Roq La Rue Gallery presents

Sarah Joncas
“Shadow Play”
new paintings

Ciou
“Mysterious Flowers”
paintings and drawings

Sarah Joncas new show focuses on the theme of shadows. Her work is primarily narrative portraiture, but is imbued with a sense of cinematic spatiality and a contemporary noir sensibility. Influenced by artists diverse in scope as Van Eyck, Lautrec, Hopper, Varo, Mucha, and Frida Kahlo, Sarah was also greatly influenced by the newly emerging Anime scene as a child. As Anime became more pervasive in US culture, it was readily embraced for its approach of using complex narratives and emotional maturity within a cartoon framework. This use of a cartoon as a form of fine art “character” has been one of the staples behind the Pop Surrealism scene and Sarah’s melancholy heroines are examples of the range of subtle nuances that can be achieved using that as a base despite its seeming limitations. She has exhibited her paintings in New York, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and Rome.

Ciou hails from Paris, France. Her work features the admittedly well worn standard of spooky girls and their animals consorts, however Ciou’s unapologetic punk style (reminiscent of teenage notebook scrawls dialed up to 11) breathes a new brash life into the theme. Her sweet and sour heavy metal nymphs live out their wild carnivalesque fairytales on found vintage papers, taken from old medical books, dictionaries, and nature manuals. Her overwhelmingly ornate line-work is by turns thickly layered like decadent rocker girl eyeliner and then meticulously thin and ornate like stitchwork. Ciou has exhibited in Paris, Amsterdam,Brussels, Toulouse,Berlin, Los Angeles, Rome,and Barcelona. This is her first US solo show. She also has a book about her work entitled “Chat Siamose”.

Opening Friday February 12th 6-9pm
Show runs through March 6th

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Roq La Rue Gallery
presents

Ana Bagayan
“Critters” – new paintings

Ryan Heshka
“Envirus” – new paintings

and a mini show of pastels by Tin

opening Friday Oct 9th 6-9pm
music by DJ Vodka Twist ~ tasty beverages provided

Roq La Rue is pleased to present a trio of show to kick off fall in Seattle. We are thrilled to be presenting Ana Bagayan, who will be showing an ambitious new series of dreamy, sun dappled paintings featuring her trademark highly refined painting style focused on a sense of off kilter nostalgia, featuring young girls interacting with animals. She will also be exhibiting a collection of drawings along the same theme.
Ryan Heshka returns to the gallery with a new series of his tremendously popular, dynamic and vibrantly colored pulp-pop paintings based off Golden Age of Sci Fi imagery, but given Ryan’s distinctive and humorous spin.
Tin will be exhibiting 4 new pieces of his romantic steampunk/ victorian biomechanical flavored sepia tone pastel drawings.

Please join us for the opening! Contact us to be on a preview list. More info can be found at: http:www.roqlarue.com

Roq La Rue
presents
Jim Blanchard
“Personality Parade”
opens Friday Sept 11th 6-9
70’s funk and Italian film soundtrack cuts spun by DJ Vodka Twist

We will be opening a new show on September 11th by artist and painter Jim Blanchard.
Jim is probably one of artists we have exhibited the longest, in fact he was in Roq La Rue’s very first exhibition in 1998! We are pleased to welcome him back yet again for his solo show, “Personality Parade”, featuring his trademark and wildly colorful portraits of off kilter pop icons and on-point idols of true hipness and bad assery. These paintings are so tightly rendered that they look like silkscreen images but are in fact painted by hand. After years of using a pen and ink stippling effect to create portraits from photographs of countercultural icons, Jim started a new series of portraits using a stash of old industrial stickers he had as back ground color fields. This current series melds the two effects (using stickers to create a graphic template which are then removed revealing paint beneath, and his meticulous line work- which sometimes replicates pixels, and sometimes not) to create an exaggerated dramatic quality to his striking graphic paintings. Subjects for this new series include Diana Rigg, Robert Mitchum, Klaus Kinski, Agnes Moorehead, Clint Eastwood, Karen Black, Sharon Tate, Charles Bronson, Marty Feldman, Pam Grier, Steve McQueen, and Lee Marvin.
Fans of underground comics may know Jim for his stint as an inker on Pete Bagge’s legendary “Hate” comics and his work as art director at Fantagraphics.

