You’ve undoubtedly seen Robbie Conal’s work in places like the LA Weekly. He combines social comment with undeniable technical expertise to produce rad paintings, drawings and mixed-media pieces, most of them pleasingly large-scale. 

“No Spitting No Kidding,” a retrospective of 25 years of his art, opened Oct. 18 at the Track 16 Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica. The opening was packed with an enthusiastic crowd who checked out the wide range of his work, including political portraits, collages involving Smurfs, skeleton baseball players and playful kittens. Although I recognized many of the politicians and scandal-ridden characters depicted, I was even more inspired by his heavy layers of paint and the carefully sketched lines that depicted every wrinkle, falsehood and bit of hope in their faces.

The piece at the top of this page was my favorite – I found it absolutely beautiful – but I tried to capture a sampling of his diversity in the accompanying images. (And the fella with the orange cap is skateboard legend Stacy Peralta.) The show runs until Nov. 22.

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The Devil. Robbie Conal. Oil on Canvas.

Robbie Conal is best known for his searing political posters and his relentless guerilla raids that ensured generations of people would see his unique counter-infotainment and perhaps pause for a second to think about the direction of the world. Perhaps not surprisingly, the high visibility of his poster efforts have overshadowed his larger body of work created as a painter trained in German expressionism.

No Spitting No Kidding opening on Saturday, October 18th at Track 16 is a 30-year retrospective featuring the political posters as well as his less-well publicized and controversial paintings. The highlight of the show are a series of ‘Decade’ paintings – constellations of photos and painted elements exploring the complex connection between politics and pop culture.

An important show that is also timely as the United States is about to determine its direction for the next four years. It’s also an excellent opportunity to appreciate Conal’s societal importance as well as the depth and breadth of his output.

[Source: Images from Track 16]

Track 16 Gallery
Smart Art Press
2525 Michigan Avenue, Bldg C-1
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310.264.4678

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