Preview: COPRO GALLERY 20th ANNIVERSARY - Group Art Exhibit [Santa Monica]

Tonight, Santa Monica‘s internationally respected Copro Gallery will celebrate it’s 20th anniversary by hosting a very special exhibit that features a lineup that is packed with some of the most important names to the past, present, and future of the Low Brow, Pop Surrealist, and underground contemporary art worlds. Over the last 2 decades, Copro has worked with a mind-boggling array of monstrously influential, forward thinking, and high caliber artists, and tonight’s tribute show will be showcasing work from contributors that have been with them from the beginning spanning through contemporary talents that they have formed relationships with more recently. Not only will undeniably groundbreaking and oft-imitated veterans such as Mark Ryden and Robert Williams (read our feature on him here), have pieces on display, but works will also be featured by legends like Von Dutch and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, who laid the groundwork before them. Past MonsterFresh interviewees, Dave MacDowell and Brian Despain will be represented, as will with fellow innovators/contemporaries like Andy Kehoe, Luke Chueh, Chet Zar, Frank Kozik, and, literally, dozens more! This show is absolutely no joke and you aren’t likely to see a more impressive list of names on an exhibit flier anytime in the near future.

This is the point where I would generally continue to ramble, attempting to piece together some sort of insightful assessment on the whole operation, before encouraging you to simply hit up the opening, and/or check out the exhibit during regular gallery hours, while the show is still running, etc. But this opening is tonight, and we don’t have a whole lot of time to fuck around here–not to mention that this exhibit has a pretty thorough press release that’s going to break things down much more thoroughly and accurately than whatever I’d be planning to muster up. So let’s get to it! Read all of this informational jive covering the history of the gallery, followed by the event details, or simply peep out the sample images posted below all of it.

Press Release

Copro Gallery celebrates its 20th anniversary. Hatched from a friendship of Douglas Nason and Greg Escalante, that began when Doug bought a Robert Williams seriagraph from Greg that he published in 1989, Copro Nason Fine Art Publishing was formed in 1993. Publishing several serigraphs with Robert Williams, Big Daddy Roth, Sandow Birk, Russell Crotty and many other luminaries during the 1990’s and curating several group shows, Greg Escalante, Douglas Nason and occasionally Gary Pressman collaborated with many artists during the beginnings of the Lowbrow / Pop Surreal movement. Greg Escalante’s art juggernaut led him to co-found Juxtapoz Magazine as well as sit on the board of several local art museums during this time and working with Doug Nason curated many important museum exhibitions as well as gallery shows. Copro/Nason didn’t have a permanent venue until December1999 when Copro/Nason Fine Art Gallery opened in Culver City with an exhibition called the “Leeteg Tribute”. Followed by “The Art of Robert Williams” in March 2000, Mark Ryden Illustration show, Night of the Tiki with Shag and solo and group shows with artists such as Liz Mcgrath, Keith Weesner, Coop, Kozik, Rockin’ Jelly Bean, Sandow Birk, David Choe, Brian Viveros, Van Arno the gallery continued to grow.

Gary Pressman started as Gallery Director at Copro/Nason gallery, Culver City 2002 and began curating feature and group shows with artists such as Isabel Samaras, Ausgang, Sas Christian, Chris Mars, Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, Esao Andrews, Glenn Barr, Shag, Tim Biskup, Kenny Scharf, John John Jesse, Joe Vaux, Ray Caesar, Luke Chueh, Alex Gross, Joe Ledbetter, Naoto Hattori, Jeff Gillette, Brian Viveros, and several others.

In the interest of expanding, June 2005 saw Copro/Nason’s “Bergamot Invasion group show” christening Copro into a new space in Santa Monica at Bergamot Station. Some of the early exhibitons at Bergamot Station up to 2008, when Douglas Nason left the gallery were Ron English/Daniel Johnston, BLAB, Cannibal Flower, Chet Zar, Dan Quintana, Audrey Kawasaki, Lori Earley, Amy Sol, Luke Chueh, Kris Lewis, Kukula, becca, Yosuke Ueno, Lola, Travis Louie. From these formative years Copro grew into a serious art gallery and continues to hunt for new artists and break new ground. 20 years from inception to Copro Gallery 2013 we’re still here with the same mission.

Copro Gallery 20th anniversary will feature many artists dating back to the beginning as well as current artists that are exhibiting at Copro today!

Artist List:

Mark Ryden, Robert WIlliams, Big Daddy Roth, Liz Mcgrath, Shag, Sandow Birk, Brian Viveros, Andy Kehoe, Esao Andrews, Chris Mars, Adam Miller, Alexandra Manukyan, Ana Bagayan, Annie Owens, Ausgang, becca, Cathie Bleck, Chet Zar, Chloe Trujillo, Brian Smith, Chris Peters, Chrystal Chan, Clare Toms, Clark, Craig Larotonda, Dan Quintana, Dave MacDowell, David Molesky, Eric Fortune, Erik Alos, Genevive Zacconi, Germs, Glenn Barr, Isabel Samaras, Jason Hite, Jason Maloney, Jeff Christensen, Kelly Allen, Leslie Ditto, Luke Chueh, Macsorro,, Mark Garro, Matt Dangler, Miran Kim, Miss Van, Naoto Hattori, Nathan Spoor, Nouar, Peter Chan, Peter Gric, Phil Lumbang, Richard Kirk, Robert Connett, Rose Freymuth-Frazier Santiago Caruso, Stella Im Hultberg, Timothy Smith, Tin, Vincent Cacciotti, Brian Despain. Von Dutch, Yoko dHolbachie and More!

Check out a selection of preview images below the following event details…

WHAT:

Copro 20th Anniversary
Group Art Exhibit

WHEN:

Opening:
Saturday, August 17th
8pm-11:30pm

WHERE:

Copro Gallery –
Bergamot Station Arts Complex
2525 Michigan Ave , Unit T5, Santa Monica , CA 90404

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Select artists will be in attendance
Show on view until September 7th, 2013
Gallery hours: Wed through Sat. 1 – 6pm
Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/428751873906872/

[click images to enlarge]