Scenographic Trasmissions, Full of Grace, Opening Reception February 9, 2007

Scenographic Transmissions
featuring new wors, collaboration and an installation from:
James Naccarato
&
Jophen Stein

February 9, 2007–March 2, 2007

James Naccarato creates a wonderful world of colorful and playful creatures. Naccarato’s figures often have a fictional quality to them, but at the same time his creations feel very natural, organic and possibly preternatural -- perhaps even “real.”

Naccarato was born in Kingston, New York; but has lived most of his life in various parts of California, where he also studied fine art and illustration at the Laguna College of Art and Design. He lives in Long Beach with his wife and two children and has been showing regularly around the country since graduating.

Drawing inspiration from the world around him, Naccarato uses what he sees to infuse his characters with life. He processes information gathered from his daily observations to create his own universe full of twisted and surreal landscapes inhabited with an array of creatures uniquely suited for their particular habitats.

When Naccarato was young, he took a strong interest in 16th and 17th century classical painting, cubism and surrealism. Later, he started to identify with street art, comics and various underground art movements. This marriage of old and new is apparent in his most recent work, which has a very surreal vocabulary and classical technique. Each of his paintings tells a unique story about relationships. Naccarato personifies his creatures with love, loss, solitude, sorrow, ridicule and rebirth. The edges of his images create windows to his worlds, as figures become characters, landscapes become stages and viewers are treated to small and wonderful shows set in these tiny “carnivals.”

Jophen Stein is a graduate of the Laguna College of Art and Design. After establishing the Snootson Family Showcase in 2004, his distinctive style has gained national recognition over the past couple of years. Despite the minor set backs of being banned from Idaho and Iowa, Jophen Stein continues the SFSC series from his studio in Pomona.

FSC statement:
Jophen Stein’s Snootson Family Showcase is a collection of narrative and character based art. While there are a variety of subjects and motifs presented in the SFSC, a principle underlining theme exists concerning the correlation between antiquity and modernity. With the help of literary devices such as irony and double entendres, the SFSC parodies contemporary social life with the eras and precedence that created it.

Project Room


"Full of Grace" featuring new works and an installation from Johnny “KMNDZ” Rodriguez

The idea behind ‘KMNDZ’ is built upon the premise of reflection, hope, and a burning desire to live life to the fullest.” A successful leader in the graphic design community, this Los Angeles based artist, has worked for some of the world’s premier design agencies and top entertainment companies. With brands like MTV Networks, Universal Pictures, Microsoft, Lexus, Disney, and Activision populating his resume, Rodriguez has built an impressive portfolio of both artistic and technological accomplishments in the world of graphic design and new-media. However, primarily, Rodriguez is an artist.

He attributes his success in commercial design as a direct result of his passion for art. “I didn’t choose a career in visual design. It chose me. Draw, paint, design, take pictures… it’s what I do and always have done.” KMDNZ is about both the past and the future. “Anyone who’s ever touched a Mac, knows that the keystroke combination ‘command’ + ’z’ = ‘undo’. After using it day in and day out at work, I started wishing that I had an ‘undo’ action for everyday life. We’ve all done things that we wished we hadn’t, and said things that we would like to take back.”

Rodriguez’s personal work is quite different from his commercial endeavors. When he sits down to paint, he puts aside the pressures of mass appeal and commercial accessibility, and instead focuses on creating art for himself. Drawing from his own life, his paintings brim with memories of family and friends, religious undertones, and iconic elements. A recent piece features a drawing of an audio cassette embedded into a hand grenade. This represents a tough look back at the time when his father left their family to fight a war in Nicaragua, and left only an audio recording to explain his actions. Other paintings depict the biblical stories of Jonah and King David. Yet another deals with a strange coincidence that reminds him of a close relative that recently passed away from cancer.

“I’m overwhelmed by the reaction that I’ve received about my art. I paint about the things that have meaning in my life, and it is amazing to know that it touches others. The messages are simple. Be honest to yourself. Hold yourself accountable for your actions. Never forget. And live your life fully without wishing to hit ‘KMNDZ’.”

Official Website: http://www.thinkspacegallery.com/