), sharpening his cartoon-style drawings of skinny guys with erections, naked chicks on skateboards, dogs, beer, rockers, and endless good times. His art manages to be whimsical and crude at the same time, but above all damn right funny. His zine Punks Git Cut, and animated series called "The Forest City Rockers,” have deservingly earned him a devoted following. While “Forest City Rockers” seemed like the apex in punk rock cartoons, he’s taken things even further by developing the characters for Fox’s latest Sunday night animated sitcom, "Bob’s Burgers.” Produced by Loren Bouchard, best known for creating Comedy Central's "Dr. Katz Professional Therapist" and Adult Swim’s "Home Movies," "Bob’s Burgers’ about a family that runs a fumbling burger joint. Howell’s style and humor are a perfect match for the team, earning him a well deserved place alongside animation greats. Howell is currently in production developing a show for Nickelodeon." -Justine Sharrock, 2011
About Mark Whalen (Kill Pixie)
From his beginnings in Sydney, Australia, Mark Whalen has evolved into an artist whose meticulously crafted paintings and sculptures examine the human experience by exploring communication, emotion, sexuality, invention, interaction, and ritual - all with an undercurrent of quiet absurdity. Whalen’s line precision and glowing color palette is enhanced by the introduction of colors of light, caution and arousal, making the interaction of his subjects more accentuated and accessible. Thick, seductive layers of clear glossy resin create a post-modern plane for the artist to explore spatial possibilities and relativity within the narrative.
Whalen has evolved into an artist whose meticulously executed paintings now have a prominent place in galleries around the world. He was also included in 2009's Apocalypse Wow! Exhibition at MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, Italy, and 2010's SPACE INVADERS Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia. His work has also appeared in publications such as Juxtapoz, Modart Europe, Lodown, Arkitip, Art Ltd., Anthem, and Monster Children. He currently lives and paints in Los Angeles California.
Mark Whalen (Kill Pixie)
"Untitled 1"
2011, acrylic, ink, gouache, and resin on paper on wood panel
8" x 5"
Jay Howell
"Ramp Line Up"
2011, acrylic, ink, and gouache on paper.
8" x 5"
---
The exhibition is open to the public and will be on view from February 18, 2012 - March 24, 2012. Gallery hours are as follow: Wednesday - Saturday 1pm - 6:00pm. And by appointment. FFDG is located at 2277 Mission Street, San Francisco CA 94110 For more information or to request a preview of the available work please contact the gallery at info(at)ffdg.net
Just finished my first new piece since taking off for almost 6 months to travel and be a bum. It's for a tribute show at BeepBeep Gallery in ATL. The show is a tribute to Brian Eno's Another Green World album, with a different artist interpreting each song off the album. I was lucky enough to get my favorite track, In Dark Trees. -Matt Relkin
A large selection of NYC based Dennis McNett's woodcut prints, sculptural forms, wall installations, paper mache masks in mythical and animalistic creations come to AR4T Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA with an opening set for Saturday, Feb 4th. Here's a little bit of a taste.
Dennis held a one day show @FFDG back in '09 as part of our In-N-Out series. Photos.
In the holy fucking shit category: If this is true, Dave (who was in Fecal Face's 10 yr. show), don't forget us little guys when you're fucking loaded... Mind boggling. Completely fucking awesome. Cash out, Dave and buy some art at FFDG.
Hey, you heard about the graffiti artist who accepted Facebook shares instead of cash for painting the walls of the social network’s Palo Alto headquarters back in 2005, and now owns stock that is expected to be worth maybe $200 million later this year? Well, here’s an old YouTube video of the artist, David Choe, working on his murals with an able assist from a little-known guy named Mark Zuckerberg. ~ Story via SFGate.
Choe painting up Facebook back in 2005.
So nutty that now we can say we know a multimillionaire!
Japanese artist Mikito Ozeki (b.1976) should team up with San Francisco's Adam5100... Speaking of Adam. You see our studio visit we did with him? Lots of Xacto blades. Don't know how those hands and wrists can put up with it.
