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OFF THE HOOK III: GROUP EXHIBITION APRIL 3, 2010 - APRIL 31, 2010 An open-themed exhibition featuring over 40 artworks by more than 20 diverse artists, “Off the Hook III” channels the inventive, renegade, and reflective energy that makes Phone Booth Gallery distinct. Smartly crafted and inquisitive, the work in the exhibition ranges from pen and ink to painting and collage, but a unifying, voracious interest in the iconic potential of images is what ties the exhibition together. |
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MR FRIVOLOUS: DAYDREAMER MARCH 6, 2010 - MARCH 31, 2010 The drawings of Mr. Frivolous, deliberately executed in felt tip pen, occupy a precarious space between lucidity and eccentricity. Often crisply articulate, Mr. Frivolous’s portraits exude a devil-may-care free-spirit that makes their intentionality seem uncompromising and inspired. His subjects, young people with poetic demeanors who invariably resemble key players in a thriving underground, are iconic without being pretentious, assertive but still introspective. |
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HANDIEDAN: TRANSLUCENT SKIN DECEMBER 19, 2009 - JANUARY 21, 2010 A confluence of fragility, sexiness, nostalgia, and empowerment, “Translucent Skin” explores the tangled relationship between bodies and their histories. Skin has an unsettling yet strangely lyrical presence in Handiedan’s work—images of limbs, faces, and torsos often disappear into the yellowed surface of the collage, or spread out and soak into the layers of Handiedan’s images in a way that is physically impossible but surprisingly convincing. |
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MATT HENDON & JOEL ZUERCHER: BAFOOZALLA NOVEMBER 21, 2009 - DECEMBER 18, 2009 Zuercher’s work is reminiscent of early “moticos” and posses a grimy, gritty amalgamation of ephemera composed into a body of work bursting with nowness. Hendon’s work possesses similarities in color choices, while maintaining a mastery over traditional drawing skills. Both artists’ work deserves a close examination, as it is the minute details that could be overlooked at first glance. Each piece tells a story, whether real or fictional, it is without a doubt a story we all deserve to experience. |
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RYAN MILNER: PAPILLAE PARADISE October 24 - November 20, 2009 Milner’s second solo show with Phone Booth Gallery, “Papillae Paradise” continues his Tastebud series. The idiosyncratic characters, or “Tastebuds”, in each painting hail from inhibition-free realities in which creativity reigns. Each of Milner’s 3”x 5” wood panels accommodates one free-standing face in which the contours and wrinkles of human expression have been comically exaggerated. The Tastebuds toy with cultural tropes and caricature iconic emotions while distilling life to instinct. |
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BRYAN SCHNELLE: UNTITLED September 19 - October 17, 2009 Like the exhibition itself, Schnelle’s work in the show is intentionally Untitled. He wants viewers to encounter each piece freely, without the looming burden of culturally assigned meaning. He liberated meaning on another, more biting level as well, severing sleek magazine images from their commercial oeuvre. |
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MAIKON NERY: ALLEGORY OF THE HYBRID August 15 - September 11, 2009 Allegory of the hybrid wades through the mayhem of cultural imagery in search of something true, using the accoutrements of design as ammunition. Glue, paint, magazines, and graphite, all materials with their own individual histories and baggage, together approximate the strange soup we live in—a soup in which fears, hopes, traditions, lineages, and relationships, all swim around each other. The hybrid creatures that Nery creates, combining sleek found images with expressive marks, intimately engage the difficulties of understanding identity. |
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"SMELL THE GLOVE" GROUP EXHIBIT July 11 - July 31, 2009 The self-aware absurdity of Smell the Glove is what makes it intoxicating. Grandeur, mystery, levity, slapstick and sarcasm all commingle in this multimedia exhibition, paying tribute to the hold pop culture has over us. Exhibiting artists include: Brian Banks, Garry Booth, Chester Burnett, Handiedan, Illworx, Shannon Freshwater, Mark Michelon, Ryan Milner, Arlene Reyes, and Lil Tuffy. |
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MIKE KNIFE: FUCK YOUR FACE June 15 - July 8, 2009 A barrage of ball point pen madness from Poway, CA based artist Mike Knife. Inspired by vintage photographs and death metal, Mike Knife’s oeuvre is eerie. His dark, humorous drawings flout portraiture’s age-old tropes: the subject stares out from the page with head high. Yet something always goes awry. A mustache grows to outlandish lengths; a neck disintegrates; an eye rolls up into its socket; or a dead man smirks. |
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OFF THE HOOK II APRIL 1- MAY 31, 2009 “Off the Hook II” marks the one year anniversary of Phone Booth’s inception. It’s an open-themed exhibition that reflects the gallery’s expansive yet coherent oeuvre. Painstaking craftsmanship coexists with renegade expressiveness and nostalgic palettes juxtapose vivacious colors. Yet each drawing, painting, print, and assemblage in the exhibition joins in on a culturally savvy repartee, exploring what happens when the iconic collides with the idiosyncratic. |
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KEVIN BANNISTER: MUNDANE MARCH 7 - MARCH 31, 2009 Bannister's medium of choice for "Mundane" is black and white charcoal on grey paper, drawn with a steady hand and exceptional attention to detail. Using landscape, cityscape, and a variety of bystanders and atmospheres, he juxtaposes anatomically fantastical creatures with scenes that might otherwise be dull as dishwater. |
