FIFTY24SF Gallery has 2 great shows opening this Thursday featuring new drawings and paintings by legendary Ron English and Alex Pardee. I would say Ron English is one of the very few artists that is actually (traditionally and aesthetically anyways) a great painter. He combines a lot of social issues into his pieces, which gives all of them a unique aspect of his views through his paint brush. Should be a great show so don’t miss out.

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Ron English’s “Mythographic Vicissitudes”

Before Banksy, before Shepherd Fairey, there was Ron English, the catalytic figure in the advancement of street art away from traditional eighties wild-style lettering and into clever statement and masterful trompe l’oeil based art. For “Mythographic Vicissitudes,” Ron created a series of paintings based on variations on modern mythologies. Applying a sense of reverence to his patented mash of religion, history and art, English gives equal weight to all mythologies, from Jesus to Bigfoot to Expressionism. “Loch Ness Starry Night” depicts the emergence of the monster as seen through the eyes of Vincent Van Gogh. “Bigfoot in the Garden of the Gods” exposes the mythical missing link in his Colorado Springs lair, the epicenter of American hardcore Christianity. Marilyn and a mysterious Mickey Mouse, his face obscured by a gas mask, are bathed in Toulouse-Lautrecian light. And, a portrait of Jesus, the fisher of boys, fills in the messiah’s missing years.

The show features new drawings and paintings and “Mythographic Vicissitudes” will be on display at
the lower level of the FIFTY24SF Gallery from January 8 – 29, 2009.

Ron English:
www.popaganda.com/

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Alex Pardee’s “Letters From Digested Children”

“Letters From Digested Children” is a solo exhibition by Alex Pardee, a fine artist and illustrator
based in San Francisco.

In “Letters From Digested Children,” Alex Pardee pays homage to the children who are eaten by
monsters. Alex states:

Each year, thousands of children turn up missing. Some are found. But most, unfortunately, are not. Many of the children are victims of abduction, some are runaways, and a large handful of them . . . have been EATEN by monsters. However, the digestive system of many monsters is abnormally slow, and a large portion of these children that have been eaten are still ALIVE, patiently waiting to be saved. Over the last year, from various parts of the country, I have gathered a selection of written S.O.S. letters from some of these children who are slowly being digested by the monsters that devoured them. My new solo art exhibition, titled “Letters From Digested Children” will showcase those S.O.S letters, as well as all new artwork, installations, and portraits of some of the more popular child-eating monsters in honor of the children who have been wrongfully eaten, and slowly digested.

The show features new drawings and paintings and “Letters From Digested Children” will be on display
at the upper level of the FIFTY24SF Gallery from January 8 – 29, 2009.

Alex Pardee:
http://eyesuckink.com/