Jessy Nite is a multidisciplinary artist and graphic designer, living and working in Miami. Specializing in interactive, experiential and site-specific installation, her bold narratives come alive through an array of pastel-colored typography, geometry and illustration. Nite fabricates experiences using familiar and disarming imagery, giving audiences the freedom to interact and interpret her visual for themselves. This free-wheeling creative exchange is the product of context, structure and her underlying, controlled message.
Nite has exhibited internationally, and her drawings and sculptures are part of several prestigious art collections around the world. She has presented fine art projects in Miami, Newport, Provincetown, Burlington, Dallas, Sao Paulo, London, Vienna, Zurich and Bangkok; and has worked commercially for brands such as Fiat, Married To The Mob, I Am Other, and The Fader, and musicians Best Coast, LCD Soundsystem, Sleighbells, Soul Clap, Mayday, and NFA.
Bri Cirel
Painter and video artist Bri Cirel received her Bachelor’s degree in Film and Media from the California College of Arts.
Bri is currently building a collection of oil paintings, while also pursuing video arts in the form of no budget music videos and experimental film shorts.
Painting out of LA, Bri worked as a resident artist for a movie prop house in Hollywood where she painted decorative works and designed custom dressings for set backdrops.
Jessica Lichtenstein
Using the female body as a mechanism to explore deeper themes of power, female representation, fetishism and objectification, usually in an ironic and cheerful way, Lichtenstein’s work embodies the very paradox she is trying to explore. Her work consciously plays with the boundaries of power, commercialization, consumerism, fantasy and propriety, provoking tensions that challenge the viewer to confront his or her own gaze. Fascinated by the mass-production and fetishization of hyper-sexualized Japanese figurines, Lichtenstein’s first series manipulated the presentation and context of mass-produced anime dolls in order to imbue them with new associations and richer meaning. By taking these lifeless figures out of their plastic boxes and by placing them within the white cube of the gallery, Lichtenstein explores both the commodification of the female body while simultaneously examining how these forms change in the public vs. private realms. Through these vignettes, the girls are placed on a stage for public inspection and the viewer can voyeuristically watch these girls examine and perfect both themselves and their lives, exposing the extremism of a consumer culture dominated by western ideals of beauty and lifestyle.
Building on that initial series, Lichtenstein’s current series of “word sculptures” examine the pornographic world of Japanese-inspired comic books. Creating her own imagined fantastical landscapes infused with a highly sexualized environment, Lichtenstein places these appropriated heroines in scenes that are reminiscent of Renoir’s, Cezanne’s or Picasso’s “nude bathers”; scenes that harken back to a time of “female as muse.”
Layering these images behind a thick buffer of acrylic, the pieces take a critical distance from their own content and in fact, beg the viewer to do the same. Through this thick lens, the viewer is asked to engage with and question whether these hyper-sexualized women are depicted solely to satisfy an insatiable male-dominated gaze, or if such a theory is too narrow, neglecting to address the complex nature of women and their desire to enjoy their sexuality, enjoy their bodies and their desire to be desirable. Through the strength of her images, Lichtenstein provokes the viewer to confront their own reactions to these hypersexualized images-whether it be feelings of shock, disgust, power, vulnerability, shame or lust-asking the viewer to decide what they are comfortable with, and why? Following her last solo exhibitions in New York City, Lichtenstein received much attention from international press. The artist’s work is already in some of the homes of the most important art collectors, and held in private collections in New York, Palm Beach, Beverly Hills, Nice, London, Paris, Madrid, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Pablo Power was born in a log cabin in rural maryland and spent his formative years in the seamy, creative crucible of 1980′s and 90′s miami. as a teenager, his earliest work experimented with a myriad of offerings to the street. beginning with only scissors, scotch tape, and a photocopier, he waged a disinformation campaign on miami beach’s telephone and light poles, in which he would cut up and reassemble live music fliers, taking a band’s name from one flier and mixing it up with the venue from another, and the time and date from others. seeing the confused reactions created by simply taping up these photocopied pieces of paper in the street, power began to appreciate the impact that art has when given up for public interpretation. he then graduated to more permanent materials, writing and painting on the surfaces throughout miami’s urban wilderness, even collaborating on a commission for a permanent mural installation in a miami dade transit station while still in high school. eventually power settled on what would be an obsession for many years to come: his bombardment of all accessible public space with his visual mantra. this campaign eventually led power to begin collaborating with the inkheads, a group of kindred artists that was gaining recognition in miami and new york city at the time. power moved to new york to study at parsons school of design and school of visual arts, and although began painting in the studio, still continued to create outdoor works inspired by the sprawling, dinkins- era urban wilderness of his new home. after years of carrying a camera to document the collective’s work as they traveled across america and abroad, his focus literally widened to let the frame capture more than just the painting on a wall, but the whole decrepit building, the adjacent street and train track, and finally the bizarre characters that populated them. eventually the painting became incidental to the photo, then faded into the background, and finally disappeared completely.
