I came across this online. We met some of the people from the gallery during the London Public Library's Indie Media Fair, and they gave us some donations. Should be a cool show.
Show Title: Hey You Guysssssss! Community Outreach comes to Toronto.
Location: Community Outreach Toronto
1658 Queen St. West (at Roncevalles)
Toronto, ON
519 681 7243?
When: November 3rd – 30th, 2007
Reception: Saturday November 3rd, 6-11pm?
Gallery Hours: Wednesday- Saturday 11am to 5pm or by appointment.
Community Outreach is proud to announce its arrival in Toronto, Ontario with Hey You Guyssss! an exhibition by artists Ben Jones, Robert Pimple, Matt Leines, Misaki Kawai, Eric White, Clare Rojas, Andrew Jeffrey Wright and Taylor McKimens.?This show, Community Outreach’s 1st in Toronto, is an effort by the London gallery to showcase its stable of artists in a wider market. This exhibition marks the Toronto debut for most of the artists involved.
Matt Leines, based in Montclair, New Jersey, is known for a drawing style mixing elements of the baroque with the dreamlike narratives of the surrealists. In his works, lions and tigers interact with bearded warriors who see through a third eye or talk through a second mouth. The culture and conflicts within Leines’ worlds express feelings of discomfort but also of reconciliation with the chaotic world around us. His work has also been featured as part the acclaimed RVCA artists program. Matt graduated form the Rhode Island School of Design in 2002.?
Robert Pimple, a self proclaimed “graffiti enthusiast” is a San Francisco based artist who has been participating in, as well as influencing the world of graffiti art since the late 80’s. Under a few different aliases he has made a transition from street artist to celebrated fine artist. Pimple has built a reputation for being both innovative and uncompromising in his confrontational yet interactive approach to galley and museum settings. From kinetic sculptures that spray paint the walls or bang their own heads in frustration, to tipped over cargo vans graffitied and filled with video monitors, Pimple has created his own aesthetic which is at times as destructive as it is beautiful.
Ben Jones, from Providence, Rhode Island, is perhaps best known as one third of the collective Paper Rad. A true multimedia artist, Ben’s character based work derives influences from a broad range or popular culture. Within Jones’ work the fluorescent trends of the early 90’s meet oft forgotten characters such as Gumby and Pokey and the California Raisins. Recently he has designed the album art and website for British hip hop artist MIA and is working on a TV pilot for the Adult Swim network. He has diversified his talents to influence the very cultural material that he draws from.?
Taylor McKimens is a New York artist whose painterly aesthetic and visual vocabulary of farm implements, houseflies and melting faces inhabit his pastel-colored world of decay and transformation. Originally from Winterhaven, California, a small desert town on the borders of Mexico and Arizona, McKimens’ work references more banal surroundings than Jones’ yet manages to bring out a very similar humor and sincerity. His work has attracted attention and praise from gallerist Jeffery Deitch and New York Times critic Roberta Smith.
Andrew Jeffrey Wright received his BFA in animation from the University of the Arts. He is one of the founders and current members of Space 1026, an alternative exhibition and studio space in Philadelphia, PA. Much of his work is strongly influenced by his background in animation and is often infused with psychedelic elements and/or a dry and absurd sense of humour.
Clare Rojas, AKA Peggy Honeywell is a San Francisco based painter whose use of pattern-work mixed with figurative images in scenes and landscapes has emerged as its own aesthetic. Using a folk art inspired palette to create her paintings, implied narratives are woven through the fabric of each carefully composed piece. The flora and fauna of her work suggest undertones of spiritual symbolism. While the characters are often imbued with feelings of loss and nostalgia, one gets the sense that they will not back down. They will ultimately beat their predators at their own game. She has exhibited worldwide including at Deitch Projects in New York and the Luggage Store gallery in San Francisco.
Misaki Kawai, born in Osaka Japan and now living in New York City, brings a sense of humour to all of her works. Her colourful and whimsical painting style comes across as childlike yet sophisticated. Seemingly random interactions within her work have very deliberate meanings. Often bringing her characters to life in sculptural work, Kawai’s colourful universe can be as complex as it is charming. Her expansive installations have garnered the admirations of critics and galleries. She has had solo exhibitions at Clementine gallery in New York City and also in Japan.
Eric White’s approach to figuration is both beautiful and disturbing. Referencing found imagery (often that of 40's era Hollywood), his own photographs and his unpredictable imagination, he creates "paintings about films about dreams about the neighbors." Painstakingly rendered with impeccable craftsmanship, White's work often emulates the varying planes of focus and multiple exposure of the photographic process. This combination of themes and technique produces complex, refined environments that are at once multi-dimensional, two dimensional, perilous and inviting. Eric White was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1990.
Community Outreach was founded by the desire to expand the variety of art and culture on view in London Ontario. The upcoming years will prove to be an exciting time for London's art community and we are looking forward to contributing.?
An opening reception for the show will be held on November 3rd. For more information about the exhibit or the gallery, please contact:
Paul Bright
Community Outreach Owner / Curator
info@communityoutreachgallery.com?
519 281 7243
519 438 6615???
Links to artists for further reading:?
Taylor Mckimens: http://www.taylormckimens.com/
Ben Jones: http://www.paperrad.org/
Robert Pimple: http://snipurl.com/1lls1
Matt Leines: http://snipurl.com/1llst??
Eric White: www.ewhite.com
Misaki Kawai: www.misakikawai.com
Clare Rojas: http://snipurl.com/1sx69
Andrew Jeffrey Wright: http://space1026.com/space.php?action=bio&id=19
