WHERE: Copro Nason Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave. T5., Santa Monica, Ca. 90404
WHAT: Ron English, Mark Mothersbaugh & Daniel Johnston: 3 man art exhibition
DATE: September 17, 2005 through October 15 opening reception September 17 8-11:30 p.m.
CONTACT: Gary Pressman, Copro/Nason Gallery
Copro/Nason Gallery presents a 3 man art exhibition featuring, Ron English, Mark Mothersbaugh, & Daniel Johnston. Blending Beautiful Mutants, insanity and Pop Art this will be a show you have to see to believe.
Ron English is the father of Agit- Pop, a hybrid of Pop Art that is fueled by a political sentimentality that many postmodern thinkers believe is dead:. His work is loaded with the iconography of his generation, exploring the range and power of a deeply American symbology using pop imagery as a metaphor. Much like the Dadaists and Surrealists before him, he anticipates the next movement while being part of the current one rather than being mired in the apolitical stance of his peers. He has an incredible knack for making things his own and breathes new life and a new vitality into the work that holds it's own against the tide of postmodern critique.
Mark Mothersbaugh’s love of art started early in his childhood, just after it was discovered that he was extremely nearsighted and legally blind. His first correctional glasses offered Mark a new view of the world, inspiring his obsession with imagery and illustrations. His first works, which he began creating in the late 60's and into the 70's, consisted of many different mediums, including rubber stamp designs, ink illustrations, screen printing, and decals. His latest work, Beautiful Mutants, presents his photographic symmetrical creations and 'corrected' imagery. Examining those who have walked the planet before us, there subtle potato-like qualities allow the true tenant of these human faces and figures to be flushed out and viewed without the disguise that we all so expertly hide behind.
Daniel Johnston was born 1961 in Sacramento, California He was the youngest of five children in a Christian fundamentalist household. Drawing for a long time before he took up music, Daniel grew to appreciate such artists as John Lennon, Bob Dylan, the Sex Pistols, and especially the Beatles. The aspiring cartoonist -- whose playful, symbol-heavy sketches have graced the covers of many of his releases moved to Texas in 1983 with his father, an engineer and World War II fighter pilot. Somehow the story continues with him joining a traveling carnival show for a spell, selling corndogs. "It was like a movie all the time. Everybody around me was a great story that never stopped, and for the first time, I realized how much freedom you have to do what you want."
Over the years, Daniel's paintings and drawings have been exhibited in Los Angeles, Zurich, and Berlin. The cover of a recent edition of music writer Richard Meltzer's "The Aesthetics of Rock" was drawn by Johnston. A film about his life, “The Devil and Daniel Johnston”, recently won Best director at Sundance Film Festival and will be released this February by Sony.
