The Thinkspace Gallery is located in the Culver City, Ca art district and has been since 2009.  It was, however, originally founded in Los Angeles back in 2005.  Since that time it has grown to become one of the most vital galleries showcasing new contemporary and pop surrealist artwork anywhere.  They’ve earned that status by curating amazing shows, displaying only the highest quality work, and regularly supporting the talents of artists who have become key figures in the movement.  Perhaps even more importantly is that they do all of this with incredible consistency.  You may recall that the last time we covered the gallery it was for the New Blood exhibit that featured outside curation by documentary filmmaker and art enthusiast, Morgan Spurlock (Supersize Me).  Thinkspace, themselves, have actually been involved in curating shows outside of their own space and, come tomorrow (Friday, November 16 ), their latest showcase of talent will present its unveiling at Above Second Gallery in Hong Kong.

For this group exhibit, “LAX/HKG,” Thinkspace was very deliberate in their curation, selecting 8 artist from their roster to represent them and the new contemporary movement, in general, to their friends on the other side of the planet.  The artists selected do not only have distinctly individual styles from one another, but they also represent very different backgrounds, hailing from various locations across the globe.  Each of these following visual talents with be presenting 2 new works at the exhibit:

Amy Sol (Korea), Audrey Kawasaki (USA) , Brian M. Viveros (USA), Dabs Myla (Australia), Esao Andrews (USA), Joao Ruas (Brasil), Linnea Strid (Sweden), and Yosuke Ueno (Japan).

In addition to these original works being on display at LAX/HKG, Audrey Kawasaki will also be releasing a new print edition of her piece “Shadows.”  It will be a limited run of 50 and only available at the opening.

Thinkspace was accommodating enough to send us over a solid selection of preview images for the exhibit (featured below) and, while I typically stray away from posting any artist statements or press release content directly, I feel that this may be one of those times for us to make an exception.  If the main purpose is to introduce this roster to the world, we might as well allow their bios to accompany them this time.  Sure, their art should probably be enough, but it’s easy to get lost among your peers, when everyone of them is working to bring their A-game.

Check out the preview images after the following event details

WHAT:

“LAX/HKG“
Thinkspace curated exhibit in Hong Kong featuring new work from:
Amy Sol – Audrey Kawasaki – Brian M. Viveros – Dabs Myla – Esao Andrews – Joao Ruas – Linnea Strid – Yosuke Ueno

WHEN:

Opening Reception:
Friday, November 16th
6pm-10pm

WHERE:

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Exhibit will be on view until January 12, 2013.
The gallery is open from Mon-Fri  from 12pm – 7pm (weekend by appointment only)

[click images to enlarge]

Amy Sol

“Quiescent Light”

16×20″
Acrylic on wood panel
Framed

AMY SOL:
Amy Sol spent her childhood years in Korea then moved to Las Vegas, NV where she currently lives and works. Though the style of her work is greatly influenced by a combination of manga, folk-art, vintage illustration and modern design, she remains a self taught artist. She has dedicated many years of her life mixing pigments and mediums to achieve a unique color palette of subtly muted tones. The artist works intuitively from the beginning to end of each piece, with the intent that each painting’s theme or message can be interpreted subjectively. Within these delicate works, you may often find whimsical landscapes populated with exotic plants, animal and females… Amongst the expressions of each character are notions of peaceful reflection and a sense of companionship.

Artist Website: http://www.amysol.com

Dabs Myla

DABS MYLA:
Melbourne natives Dabs and Myla are a dynamic duo who have lived, worked and soaked in the sun of Los Angeles since 2009. Dabs started painting graffiti in 1995, and began teaching Myla the ropes of writing about ten years later, after they met while studying illustration in art school and fell in love. Soon afterward, they decided they liked their collaborative pieces better than their individual work, and from that point on, they worked together exclusively, as Dabs Myla. Inspired by graffiti, food, travel and their wonderful chaotic life together as a couple, their paintings play Dabs’ mischievous and sometimes ribald characters off Myla’s photorealistic cityscapes. Since their move to California, they have never spent more than a few hours apart. They say, “I guess we are pretty lucky… two peas in a pod! Two crazy, workaholic, mad dorks in a pod! After years of living, painting walls and working together, we have only become closer, stronger and even more in sync. Every day we wake up, paint all day, and keep each other entertained with constant chatter and stupid jokes. Who could ask for more out of life?”

Artist website: www.dabsmyla.com

Audrey Kawasaki

“Away”

18×18″
Oil and graphite on wood panel
Framed

AUDREY KAWASAKI:
Audrey Kawasaki is a Japanese-American artist currently living and working in Los Angeles. She attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY where she was influenced by Manga and art nouveau. Her work depicts sensuous young women on wood panel, with a strong emphasis on line quality and facial expression.

The themes in Audrey Kawasaki’s work are contradictions within themselves. Her work is both innocent and erotic. Each subject is attractive yet disturbing. Her sharp graphic imagery is combined with the natural grain of the wood panels she paints on, bringing forth unexpected warmth to enigmatic subject matter.

