As SF artist Ferris Plock put the finishing touches on paintings for his show Just For One Day (opening Sat @The Shooting Gallery in SF 7-11pm), Shaun Roberts stopped by his studio to have a little look this last Tuesday. Check it.
SF based artist and long time FF Pal, Ferris Plock, opens Just one Day at the Shooting Gallery w/ a reception scheduled for Saturday, Oct 1st (7-11pm) Shooting Gallery Presents: Just For One Day The Shooting Gallery is pleased to present Just For One Day, a solo exhibition by San Francisco-based artist, Ferris Plock. This new collection expands upon the artist’s captivating use of ukiyo-e inspired design and vibrantly unique characters while exploring the images that shaped his childhood. The exhibit is the artist’s second solo show with The Shooting Gallery and will include over twenty pieces utilizing a mix of acrylic, gouache, gold leaf, and spray paint on wood panel. The opening reception for Just For One Day will be held at The Shooting Gallery on Saturday, October 1, 2011 from 7-11pm. The exhibit will be on display through October 29, 2011 and is free and open to the public.Just For One Day brings the brightly colored and inimitable world of Ferris Plock’s imagination into the public eye. The artist’s education in creative writing and literature reveals itself in the continuous creation of new characters populating Plock’s work, fully developed through a layering of unexpected details. The serene and structured aesthetics of traditional Japanese styles are fused with a rebel sensibility and feature appearances by Plock’s childhood heroes, drawn from an assortment of cartoons, comics and commercials. Both the recognizable characters and the expressive-eyed, long-toothed creatures from Plock’s own mind are infused with unmistakable personality. A mischievous glint in the eye or a hint of a smile belies the true nature of the figures Plock crafts with a visible sense of humor, bringing new life to familiar faces of pop culture. Sharply drawn lines and sparse, wood-stained backgrounds are a modernized recreation of Japanese ukiyo-e wood block prints. ‘Ukiyo-e’ refers to the primary genre of woodblock prints produced in Japan between the 17th and 20th century, featuring scenes of the floating world, scenes removed from the reality of daily life and focused on the excitement of performance and entertainment. The commonly depicted Sumo wrestlers and Kabuki stars allowed viewers to gaze into a world not tethered to pedestrian routine. Hundreds of year later, Plock’s work does the same thing for contemporary audiences, allowing us to live for a moment among the inhabitants of an invented world, revisiting that feeling of possibility we all knew in childhood- where anything could happen and all things could exist. From the Artist: “"Just for one day” is a lyric plucked from one of my favorite David Bowie songs as a kid, “Heroes.” All of my heroes growing up were found in comic books, on tv, on skateboard decks, on album covers, and on cereal boxes. My work for this exhibition is based around some of the characters that I consider the most influential- I identified with the humor of Garfield, Bugs and Daffy, I had a mixtape that I made where I repeated LL Cool J's song "I'm Bad" over and over on one side and "raising hell" by Run DMC on the other side, Tony the Tiger was a cartoon character that hung out with real people and gave you sugar on your cereal. All sorts of different characters influenced me as a kid and helped shape my direction. I still love Godzilla, Garfield, and Akira. My parents were cool enough to let me explore my imagination and I have always thought the characters that were created in ukiyo-e wood block prints were some of the first cartoon characters. I love how Japanese culture incorporates new ideas and imagery but still honors the past... I feel like that is how I approached a lot of this work for this show... I gave a lot of attention to my own personal history but, also honored older styles of art work that I deeply respect.”Ferris Plock is a San Francisco-based artist who lives within the city with his wife, Kelly Tunstall (Plock’s partner in the artistic duo KeFe), and son Brixton. Plock brings a dedicated focus to his work that is paired with a wild sense of originality. Through a variety of mediums including acrylic, watercolor, spray paint, India ink, gold or silver leaf, and collage Plock creates highly detailed works, often character-based paintings on wood panel, that combine contemporary pop culture with the aesthetic of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblocks. Widely-accomplished and with a diverse range of artistic interests, Plock has created illustrations for many high-profile clients, has been involved in solo and group exhibitions both nationally and abroad, and also served as the 2010 SF Recology Artist in Resident. ------------- The Shooting Gallery opened its doors in 2003 to the historic Tenderloin district of San Francisco; known for its lively street culture. Growing up in Southern California gave owner and curator, Justin Giarla, a love for everything lowbrow: pop art, street art, outsider art, punk rock album art, comic book art, surf/skate art and hot rod culture. Giarla recognizes how important it is to provide lowbrow artists with a platform for their work, which is exactly what Shooting Gallery has done for nearly a decade. “Just For One Day,” New Works by Ferris Plock Opening Reception – October 1, 2011, 7-11 pm On View Through October 29, 2011, @ Shooting Gallery (www.shootinggallerysf.com) 839 Larkin St San Francisco, CA
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