As cool as it is to be nostalgic about an artist's past, you don't have to hold onto it. Especially since there are people like C.R. Stecyk creating works in the now with even more punch than they had 30 years ago - a trait that can only be attributed to the character of a true artist. In fact, he's just made a new experimental film named "FIN", that's packed full of the elements of culture and spirit which have always fascinated Stecyk and his fans.
The film will be premiering at H Space Gallery on February 8th and if you think it's going to be a regular old screening, think again - since Stecyk and the creative team at Hurley will be fully transforming the space into an old movie theater. I'm talking a floor to ceiling installation that will be 110% unforgettable. Not to mention that "Fin" will continue to evolve even after its screening - taking on a life as a limited edition clothing run and web series.
If you don't know who C.R. Stecyk is, all you have to do is open up practically any skateboarding magazine and point to any page knowing that what you're seeing wouldn't exist without his vision of how to the capture the radical images and lifestyles that forever inspired our imaginations. From his Dogtown Articles in the 1970's, to his recent exhibit of posters at the Art In The Streets exhibit at MOCA - the man is just unstoppable. And so the film based on the lives of the z-boys he made part of history might have been called Lords Of Dogtown, but Stecyk was and is still most definitely the king.
Jud Bergeron emailed over a few recent sculptures. We like.
Jud Bergeron is a Bay Area sculptor residing in San Francisco, his sculpture has been exhibited through out North America with a focus on New York and San Francisco. Represented by Mark Wolfe.
Future Colors of America
Collaborative works by: Albert Reyes, Matt Furie, & Aiyana Udesen
Opening: Friday, Jan 20th (6-9pm)
FFDG, San Francisco
2277 Mission St.
Future Colors of America formed in 2006 when San Francisco based Aiyana Udesen introduced her boyfriend and artist, Matt Furie, to her long time friend and also a San Francisco Art Institute alumnus, Albert Reyes (Los Angeles). Many hours were spent entertaining each other through visual drawing jokes. Many top-secret drawing techniques were traded. Many mysteries were solved/ created and, to keep the fun rolling, the trio began mailing back and forth unfinished drawings for the other(s) to complete. This routine of postal collaboration has led to approximately twenty-million pieces of art on mat board, bristol board, or book covers, depending on which artist started the work. For this show F.C.A. will be showing over one hundred new pieces with an emphasis on horror, Lindsay Lohan, and naked ladies. The first iteration of F.C.A. was showcased at Giant Robot in 2009 and the second at FFDG, July 2010. This is the third F.C.A. exhibition.
...a DIY sensibility, illustrative aesthetic, and fuck-all attitude who's charmingly hilarious pop commentary is indicative of something we don't feel comfortable defining, but goddammit, we like it... via Hi-Fructose
--- From Hi Fructose July, 2010 - The central hubs of, what we here at Hi-Fructose have decided to go with "New Contemporary Art", have always found identity and definition in their unique voices, locales, and perspective. For New York, many would point to the origins in train bombing and popularization of modern graffiti, for those in sunny Southern California one could reasonably identify the rise of the pop-surrealism masters, and for San Francisco it is the glory days of the late '90s and early aughts that has captivated museums, art historians, and the blue-chip market. One problem with the umbrella term, "Mission School", however, is that while McGee and Kilgallen were busy defining their own movement, the next generation of artists with a uniquely San Franciscan aesthetic were busy cutting class, revisiting A-HA, and in general, "missin' school".
For a movement to begin, to take shape, and to grow, it all needs, to some degree to occur organically. The shape of a city, the signs of the times, the influences we all are suspect to, come together at the right place and the right time and before you know it, several people are expressing themselves in original, yet similar ways. The Future Colors of America, the trifecta consisting of Albert Reyes (who now lives in LA), Matt Furie, and Aiyana Udesen, have created their own illustrative voice, a worldview who's origins are seemingly found uniquely in San Francisco (Jay Howell, Ferris Plock, and Porous Walker spring to mind as well), that is expressed with a DIY sensibility, illustrative aesthetic, and fuck-all attitude who's charmingly hilarious pop commentary is indicative of something we don't feel comfortable defining, but goddammit, we like it.