Please contact us to be on a preview list, and join us for the opening if you are in the area!

It’s going to be Halloween in August when Travis Louie’s new show opens this Friday, August 21st from 6-9pm…if you are in the area come by and meet Travis!

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Travis Louie’s hypnotic “portraiture” is compelling for its blend of the hyper realistic with the blatantly unreal. Fantastical creatures gaze out from paintings so technically refined (using transparent layers of acrylic paint over a tight graphite drawing on a smooth flat surface) that they look uncannily like old photographs. Adding to the discomfiting presence these animal/monster like chimeras have are the human expressions- even if the creature in the paintings looks a bit bizarre, it also looks spookily familiar as well. Often in his work Louie seeks to create mythological ancestors…long-lost “relatives” captured in Victorian cabinet card/ tint type images. His own interest in Noir imagery, German Expressionism, and personal dream imagery. Each painting comes with a “bio” about each character, written by the artist.

This exhibition will feature 8 larger scale works by Travis. The artist will be in attendance at the opening and signing copies of his new book “Curiosities”, which will be available at the gallery.

Roq La Rue Gallery
2312 2nd Ave Seattle WA 98121
www.roqlarue.com

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Roq la Rue
presents

Chris Crites
“About:Face”
new paintings

and

Travis Lampe
“Best Loved Tales of Misery and Woe, Ect”
new paintings

opens Friday June 12th 6-9pm
refreshing beverages/music by DJ Twist

Roq La Rue is pleased to host Chris Crites second show at the gallery, a new series of paintings entitled “About:Face”.
Working with acrylic on paper bag, Crites’ hyper meticulous works explores the communicative plane we humans share that speaks to us on so many levels that language cannot. This body of work is a continuation of Crites exploration of faces from different stages in time. Part of what fascinates Crites is the unseen story, or history behind each image. He says “By working in a larger scale and with different materials, this series represents a challenge to myself and what I believe to be some of my most engaging paintings.”

Travis Lampe makes his debut at the gallery with a show entitled “Best Loved Tales of Misery and Woe”.
Working in his humorous trademark retro animation inspired style mashed up with fairy tale allegories and victorian design motifs, this exhibition “is about a creeping stain of woe that is so permeating that it’s gone back in time and spoiled all of your childhood memories – but in a funny way.” says Lampe. Lampe will have an installation as well as a selection of new prints and vinyl figures available at the opening.

Both artists will be in attendance.
Please contact us to be on a preview list! Email kirsten@roqlarue.com

Roq la Rue has a little side project going, which is producing limited edition, high quality prints with ALL proceeds going to charity. We are currently supporting The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya, which runs and elephant orphanage as well as a very successful rehabilitation back into the wild program for the elephants. They also have innovative community outreach programs. Our last print was Mark Ryden’s “Bunny Cart” print, and now we are thrilled to announce Camille Rose Garcia has created a new piece for the project entitled ” Lil’ Elorphant “!

These are only available through Roq la Rue- please email us at kisrten@roqlarue.com to get on a list to be notified when these are ready to go (about 3 weeks or so)…

Camille Rose Garcia

“Lil Elorphant”

giclee on heavy watercolor stock

approx 11″ x 17″ with deckled edges (not see here)

edition of 100 signed and numbered

$400 + shipping

Those readers who are unfamiliar with the works of Darren Waterston should head over to his website (darrenwaterston.com) for a glimpse into his luminous “organic/abstract” world. Both subtly macabre and transcendentally illuminating, Waterston is a master at painting both powerful, force-of-nature oils as well as delicate, melancholy watercolors. In between stints at blue chip galleries, Waterston has most recently completed a stunning Victorian mourning themed installation at Cantor Art Center at Stanford University entitled “Splendid Grief: Darren Waterston and the Afterlife of Leland Stanford Jr.” This show is an homage to the death of the teen-aged Leland Jr (died 1884), son of Leland and Jane Stanford, who subsequently devoted part of their fortune to establishing the Stanford University in his honor. The show is up through June 5th.

