La Luz De Jesus Gallery proudly presents the return of First Generation pop surrealist, Philip Slagter. A contemporary of Robert Williams, Todd Schorr, and Mark Ryden, Phil was sidelined by tragedy at his tipping point. After a nearly decades-long absence from the Los Angeles contemporary art scene, he’s back and better than ever.
Slagter has lived and painted in New York City, Connecticut, Indiana, Florida, New Mexico, Los Angeles and Montana in the USA, Thailand, the Bahamas, China, Indonesia as well as visits to Africa, Mexico, Guatemala, Hawaii, and Alaska. He has soaked up inspiration from his observations and experiences, ranging from the beginning of the graffiti scene in NYC to West Coast street art, from American wildlife to African tribal art. He is as much a virtuoso at abstraction as he is at realism, with ever-changing subject matter, though always creating in his own style.
Quoted in an article in the Missoulian, the local paper of Missoula where his works are being shown at a local gallery, La Luz de Jesus Gallery Director Matt Kennedy states “Slagter is a skilled technical painter who can maintain a precise level of detail while working on a large scale, which can sometimes thwart other artists”. His works are a “historical mash-up that reflects different eras of kitsch. Slagter’s re-emergence coincides with interest from major New York galleries in lowbrow, a genre of which he is part of the original generation. It’s good to be able to reintroduce somebody like that, who doesn’t love a comeback?”
Renée French‘s last exhibition of graphite on vellum was a completely sold out event that left some of the biggest collectors kicking themselves for not getting in touch with us sooner. Renée’s new show is painted and the bar has been raised. Her signature sense of humor is intact and this time she brought along friend Scott Teplin, whose caricature-by-memory portraits of teachers past and classrooms both foreshadowed and forgotten are her mirthful equivalent.
Renee French is an American artist, best known as a comics writer and illustrator, who also enthralls audiences as an exhibiting fine artist. The narratives that unfurl from Renee’s mind and onto her paper, span the wide chasm that exists between child-friendly fairy tales and the dark gritty regions of adult introspection. Working primarily with extremely fine pointed graphite pencils on miniature pieces of paper, often measuring no more than two or three inches square, French conjures up fuzzy and foreboding images which convey humorous, and at times, disturbing tales. Focusing squarely on creating poignant and emotional portrayals of her characters, French saturates them with feeling, giving realism and depth to even the most fantastical of creatures, whether they be beautiful or less so. And with this last thought in mind, if there is one thing that Renee enjoys reminding us, it is that we shouldn’t always judge a book by its cover.