The three artists are currently on view at FFDG, and though we for one hope that these truly are the future colors of America, at the very least we'll settle for them being the future colors of the Bay Area.
During the summer of 2011 FFDG was asked to select three San Francisco based artists and bring them to Sao Paulo, Brazil to participate in the third edition of the MCD LAB shows co-curated by Brazil's NOZ.ART (Ana Ferraz, Lucas Ribeiro Pexao and Tristan Rault).
Featuring hand pulled four color silk screen prints, the show opened on July 25, 2011 at Sao Paulo's LOGO Gallery and featured prints from Jeremy Fish (USA), Matt Furie (USA), Aiyana Udesen (USA), Sesper (Brazil/SP), Lucas Cabu (Brazil/SP), Fabio Bitao (Brazil/SP), Talita Hoffmann (Brazil/Porto Alegre), Anthony Nathan (Brazil/Curitiba), Lucas Torres (Brazil/Belo Horizonte), and Alberto Monteiro (Brazil/Rio de Janeiro).
Jeremy Fish
4 color silk screen. Edition of 150.
Signed and numbered.
$75
Matt Furie
4 color silk screen. Edition of 150.
Signed and numbered.
$75
Aiyana Udesen
4 color silk screen. Edition of 150.
Signed and numbered.
$75
Talita Gravura
4 color silk screen. Edition of 150.
Signed and numbered.
$75
San Francisco based painter Charmaine Olivia opens the solo show Ritual at The Shooting Gallery on Saturday (7-11pm). She emailed over a few photos of her work and studio taken by Michael Cuffe. She writes that she's inspired by skulls, glass bottles and messy hair.
We're happy to open FFDG's permanent home (2277 Mission St @19th) in the Mission tonight, Friday (6-9pm), with the print show MCD LAB#3: Fake Sunset that we co-curated with Brazil's NOZ.ART.
We traveled down to Brazil last summer for the opening (pics) at Sao Paulo's Logo Gallery. This will be the U.S. stop as the show traveled througout Brazil this past fall.
3 color silk screen by Jeremy Fish
The show features prints from Jeremy Fish (USA), Matt Furie (USA), Aiyana Udesen (USA), Sesper (Brazil/SP), Lucas Cabu (Brazil/SP), Fabio Bitao (Brazil/SP), Talita Hoffmann (Brazil/Porto Alegre), Anthony Nathan (Brazil/Curitiba), Lucas Torres (Brazil/Belo Horizonte), and Alberto Monteiro (Brazil/Rio de Janeiro).
A new HBO documentary looks at the work of street artist JR, whose giant portraits force people in troubled areas to confront the humanity that's all around them... On the day JR found out he'd won the $100,000 TED Prize, the French pasteup artist found himself in China being questioned by police for doing his thing on the streets of Shanghai. ~continue reading
Street artist JR HBO documentary premiered yesterday, May 20th
Art lovers, collectors and gallerists will gather on Thursday for Hong Kong's inaugural edition of Art Basel, sealing the city's status as an international art hub and Asia's leading art destination... Hong Kong has surged to third place in the global art auction market behind New York and London and Western galleries are falling over each other to open franchises in the former British colony. ~continue reading
Our buddy Ferris Plock opens a small show of drawings at Benny Gold on 3169 16th St this Friday, May 24th (7-10pm) featuring 31 drawings priced at 75-140 bucks.
Ferris also released the video Fingered! he produced with animator Jim Dirschberger. View it
Wowzas, there's a lot of art happenings this weekend, and while you're making the rounds, be sure to stop at SFAI's MFA show Currency opening Friday, May 17th at the beautiful old SF Mint Building (88 5th Street).
