Fifty24SF Gallery in association with Upper Playground presents “Devolution”, group exhibition featuring the work of Smithe, Tina Lugo, Lauren YS and Benjamin Constantine. “Devolution” Opens August 1st 2015, 7pm at Fifty24SF Gallery.
Smithe
Benjamin Constantine
Tina Lugo
Lauren YS
About The Artists:
Benjamin Constantine: Benjamin is a predominantly self taught artist living and working in Brisbane, Australia. In his pieces, casts of anonymous characters interact, in states of anxiety or elation, elements within or around them often becoming involved and synonymous. Constantine’s work has appeared in VICE comics, the Fantagraphics’s publication ‘Beasts!2’ and in ‘Secret Prison’ amongst others.
Tina Lugo: Tina’s work expresses a sexual and often tongue-in- cheek humor fueled by cartoons, animation and early 90’s television. The use of enamel and plexiglass in her work is to suggest that the smooth, hyper-gloss finishing of a world that allures us will always be beneath a transparent barrier we can touch but never enter-a replication of the voyeuristic qualities we all posses. Her style references and pays homage to her variety of modern influences which include: Takashi Murakami, Toshio Saeki, Hanna Barbera, Japanese animation, and Henry Darger. Tina Lugo was born and raised in the Bronx and recently moved to Portland. She studied at the School of Visual Arts.
Smithe: Born and raise in Mexico City, Smithe begain drawing around age 12. Influenced by the local graffiti artists in his neighborhood, Smithe would walk the city and look at the graffiti on the walls. He was intrigued by how quick you could get a message out. Smithe’s art has opened many doors for him as he has traveled the world showing his work, with shows in England, Belgium and Germany.
Lauren YS: Lauren YS is a Bay Area based fine artist, illustrator and muralist. For “Devolution,” Lauren has collected a host of her characters in states that play off her interpretation of the word: entanglement, malaise or playful struggle. YS graduated from Stanford in 2013 and showed her first artworks at FIFTY24SF. She has since completed a residency in Vienna at Rabbit Eye Movement and painted at several international mural festivals.