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Roq La Rue
presents
“Lush Life”
painting group show opening Friday May 8th 6-9pm

Joe Sorren, Chris Berens, Chris Conn Askew, Mia Araujo, Melissa Forman, Travis Louie, Madeline Von Foerster, Martin Wittfooth, Kukula, Ryan Heshka, John Brophy, Tin, Brian Despain, Glenn Barr, Dan Quintana, Femke Hiemstra, Laurie Hogin, Lisa Petrucci, and Andrew Arconti

While many galleries in the “underground”/Pop Surrealism art scene have increasing turned towards street art, Roq la Rue has decided to instead focus on the more formal, Symbolist -inspired painters in the genre. “Lush Life” brings together painters in both the alt-art world as well as contemporary art scene, who all work within a guideline of tight technical craftsmanship as well the use of opulent and decadent imagery to convey higher inner truths and emotions. This take on “Neo-Symbolism” is different from it’s predecessor in that while it still mines the unconscious for a sense of mythic gravitas, it incorporates American culture’s pervasive pop culture-flavored and cartoony aesthetic. This is the gallery’s one group show this year and we are thrilled at all the exceptional work pouring in- here is a first look!

(Please contact us to be on a preview list, or if you have any questions!)

Work below by: Laurie Hogin, Mia Araujo, Chris Berens, Melissa Forman, Madeline Von Foerster

For April, Roq la Rue is pleased to present two solo exhibitions featuring new works by two painters who work with dramatically different styles and tone but approach similar subjects in different ways. Here is a super sneak peek for Daily DuJour readers while we are busy with installing the new show…which opens Friday April 10th…hit us up for the full preview by emailing kirsten@roqlarue.com.

Preview after the jump:

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Just got these images of Chris Berens new pieces for the Hi Fructose Group Show this April at Copro Gallery. Just gorgeous. I seriously get an ache in my stomach whenever I see his works because I can’t own absolutely everything he does.

These paintings will be available only through Copro Gallery- so email Gary fast if interested!

"The Big One (Moving On)"

"Little One"

Kirsten Anderson up in Seattle sent us this info on her upcoming show with Christian van Minnen and Yoko d’Holbachie:

Here’s what we are working on at the gallery…looking forward to the timely opening on Friday…the thirteenth! The gallery will be filled with Christian latest works, a combination of the grotesque and the beautiful, painted in a northern renaissance style. We are very thrilled to be hosting a show of truly original works by an amazing emerging artist.

Roq la Rue Gallery
presents

Christian van Minnen
“Neo- Grotesque”

opens Friday March 13th 6-9pm
runs through April 4th

also showing: Yoko d’Holbachie

Roq La Rue is pleased to present a solo show by (recently transplanted to Seattle) painter Christian van Minnen. Van Minnen’s works feature biological monstrosities painted in portrait form with a Renaissance formality. Like a strange cross between Giuseppe Arcimboldo, H.R. Giger, and a natural history museum, van Minnen’s painting straddle the line between disturbingly ugly and serenely beautiful.
His newest work is his “Keyhole” series, in which a painted riot of organics ooze and flower on panel underneath another panel that has been cut out with the outline of a famous historical painting and burnished in rusted metallics and placed over the top. Van Minnen will be exhibiting 11 new paintings and a small selections of works painted in 2007-2008 that showcase his “Neo- Grotesque” style, a term that was recently coined for the resurgence of artists working with subject matter traditionally deemed unattractive or repulsive, but representing them in a sympathetic manner in a highly formal technical style.

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Columbian born graphic artist/painter Catalina Estrada has just announced the release of a T-shirt featuring her artwork, with proceeds going to charity project “COMPARTE CORAZON” which benefits a group of women artisans in Ayacucho (Peru).

You can pick one up here:

http://www.catalinaestrada.bigcartel.com/product/comparte-corazon

and read about the charity project here:

http://compartecorazon.blogspot.com/

Last Friday Roq La Rue opened it’s first new show of 2009 with two solo shows by Stella Hultberg and Andrew Hem. Both shows looked great and both artists really made an effort to step it up for this show which was most appreciated. You can see the show here, and here is a little gallery of pics I managed to snap when not running around trying to be the hostess with the mostess at the opening!