In his most recent work, he layers these photos with drawn and painted elements, and collects writing from his documentary subjects to combine with his own writing, which are all added to create the illustrated texts and textures that have been part of his work from the beginning.
Max Rippon is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work explores the impact and nuances of textual communication through language, forms, and symbols. Leveraging his study and love of painting, drawing, printmaking, calligraphy, graffiti, and sign painting, as well as new digital fabrication techniques, he has worked prolifically for years in the public space and in his studio practice. Rippon has shown his work internationally with solo exhibitions in San Francisco, Barcelona, Cologne, Brussels, and London as well as participating in curated group shows from New York City to Romania. He has created murals and other public works in cities, remote villages, and abandoned structures across 36 countries in three continents.Born and raised in New York City Max Rippon (aka Ripo) received his BFA from Washington University in St. Louis. He currently lives and works in Barcelona, Spain.
Ray Geary showed no interest in art at an early age, yet was drawn to it post college as a way to create the things he wanted to see. Comprised mostly of cast resin sculpture, Geary’s work deals with encapsulation and the unexpected elevation of commonplace items . A young New York talent, Geary’s work has already been exhibited at Scope NYC, Helium Cowboy in Hamburg and Shizaru Gallery in London.
Nora Sands
Fashion plays a role in society; it allows us to present a specific image to others. However, appearances may be deceptive. The impossible image of perfection that is portrayed in fashion advertisements has led me to crush them, just as they distort the self-perception of those who view them. These advertisements reveal much about the fashion industry, society, and ultimately ourselves. They show what we value, the importance of how we are perceived, and the disposable character of the objects that satisfy these desires. I literally alter these advertisements into new shapes and create imperfections in “perfect” images that I use as references for my paintings. I am able to use the merchandise being presented in these ads while only paying the cover price for the magazine.
Within my critique of these source images, I have found an appreciation for the high level of craftsmanship and brilliant use of formal elements. Design is the interface between industry, production, and consumer life. Consequently, reproduction and representation is a subject of my work. While depicting crumpled paper on fragile material (paper), the acrylic and gouache paint itself is as artificial as the image portrayed in the advertisements. The flatness and opaque qualities allow for a superficial façade where it is nearly impossible to look beyond the surface of my paintings.
Although, today’s fashion is discarded tomorrow, ideally artwork won’t be discarded and the price of a painting may outweigh the product value. The ads tell us that luxury items are deemed as necessities and many manufacturers reintroduce the old with a packaging face-lift. When I crumple these advertisements, one does not need to know the details of the original advertisement to be able to identify which ad is being manipulated. In painting the ads from the sub-sequential issues, the same designer’s products and any changes in the ad campaign are reflected in my work.
Allen Leper Hampton was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He attained a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of South Florida in the summer of 2008. Allen has exhibited in much of the United States, as well as overseas.
Allen describes his work by saying, “I constantly fight with myself, struggling for progression through confusion and misunderstanding. Pig blood, animals and their leftover limbs, and many other mediums that I utilize are important in that they were at one time imperative to the sustaining of life in a living being, but are now devoid of all use. They occupy a space in limbo, somewhere between functionality and futility, mirroring my own views of myself and my place in society. The eclectic nature of the physical presentation of these pieces speaks to a lack of overall dissatisfaction and a constant need for change in hopes of personal contentment. By using these simultaneous dichotomies as surrogates for myself, I hope to look objectively at my conscious actions as well as my subconscious mind.”~ AH
Ryan Cronin
Born on the front seat of a late 60’s Plymouth Station Wagon, Cronin has kept his parents, friends and audiences on their toes ever since. He currently resides in the countryside outside of NYC. He enjoys his neighbor’s weekend home delivery of the New York Times and he loves to paint.
