"THEME" ART

Here's three of my latest paintings, each of which were created for a specific group show.
The first was for "SMALL GIFT - SANRIO'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY".
The show will be opening next Friday (November 12th, 2010) at Barker Hanger.
3021 Airport Ave. Santa Monica, CA 90405
http://sanrio.com/smallgift

MY LIFE, MY MELODY
Acrylic + Ink
11" x 14"
2010

The second painting was created for "SUGIPOP!: THE INFLUENCE OF ANIME AND MANGA ON CONTEMPORARY ART", a group show hosted by the Portsmouth Museum of Art and Lebasse Projects.

STREET FIGHTER II SERIES - FIREBALL
Acrylic + Ink
14" x 11"
2010

Finally, the third painting was created for "THE IDOL HOURS", "A reflective study of great historical master paintings by a new generation of international Contemporary artists." This group show is hosted by London Miles Gallery (London, England).
Here's a little write up I created that explains why I chose to "remix" Andrea Mantegna's "Saint Sebastian" for the "Idol Hours" show.

My reasoning for choosing Andrea Mantegna's "Saint Sebastian" as my subject to remix and reinterpretation is rooted mostly in the raw brutality in the painting itself. Like Goya's "Saturn Devours His Son", the violence and gore of Mantegna's "St. Sebastian" truly caught my eye when I was introduced to it in my art history classes. And it basically then, that I decided if I had the good fortune of becoming an artist, I wanted to create stunningly violent paintings such these. But asides for the violence, the image of Saint Sebastian's arrow riddled body has an incredibly popular image, and is undeniably part of western societies visual lexicon. It has even popped up in music videos (such as R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion"). and has been remixed and reinterpreted through the filter of popular culture. One of the most popular reinterpretation is probably a photograph featuring Muhammad Ali, riddled with arrows, for a cover of Esquire Magazine.

THE MARTYR
Acrylic + Ink
16" x 20"
2010