beinArt Collective’s ‘Metamorphosis’ Exhibition at CoproGallery (CA, USA), opened on the 5th of June and will be showing until the 26th of June. So if you are in the area, or will be during that time, head to Copro and have a look!
There are so many amazing artists participating in the show, I am overwhelmed with excitement to be a part of such a great exhibition and would like to thank Jon Beinart for inviting me to be apart of this. Thank you!

About the exhibition:
‘Metamorphosis’ will present the work of over 50 international artists, many who have never shown their work in California or the USA, along with a number of well known artists who have.

Participating Artists:
Ron English, Shawn Barber, Chris Mars, Chet Zar, David Stoupakis, Viktor Safonkin, David Bowers, Peter Gric, Ray Donley, Scott Musgrove, Karl Persson, Jason Jacenko, Vincent Castiglia, Saturno Butto, Heidi Taillefer, David Choquette, Fred Einaudi, Carrie Ann Baade, Laurie Lipton, Paul Rumsey, Katherine Blackwell, Jason John, Artur Golacki, Brian Viveros, Dan Quintana, Jon Jaylo, Ben Tolman, Heather Nevay, James Zar, William B Hand, Dariusz Zawadzki, Mikel Glass, Isabel Peppard, Mark Powell, Lily Mae Martin, Beau White, Larkin, Alex Garcia, Chrystal Chan, Matt Martin, Stephanie Henderson, Leslie Ditto, Christian Van Minnen, Jon Beinart, Andy B Clarkson, Jeff Christensen, Luis Lorenzana, Michael Ryan, Fred Harper, Chris Peters, Sean Chappell, Erik Alos & more.

Each artist has been chosen for their ability to express themselves imaginatively with exceptional technique and un compromised individuality. The works will cover many themes that are central to the human experience portrayed with a surreal, dreamlike and often nightmarish aesthetic.

‘Metamorphosis’ will be testimony to a huge international movement of figurative artists who have resisted current trends in the art world and remained true to their artistic vision.

CoproGallery
Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Ave, Unit T5,
Santa Monica, CA 90404, USA.
Ph: 310/829-2156
Link to official press release: http://beinart.org/modules/Word-Press/2010/03/10/beinart-collective-group-exhibition-at-coprogallery/

Some of my personal favorites from the exhibition are these:

Beau White’s painting titled “Milk Maid”.
More work can be seen at his myspace here.

Isabel Peppard’s beautiful sculpture.
She also made a beautiful animation called “Gloomy Valentine” that you can see here.

Matt Martin’s painting titled “She walks in Empty Spaces”.
You can see a few more of his works on the beinart site here.

Laurie Lipton’s drawing titled “Wanda Always Wanted to be a Sex Object”.
You can see more of her work on her website here.

Seated Nude 2010.

I haven’t used acrylic paints in years. And when I did use them they were for my more sort of cartoon work that I used to dedicate most of my time to.. Of late though, I haven’t been able to use oil paints. I got a bit frustrated as I am pretty grounded here for the time being and the only reason why I wasn’t painting for the good part of last year was the constant travel and moving about. (Packing up paper is easier than canvas and the tools that go with it.)
So, I decided to bite the bullet and get over my snobbery about oil paint being the only way to go and bought myself some decent acrylic paints. The above image was just a play, but I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much that I am already working on a second painting (that is really large) and take back any horrible things I have said about acrylics in the past. I don’t know what I was thinking!

Above are some images I have done in life drawing classes I have been taking on and off for the good part of this year. I missed life drawing the most when I left university so I enrolled into some day classes while I had the chance. I mostly just made studies. I didn’t really go in to make any finished pieces. Just want to keep up my hand eye co ordination, and it is really nice to have a variety of people to draw.
I do miss how my uni was a bit more challenging in terms of the people they chose to model for us. We had large people, old people, all sorts of shapes and sizes. I really do love the human body and am sad that I have since misplaced most of the studies I did during that time.
One excursion I remember at uni was the trip we took to the Melbourne Universities Anatomy Museum. Where there were human skeletons, bits and pieces of the human body in various jars. Some deformed from disease or what have you. You have to have a strong stomach for it as there is a smell. A lot of the specimens are very old. One in particular was of a female torso who was (I think) in her second trimester of pregnancy. Apparently she died in a car accident around the 1940′s and no one claimed her so they took her body and used it for science. She used to be on public display. However the laws have changed on such things since and bodies, and bits of bodies, that didn’t have permission to be used are no longer on public display. But if you book, I think you can get in. We went in to draw bits and pieces.
Anyway, the human body, dead and alive, is an amazing thing. And I like to draw it.