Seen: Sage Vaughn – Native Sons

Sage Vaughn’s latest solo, Native Sons, opened this past Saturday night in Downtown LA.  Presented by Swiss gallery Bertrand Gruner, the show features a large body of new paintings, drawings, and  a familiar canvas for Vaughn — spiked bats.

Artists face a dilemma – draw/paint what resonates with your audience and do it almost exclusively or present work that matches your evolution, changing interest, and broader repertoire.  That’s a long winded way of saying that in my casual encounters with Mr. Vaughn’s work, I tended to think him of the guy who painted amazingly life-like birds.  I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that except for the fact that it’s not accurate and not representative of his full talent.

Vaughn’s new work from his “Wildlives” series captures the magic and quirkiness  of the everyday. Much as bird lovers take time to study and understand winged-wonders, Vaughn seems to ponder the wondrous and enigmatic personalities pulsating within people particularly children. Flamboyant costumes and masks do not obscure the subjects but rather highlight their humanity and individuality.  The larger number of mixed-media pieces highlight the individual’s vibrancy through the use of backgrounds that appear to be painted black/white photographs – a very strong effect.    At least, that’s our take on Vaughn’s latest body of work.  What we can say with certainty is that this newest work is quite engaging and worthy of your consideration and appreciation. Check out shots of the opening after the jump.

Native Sons is a short five-day show ending on Wednesday, October 15th and is definitely worth a visit.

1446 East Washington Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90021, USA