Modart » solo exhibition

Ripo @ White Walls

Elise — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 13:08:47 +0000

“Signs, Fines & Cheap Wines,” New Work by Max Rippon aka Ripo

White Walls is pleased to present “Signs, Fines, & Cheap Wines,” the new solo show of Barcelona-based artist Max Rippon aka Ripo. “Signs, Fines & Cheap Wines,” will be Ripo’s first solo exhibition in the U.S. and will feature 25 new works, varying in size from 19×28” to 7’x7’. The opening reception will be Thursday, August 9th, from 7-11pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through September 1st, 2012.

Heavily influenced by sign painting, Ripo creates text-based work with an urban aesthetic, exploring single words and short turns of phrase with a tongue-in-cheek
sensibility. Elaborately-drawn fonts, formed with watercolor, ink, graphite, sign painters enamel and oil pastels on delicate handcut paper, allow us to appreciate the aesthetics of the words regardless of their associations.
Fifteen works on paper showcase the malleable shape and form of typography with an energy that feels palpable and dynamic. Using techniques of calligraphy and layering, Ripo crafts letters that appear to jut and curve outside of the page in swift, fluid motion. Bleeding colors and splashes of paint burst beyond the constraints of the page, rendered in incredibly fine detail.

This attention to detail carries over to the artist’s large-scale works, as well. Working with wood, metal, glass, stone and plastic, Ripo replicates the variety of textures he encounters while painting outside, incorporating them as a main visual element. By painting only the negative space of the compositions in white enamel, the natural materials are allowed to play an active role in composing the letters and texts. With a nod to the assemblage art of Rauschenberg, broken mirrors, old signs, scrap metal and other found objects are recontextualized in the work and original tiles from the sidewalks and streets of Barcelona bring an iconic image and texture of the city to San Francisco.

From the Artist:
“I get the most satisfaction when a word fits perfectly to a situation, in expressing something personal that others can relate to.”

Event Information:
“Signs, Fines & Cheap Wines” by Max Rippon aka Ripo
Opening Reception – Thursday, August 9th, 7-11 pm
On View Through September 1st, 2012
@ White Walls (www.whitewallssf.com)
835 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA

NUG @ Skalitzers Contemporary Art

Elise — Sat, 12 May 2012 07:49:16 +0000

Opening Saturday 12th May, 19HR
Exhibition 16 May – 2 June 2012

Skalitzers presents a new solo show by infamous Swedish artist Nug, in participation with the Month of Performance Art.

Taking the energy and abstract expression of writing to new media and contexts, Nug has gained wide recognition in recent years for his graffiti-inspired actions. Nug’s exploration of form, informed by his background as a writer in Sweden, leads him to an artistic territory so pure that it touches upon the very essence of human behaviour – “a total negation of the form and complete rejection of comprehensible behavioural patterns”.

“I’m focusing more on the energy released from performing graffiti, an energy that comes out in irrational lines and moves based upon instinct and feeling.”
(Nug, 2008)

Fine Lines
The tag, also referred to as handstyle, urban calligraphy or ‘writing’, is a personal statement or signature: an expression of identity. The work of many artists starts and ends with the tag. For some the tag represents the basis from which they developed their style into less abstract art forms. For many of these artists tagging is a relevant part of their work, others’ entire message is contained within their tag. Reaching across culture, class and age, the tag is a global art form: a pure form of self expression and style. Originating in Philadelphia in the 1960s and New York in the early 1970s, for decades it has laid the foundation for a number of related art forms which have developed from the streets to galleries worldwide.

Stefan Gross @ HLP

AnnA — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:45:40 +0000

(The precarious future of) Sustainable Trash

Is art nothing more than sustainable waste: Garbage with purpose and a place in the future? Maybe. But if something endures, has it been wasted? Is it still qualified as trash or does it speak of alternative possibilities for value?

The recent work of Stefan Gross sees him as a sort of scientist setting out to transform both material and immaterial cultural waste by employing a formalistic approach to physical properties and a slapstick approach to cultural underpinnings. Found objects, rescued toys and human practical and spiritual necessity are employed as the artist works to recreate a problematic that concerns him: “The world is a serious place these days. This is the problem that I try to solve with my work.”

Following “The Superhero Project,” “More Future,” “Moussism” (with Jeroen Jongeleen) and the creation of the signature “Golden Mousse” (Tobias Allanson), HLP will close the year with a 5th Mousse Process Exhibition. This December, Stefan Gross will present figurative and abstract works with polymer, offering a colorful twist to pressing social contradictions.

Stefan Gross is the recipient of the AEG Art prize, the Kunstverein Drawing Prize and the Frits Philips Art Prize. He has been awarded funding for his ‘art you can hit’ project with Stella Boess (Love, Hate, Punch) by the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. In 2009, he participated to the ‘Inside Job’ Group Exhibition at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen (Rotterdam, curated by Jeroen Jongeleen)