Keith Scharwath is a designer who occasionally makes hand painted signs. He is a partner at the Los Angeles design studio Outpost
Scott Albrecht was born in 1983 in New Brunswick, NJ, and raised in Bethlehem Township, NJ. In 2003, he received a degree in Graphic Design from The Art Institute of Philadelphia. Albrecht is currently based in Brooklyn, NY and a member of The Gowanus Studio Space. His work incorporates elements of woodworking, hand-drawn typography and geometric collage using vintage printed ephemera and found objects.
Jonny Ruzzo
“I grew up in a large town in the small state of Rhode Island, and moved out in 2008. I currently reside in New York City where I work as an artist/illustrator.
My work deals with superificiality, sexuality, and my own perceptions of beauty. I enjoy using bright, bold colors and shiny, metallic materials in my work. I ask myself a lot of questions, and painting is my attempt at an answer.
My work has received recognition from publications such as Society of Illustrators and 3×3, as well as being shown in galleries around New York City. I was listed as one of CMYK Magazine’s Top 100 New Creatives in 2013. Some clients include WWD, iD gum from Stride, and Sexto Piso Publishing” ~ JR
gilf!
Based in Brooklyn, gilf! is one of NYC’s most recognized and provocative female street artists. Her focus is on creating bold typographic public works that inspire thoughtfulness, while simultaneously motivating progressive change within communities. Earlier this year, the artist garnered national media attention when she installed a colossal banner resembling police caution tape that read ‘GENTRIFICATION IN PROGRESS’ at the former graffiti mecca 5 Pointz in Queens, New York. Since receiving her bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from the University of Wisconsin Madison, her work has been reviewed in Blouin Art Info, New York Magazine, New York Daily News, Brooklyn Street Art, and Wooster Collective. She has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout the US and abroad including shows at Jim Kempner Fine Art in New York, Seyhoun Gallery in Tehran, Iran, and CAVE Gallery in Los Angeles. Through her travels, murals, uncomissioned street work, gallery installations, and curatorial projects she continues her dialog of mindful and constructive revolution.
Brooke Holloway
Since childhood, I have been intrigued by the relationship between art and storytelling, and the way it allowed for an individual interpretation of shared experience, more specifically that of a young girl, or woman, within American culture. Drawing on childhood memories and my history as a young woman who became a mother while still a teenager, personal narrative serves as a point of departure from which I create works that not only provide a window into my experience, but also situate themselves within broader cultural narratives.
Layered imagery appropriated from coloring books and pornography plays with multiple levels of visibility. Text, taking the form of nursery rhymes and fairytale narrative, is employed at times to give added depth and meaning. Through this use of image and text, I am interested in exploring psychological and social structures as they relate to themes of innocence and perversion, fantasy and reality, expectation and disappointment, in the context of female sexuality, stereotypes, and social norms. Rather than treat these ideas as oppositional, I try to find moments where they overlap and occur within one another, blurring boundaries.
Kevin Hebb is an Artist, Designer, Painter and Word Sayer currently creating work in Boston.
Mark Goede
“As an artist I’m interested in identity and the construction of identity. Social roles, and the interaction between those very same roles. In Western Europe (and other parts of the world) we fought to free ourselves from traditional institutions. But what does this liberation mean in relation to one’s formation of identity? Our social roles? Fulfilment? Our hopes and fears? Dreams and desires? Are their specific contemporary trends due to this liberation?
Due to years of working as a copywriter, text is my main tool. My first and foremost weapon of communication. Central element in most of my work is an attempt to make something new out of the old.
My readymades deal with adding new layers on top of old works. Recontextualizing old photos, paintings and objects. Bought at thrift shops. Found at flea markets. Auctions. I want to create a new dialogue between those old works and their new observers.” -Mark Goede