SFAI's 2013 MFA graduates—working in painting, photography, printmaking, film, sculpture, installation, digital media, performance, and across media—will present work that embraces the Institute's signature spirit of experimentation and conceptual risk-taking.
Opening reception: Friday, May 17, 7–9 pm & running through Sunday 11-6pm daily. -- complete details
London based Pedro Matos opens the solo show Building Castles Made of Sand this Friday in Los Angeles at the Martha Otero Gallery featuring a new series of oil paintings on canvas and azulejo panels - a traditional Portuguese medium of hand-painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tile work.
San Francisco -- CCA opens their 2013 MFA Thesis Exhibition this Thursday, May 16th at their SF campus. Every year another graduating class produces steller work. One of the best SF art events worth getting to, but be sure to get there early as there's always a long line. ~details
FFDG opened up the group show featuring original works by the artists of the world famous Skull & Sword tattoo last Friday here in San Francisco. Thanks to the huge crowd who turned out to support these four incredibly talented artists. Here is a taste of the show, and be sure to swing in to view in person. The show runs through June 8th.
Gary Baseman's retrospective "The Door is Always Open" at the Skirball in LA opened recently to massive crowds in a huge celebratory opening party. The exhibition is so complex and personal, delving into Baseman's background, family history, and all the layers of prolific work that he has done over the years. After the opening festivities winded down, I caught up with Baseman for an interview. We discussed the underlying meaning to some of the components of the show and how it felt for him, coming from such an honest personal perspective in putting this massive show together.
Fertile Menace, a new show of Mark Mulroney's (NY) work opened at Ever Gold on May 4th and it's not one to be missed. It is intelligently hilarious, with jokes riffing off sex, Foucault, and the body, and while it makes you laugh it's also going to make you think.
Our buddies Jay Howell, Andreas Trolf, and Jim Dirschberger are hyped as their show, which they've been working on for like 2 years, premieres on Nickelodeon Saturday. From the trailers we've seen so far and from what Jay has told us about, the show is going to be pretty epic. Congrats to those radical fellas.
Here's a little taste of work by the artists of the world famous The Skull and Sword tattoo shop who open their show at San Francisco's FFDG on Friday, May 17th (7-10pm).
Following his solo exhibition "The Collected" at Gallery Wendi Norris, painter Amir H. Fallah is in the throes of developing more new works for upcoming international exhibits. We spent some time in his studio in Highland Park, Los Angeles recently, discussing his process and inspiration.
We were first introduced to the photography of Spanish born NYC based Bubi Canal when he emailed us his great video Trust in Me a couple years ago. His solo show Special Moment recently ran at NYC's Munch Gallery in February, and he recently released his newest video Chrystelle below.
Although I missed the opening of Northern-California photographer Michael Garlington's newest show, Constructed Realities, I was fortunate enough to see the work still up during the Metaphysical fundraiser a couple weeks back at 111 Minna. Metaphysical fundraiser, an auction to benefit Wayne Ernzer. --- The ghoulish photographs in their heavy, hand-made frames are reminiscent of photos from the old west, and the glass crucifixes, complete with fetuses and guns, emphasize the accumulated time within the works themselves. Whether you're looking at the frames, the photos, or both, this show deserves a visit, and a walk through the golden archway Garlington constructed around the front door.
Fecal Face contributor Rachel Ralph (rachel(at)fecalface.com) has been profiling this Oakland based painter as he travels about Japan. In this segment, we feature some photos as he prepared for this show and residency at Spes-LaB in Tokyo which opened last weekend. Arnold will be featured in SFMoMA's Minna Street windows on June 8th.
Last Saturday, here in SF's Mission district, Guerrero Gallery opened two new shows with Philly based Alex Lukas and SF based Richard Colman respectively. Colman's work occupied the project space while Lukas' work and foliage was presented in the main space. Worth getting to if you haven't already.
