Brian Viveros & Dan Quintana - Bad Otis Link
Where: Copro Gallery
Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Ave , Unit T5, Santa Monica , CA 90404
Ph: 310/829-2156
E-Mail: www.copronason.com
What: Brian Viveros & Dan Quintana "Desensitized", Bad Otis Link
"You'll Be Sorry When I'm Dead" (More Junk for a World Out of Order)
Opening Reception, Saturday January 16 - 8:00 - 11:30 p.m.
Dates: Exhibit runs; January 16 - February 6, 2009
Contact: Gary Pressman, Gallery - Director Copro Gallery
Brian Viveros & Dan Quintana " Desensitized" - In a culture where we are bombarded with overwhelming visual stimuli, have we become desensitized to art? From sexual content on TV, graphic violence in the news, and flashy ads everywhere we look, obtrusive images are in constant competition for our attention.
Brian Viveros and Dan Quintana are two painters whose respective backgrounds lie in creating the strong commercial imagery we see everyday, and this striking style has carried over into their fine art. Both of these artists know how to arrest your attention, and aim to captivate even the most jaded eyes.
Acting as book markers of the 20th Century, their paintings are both reflections of their own inner worlds and society at large; realms where fantasy intermingles with pop culture. Whether it be a doe-eyed beauty with a Marlboro dangling from her lips, or a Dominatrix acting as sheriff in the untamed West, in these painstakingly rendered vignettes romance battles vice and sensuality meets consumerism.
Adhering to the show's theme, the opening reception itself will be an attack to the senses. In addition to the art on the walls, the event will feature a loop of Brian Viveros' films " Dislandia " and " Southern ," a custom made sculpture of one of the paintings, cocktail servers costumed like the art, and the live music of Joe Wood and the Lonely Ones. Designed to open your eyes and invigorate your mind, this culmination of creativity is not to be missed.
Brian Viveros' images of sexy women with their sensual eyes and a cigarette dangling in the corner of their mouths have became his trademark .With no formal training, his medium is a drunken mix of oil/acrylic/airbrush and ink. Brian made his directing debut in 2005 with his quietly eerie, boldly stylized short film " Dislandia ," a psycho-drama revolving around a young girl who exists in a desolate world full of dreamlike images that range from bizarre to symbolic and erotic. His latest surreal film " Southern " returns cinema to the unclean. " Southern " is an experience of primordial sights, sounds, and sentiment, blanketed by a fog of troubling eroticism and violence. www.brianmviveros.com
Dan Quintana's oil on wood panel paintings are influenced by his Catholic upbringing, the Streamline architecture of Los Angeles, street art, hot rods, and comics. Quintana creates a world where angels and demons intermingle with girls and cars and Art Deco cityscapes meet surreal dreamscapes. In sepia toned allegories he tells the story of good versus evil, the physical versus the spiritual. A Los Angeles native born in 1982, Quintana began experimenting with oil painting in high school then shifting his focus to street art, creating numerous murals, many of which can still be seen around Los Angeles. In his early twenties Quintana embarked on commercial commissions for numerous CD covers and shirts. Quintana's talent has also found a home in the custom car culture in his work as artist for West Coast Customs on the MTV show Pimp my Ride and TLC's Street Customs and he has been featured in publications including LA Weekly, Juxtapoz, Hi Fructose, Car Kulture Deluxe , and more.
Bad Otis Link - "You'll Be Sorry When I'm Dead"
(More Junk for a World Out of Order)
In the words of Bad Otis Link, his new show consists of works "all done wrong, perfect for our current atmosphere." In this show, Link revisits ink and watercolor on Bristol. "I worked with these mediums in the '80s and recently realized that I miss this style" states the artist, who puts a slightly different twist on the pieces, using more line work and less stipple than in his previous works. The show will also consist of acrylic on hardboard and some three dimensional pieces: puppets and experimental foam work. " Y ou'll be Sorry When I'm Dead... " is inspired, in title only, by a recent death hoax of a close friend and even more so, something Link's mother always told him when he was young. Though there is no consistent theme to this show, Link's work has (believe it or not) an environmental message. "I am somewhat of a realist, not in my art but in observation. I continue my attempts to illustrate how, as humans, we are so out of synch with the rest of the natural universe, noticing our human flaws and our collective mental illness and denials of the obvious, all that is wrong. I also like to inject odd little creature, birds (messengers in many ancient myths) and structures I would like to inhabit into the work" states Link.
Self-taught and self-educated, Link sharpened his distinct style in the late 70s through the mid 90s as one of Los Angeles premier and most notorious punk rock graphic artists. Link played saxophone in local punk bands while designing band logos, record covers, posters and producing merchandise for The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Damned, Social Distortion, TSOL, The Adolescents, Danzig, The Circle Jerks, Wasted Youth, Goldenvoice Concerts and many others. In the early 90s, he designed and published the " True Life Murderers Trading Cards " which was the first set on the subject matter and attracted mass media attention. Link's art has appeared in countless magazines, films and his projects have been praised and equally viciously attacked in the media by moralist groups and media hungry politicians. Link is entertained by the reactions of our puritan and mentally ill American culture. Aside from an occasional art exhibition, Link currently focuses his psychotic energy on filmmaking, puppet making, clothing design and directing. www.badotislink.com
