Archived: April 26th - May 28th, 2007
The artists this month are Gene Hannan, J.D. O'Kelly, Matt Shaver, and Rose Guilfoyle
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area Gene Hannan was immersed in a plethora of cultures. He was always fascinated with rock and roll and California stoner culture. His artwork often times reflects this with references to pop symbolism, day glo paint, and his own blend of surreality. One of his main passions, tattooing, has been his profession for the last 12 years. It is definitely hard for any artist to escape the visual language of tattoo imagery once it becomes their bread and butter. It is one the last remaining parts of the carnival that are still vital and alive.
J.D. O'Kelly has been tattooing, painting, and doing pen & ink work since 2001. He is primarily interested in Victorian Gothic, Traditional American Tattoo Art, Outsider and Primitive Folk Art and Asian art.
Matt Shaver has been tattooing for 10 years and these are his first pieces of art that use tattoo iconography other than what he designed for tattoos. In those ten years he wanted to keep his tattoo work separate from his other art objects. Tattooing scratched one itch, while painting itched another. When presented with this show, he had a couple of ideas he wanted to explore and tattooing and tattoo designs seemed a perfect vehicle.
Rose Guilfoyle is originally from the Mojave Desert wasteland that is called Las Vegas. She has enjoyed residing in Beautiful Portland, Oregon for almost eight years and has no intention of leaving. She is college learned in art and biology, and makes pictures with paint and stuff to clear out the cobwebs in her brain. Rose's childhood was spent dreaming about joining the circus. She ended up tattooing. Coincidence? She also likes Pina Coladas and walks in the rain. She's not much into health food, but she does like champagne.