The figures she paints are seductive and contain an air of melancholy. They exist in their own sensually esoteric realm, yet at the same time present a sense of accessibility that draws the observer to them. These mysterious young women captivate with the direct stare of their bedroom eyes.

Artist Website: http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com

Joao Ruas

”Kyudo”

Acrylic on Board
30,3 x 39,5 cm

“Wager”

15×10.5 inches
38 x 26.5 cm
Acrylic on Board
Framed

JOAO RUAS:
Born in Brazil, 28-year old artist Joao Paulo Alvares Ruas was still a young child when his interest for visual art started to grow. Comic books were his first bridge to lines and colors, during high school much of his time was devoted to creative thinking due to the almost alternative education institution he studied under. Later, he took Design as his choice in University.

After a three year stint in London, Joao went back to his home town, Sao Paulo, where he works and lives.

Artist Website: http://feral-kid.com

Yosuke Ueno

“Leda”

YOSUKE UENO:
Yosuke Ueno was born in 1977 in Japan, but might as well be from another planet. Bizarre, surreal and thought provoking, Ueno has been building upon his visual vocabulary since early childhood, having held his first solo show in Yamaguchi when he was only sixteen. Self taught and always moving forward, the main themes in Yosuke’s art will always be love, space and positive energy. His work is very cosmic in nature and features a great amount of recurring symbolism. The colors red, green, yellow and blue appear often in his work. These colors represent the four bases of DNA: adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine (A, T, G and C) – molecular elements that all animate beings share. Yosuke paints these colors and A, T, G and C with a simple universal message that all animate beings should have equal worth.

Artist Statement
The 11th March, 2011, Great Earthquake and Tsunami attacked east Japan and the accident in the nuclear reactor in Fukushima had followed the catastrophes. The date 311 had been an unforgettable day for all the people live in Japan and Japan has had a great trauma. In fact, I have created many works derive from these events. Our daily life had to totally be changed since that day. I could not almost believe that I am living the same world where we had lived before 311. Every people in Japan distinguish our life as before 311 and ‘after 311.” I remember well that I had been faced at blank canvases, trembling from great fear at those days. But that quake had brought a specific shape to my art that had had some obscure illusions. So I have been expressing my experiences “after 311” from various aspects.

Artist Website: http://www.spaceegg77.com

Esao Andrews

“Violent Waves”

Oil on panel
Framed
18×18 inches

ESAO ANDREWS:
Esao Andrews grew up in the Arizona desert, and moved to New York in 1996 to complete his BFA in Illustration at the School of Visual Arts. After graduating in 2000, he spent the next few years working as a flash animator while painting in his free time. Andrews exhibited his oil paintings in coffee shops and group shows before landing his first major two-person show at Fuse Gallery in New York alongside John John Jesse in 2003. He has since collaborated with Tara McPherson for a DC Comics project, and has created album artwork for several bands, as well. Esao Andrews has developed a signature cast of dark and surreal characters, blending erotic and sometimes frightening surrealistic images, in a manner that is often compared with other American artists like Mark Ryden and John Currin.

Andrews participated in the 2002 BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London and cites Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Alfons Mucha, and Joe Sorren as major influences.

Artist Website: http://www.esao.net

Brian M Viveros

“Shades Of Red”

16×20″
Oil on panel
Framed

BRIAN M. VIVEROS:
Celebrated artist Brian M. Viveros is internationally embraced for his erotic paintings of doe-eyed beauties with Marlboros dangling seductively from their lips and has also recently been utilizing the medium of film to capture the dark and evocative debris that radiates from his mind. His paintings are a mix of oil, airbrush, acrylic, and ink. In his work Viveros shines a light on his own inner world and society at large and aims to captivate even the most jaded eyes.

Viveros’ recognition accelerated with his participation in ‘The Art of Porn’ exhibition held in Switzerland (1997), where he exhibited alongside H.R. Giger, among others. Since then Viveros’ work has been exhibited extensively in North America and Europe via gallery exhibits and art fairs. His work has also been featured in numerous books including Les Barany’s ‘Carnivora: The Dark Art Of Automobiles’, Harry Saylor and Carolyn Frisch’s ‘Edgy Cute: From Neo-Pop to Low Brow and Back Again’, Matt Jordan’s ‘Weirdo Noir’, and Erotic Signature’s ‘The World’s Greatest Erotic Art of Today – Vol. 1 and Vol. II’.

Artist Website: http://www.brianmviveros.com

Linnea Strid

“Emerge”

LINNEA STRID:
Linnea Strid is based in Stockholm, Sweden and was raised in Sweden and Southern Spain, where at an early age developed her passion for art. She has a special fascination for realism and works patiently for hours with tiny details. Linnea likes to play with reflections, light and shadows, which could be a couple of reasons why she is nearly obsessed with painting water in different shapes and forms, often combined with both honest and painfully exposed portraits showcasing a range of human emotions.

Artist Website: http://www.linneastrid.se