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HYDEON: MAUI VACATION DECISION FEBRUARY 7 - FEBRUARY 28, 2009 Hydeon gathers his ideas from socio-natural mannerisms in the environment in and around his hometown of Seattle, as well as his day-to-day occupation as a thrift store clothing processor. Hydeon uses a variety of media to create his characters referred to as "The Hermtrogladites" and a city called "Eurylokusville" which he says, "existed in the 1400's and the 1600's." |
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IAIN MACARTHUR: PORTRAITS OF ANOTHER WORLD JANUARY 10 - JANUARY 31, 2009 In "Portraits of Another World." Macarthur explores many different subjects and attempts to link the world of abstract pattern with the organic flow of human form. Each piece is created very photorealistic with pencils and different types of media such as watercolor or pigment pens. Drawing from the contortions of Egon Schiele and Salvador Dali, and patterns of contemporary artists like Lennard Schuurmans, Macarthur is able to twist, mold, sew, and finagle his characters into something entirely its own. |
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HANDIEDAN: SIRENUM SCOPULI NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 30, 2008 A solo exhibition of mixed media work by Amsterdam based artist Handiedan. Using yellowed sheet music, old fashioned playing cards, pinups, and a playful mixture of filigree and doodles, she creates a newfangled amalgamation of imagery. Exploring many concepts such as temptation, beauty, and deceit, it is by no coincidence that the show’s title is drawn straight from Winslow Homer’s “The Odyssey." |
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NATHAN DEYOUNG: TO DESTROY SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL NOVEMBER 1-29, 2008 A solo exhibition of acrylic paintings by San Diego based artist Nathan Deyoung. Deyoung compares and contrasts beauty and destruction. Based off of his interactions and relationships with people in his own life, he deduces that it’s the strengths and weaknesses within each person that make them human. Unexpected from subject matter, to technique, to proportions, his paintings act as attention grabbers. Jumping off the wall and reminding us we are all human; whether it’s an unexpected encounter in a ladies restroom, or the beautiful destruction of a past relationship. |
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"ARTWORK AND NO PLAY" GROUP EXHIBIT OCTOBER 1-31, 2008 Our third group exhibit themed around the classic cult movie "The Shining" by Stanley Kubrick. A diverse mix of media, technique, and size. Exhibit includes artists from around the globe, including: Garry Booth, Aurora Armijo, Iain Macarthur, David Owen, Caspar Williams, Pfft, Jack Rossi, Chester Burnett, Jason "Jzn" Liwag, Mark Michelon, Kevin Bannister, Quyen Dinh, Arlene Reyes, Ryan Milner, and Kevin Tong. |
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JEREMY EICHENBAUM: GOING NOWHERE FAST SEPTEMBER 6-30, 2008 An exhibition of video work by Long Beach artist Jeremy Eichenbaum. "Going Nowhere Fast" represents a fixed reality in a world of constant change. In this work there is no stable environment. The surroundings have been fragmented and skewed to show an unending state of arrival and departure. This new work stems from the physical social environment that we all have experienced, and implores the viewer to relive this experience under the light of the artist’s own imagination. |
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"FOR THE LOVE OF..." BOOK RELEASE AUGUST 16-31, 2008 A book release of tattoo related photography by LLP. The dynamic blend of photographs encapsulates the viewer into a world of beauty and light. The compositions and an impeccable display of chiaroscuro provide an in depth look into the birth of tattoo creation. LLP aims at all areas of tattoo related culture in an attempt to provide a fresh perspective on a truly traditional form of art. |
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"EGGS AND SAUSAGE..." GROUP EXHIBIT JULY 12-31, 2008 Our second group exhibit themed around the enigmatic figure Tom Waits. A diverse mix of media, technique, and size. Exhibit includes artists from around the globe, including: David Rankin, Aurora Armijo, Shannon Freshwater, Jaya King, Karin Hassler, Billy Dyson, Dave James, Irene Grishin-Selzer, Illworx, Sherlock, Mark Michelon, Ryan Milner, Evanimal, Erik Lomen, Brandon Clark, Andrew Loder, Garry Booth, Arlene Reyes, Kevin Bannister, Chester Burnett, Ken Meyer Jr., David Owen, Marisela, Nick Marquez, Nathan Wettstead, and David Atkinson. |
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KAREEM RIZK: PULP FICTION JUNE 1-30, 2008 A solo exhibition of mixed media work from Melbourne artist and designer Kareem Rizk.Rizk’s working techniques include collage, acrylic, oil pastel, pencil, solvent transfers and acrylic transfers. “Pulp Fiction” provides us with an impetuous look into his highly textured and multi-layered images, which posses a very nostalgic or vintage and weathered quality. His works can often be vibrant with color, while others display a very refined or minimal palette. |
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RYAN MILNER: TASTEBUDS MAY 3-31, 2008 The solo debut of mixed media artwork by Long Beach based artist Ryan Milner. In his “Tastebuds” series, he explores a wide range of techniques and media; ranging from renderings in acrylic to watery, splashes of paint flung helter-skelter on wood panels. His lumpy, undulating faces act as a satirical blending of a cultural milieu; each face is an actor in his own homemade movie, of which he is the writer, director, producer, and visionary. |
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"OFF THE HOOK" GROUP EXHIBIT |
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
FOR INFORMATION ON ANY WORK OR ARTISTS FROM PREVIOUS SHOWS, PLEASE CONTACT:
PHONEBOOTHGALLERY(AT)GMAIL.COM