Just got back to SF after a little trip south to Sayulita, Mexico. After 10 years without a vacation, me and the Mrs. headed south for some mental time off sitting in the sun, swimming and enjoying the watery Mexican beer. Here are some photos as we get back into the swing of things again.
Athens, Greece based designer, architect and artist Dimitris Polychroniadis emailed over more of his work which consists of mixed media, pop-humorous diorama sculptures that make a comment on the harsh realities my country and much of the world is facing at the moment.
FFDG will open a group show with the artists from the famed Skull & Sword Tattoo on Friday, May 17th (6-9pm). Artists: Grime, Henry Lewis, Yutaro, and Lango. Below are a series of videos on Grime for Vice's Tattoo Age produced in 2011. Fascinating look at one of the greatest tattoo artists alive today.
ARYZ (Spain) opened his newest gallery show at Fifty24SF last Friday and, if you live in the Bay Area, you need to go. This dude can obviously paint, and he doesn't need an entire building to show his impecable skill. The show has lots of small works on paper which contrast his highly-defined line work to his hard-edged painted objects. The contrast between the hard and soft was the most striking thing to me about his work, since I had never seen it in person before, and the washes blend with the thick paint seamlessly. The show also contains a larger work on canvas, a huge head suspended in the back of the room, and a big wood sculpture of a wolf figure. This diversity in such a small space was impressive, and those of us that went to the opening even got to meet the man in person. If you didn't make it out this weekend, check it out before May 31st when it closes and these works will be off to some very happy new homes.
Water McBeer is please to announce its latest exhibition "Precious" a solo exhibition by David Bayus (April 6 - May 4, 2013) -- David Bayus born 1982 holds his BFA from the Savannah College of Art and his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. David lives and works in San Francisco and is a founding member of the basement collective. This will be his first exhibition with the world renown Water McBeer Gallery highlighting his most recent achievements with paint and digital media. David Bayus will be exhibiting 5 relatively large-scale mixed media works along with a collaborative object featuring Hungarian sculptor H.R KOONS.
The Shooting Gallery handed over the reins to the Red Truck Gallery (a New Orleans based gallery) which curated their new show, Hard Time Mini Mall and opened the it on Saturday night. This is my favorite show (so far) in the Shooting Gallery's new space and was packed full of art, a mini bar, and cowhide rugs. The Red Truck Gallery chose works with clear craftsmanship and it was easy to see in Ian Berry's denim assemblages and Chris Roberts-Antieau's awesome quilts. The space was completely packed, making it hard to see each piece individually, but this show deserves a second trip anyway. I look forward to spending more time with the chandeliers, automatons, and paintings before the show comes down on May 4th.
Toronto based photographer Nathan Cyprys emailed to let us know about his newest series "Neighbour State", and we were about to post it when we spotted this series on his site entitled "Ayre (of Distances)" and had to post this one instead. After you view this one, view "Neighbour State" on his site. Both are visually enjoyable.
Working from found photographs, Lyle's paintings are created through a reductive painting process where each piece is rendered using only black paint and turpentine. Lyle begins this process by priming a panel with white gesso. He then paints a thin, rich, oily black veneer over the primed panel, slowly and systematically developing his images by removing some of the black paint with a cloth. In doing so, Lyle renders layer upon layer of various values of black paint resulting in his signature-style of luminescent works.
London based David Shillinglaw who's blogged it up for Fecal Face in the past recently completed this mural in London as he prepares for his solo show at Stolen Space opening on April 26th.
Our buddy Henrik Haven, who brings us some goodies from his native Copenhagen, has been shooting some of his city's graffiti and street art. Last week we brought you part one of his camera's explorations.
San Francisco based artists Raphael Villet and Sean Vranizan are currently showing Just the Two of Us at Adobe Books through April 21. Here are some photos from the opening and works.
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As cool as it is to be nostalgic about an artist's past, you don't have to hold onto it. Especially since there are people like 
