Save the Date: Return of Philip Slagter plus Renée French, Scott Teplin at La Luz de Jesus – May 5-28
La Luz de Jesus three-person May 2017 show opens tonight and features the return of pop-surrealism legend Philip Slagter with The Comeback in his first solo art show in years, following the death of his daughter.
It’s an interesting thing to start a new career, a new life at age 70. I’m just trying to have fun painting again. I might be here 30 years, or 10 years, or a week or a hour.
Slagter said if he has to be labeled as anything, he’d call himself a Bernaysian pop surrealist, after Edward Bernays, author of the 1928 book, Propaganda and a pioneer in the ways public opinion can be manipulated. Despite political imagery, Slagter reiterates that he’s not a political artist.
From the La Luz de Jesus website:
Slagter said if he has to be labeled as anything, he’d call himself a Bernaysian pop surrealist, after Edward Bernays, author of the 1928 book, Propaganda and a pioneer in the ways public opinion can be manipulated. Despite political imagery, Slagter reiterates that he’s not a political artist. Slagter‘s current work is an information-age lowbrow melange, over-stuffed with visual information from other cultures, world history, conspiracies, pop culture, and kitsch. 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 paintings are packed with religious, political and pop cultural imagery, and references from the cultures of the places he’s lived and traveled: China, Thailand, Kenya, South America and more: an historical mash-up that reflects different eras of kitsch rendered authentically, whether the style is graffiti, anime, ’50s cartoons or hyper-realism.
Slagter will be in attendance at the opening.
Top photo: Phillip Slagter – “Taking A Selfie With Suamiku Lele”, Acrylic on canvas, 57′ by 26′
Renée French returns with Bunnies / Teachers From Memory. She is an award-winning comic writer, illustrator, and children’s book author who does occasional art shows, “characterized by obsessive and sometimes unsettling detail”, that sell out in advance! Yes, her show is sold out but the pieces, of course, remain on display through the month of may.
Renée French – “Modern Drama Teacher as a Bunny”
Acrylic on gessoed hardboard 4″x4″
French has brought along her friend Scott Teplin who fills two walls of the gallery’s May art show, per the gallery website: Teplin has exhibited worldwide in museums and commercial galleries since 1998. His work is included in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art (NYC and San Francisco), The New Museum, The Walker Art Center, The New York Public Library and several universities including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and California College of Arts and Crafts. He has exhibited work at PS1, The Bronx Museum, The Drawing Center, The New Museum, the Brooklyn Museum of Art and The New York Public Library. His commissioned work is on permanent display as a mural on PS130 in Brooklyn and in the lobby of the new Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital in Baltimore. He has been featured on numerous occasions in pages of The New York Times, Art Forum, Art in America, Art News, Salon.com, The Huffington Post, Artnet, High Fructose, Juxtapoz and on NPR’s Weekend Edition.
Scott Teplin – “Mr. Martin as Pepe”
pen, ink & watercolor on paper 10” x 8”
Preview all pieces from the shows at this link
Exhibition:
Philip Slagter – The Comeback
Renée French – Bunnies / Teachers from Memory
Scott Teplin – Teachers From Memory / Classrooms Forgotten
May 5 – 28, 2017
Opening Reception
Friday, May 5th, 8-11 PM
Address
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90027