Buckshot Gallery presents, in association with Eddie Donaldson, co-founder of GuerillaOne and longtime Los Angeles art community supporter, a collaborative exhibition between acclaimed artist and printmaker
TAZ and graffiti icon
RISK. The gallery will showcase a selection of collaborative posters, originals and other genre related printed ephemera, created exclusively for “Unconventional Forces“.
The exhibition opens on May 14th and runs through June 4th, 2016 at Buckshot Gallery (3129 Pico Blvd.) in Santa Monica, CA. More details on the exhibit can be found online at
http://www.buckshotgallery.com/
The inevitability of TAZ and RISK joining forces seems preordained. Both artists dig through the detritus left by the body of pop culture to create their own vision of the past, present and future, all of it disguised as utilitarian art. Searching the signs and signifiers of everything from surfing to speed, rock music to science fiction, the two have attacked every surface presented to them. Posters, massive street murals, musical instruments, advertisements, and every other genre-specific form of visual culture have been decorated by TAZ and RISK.
The piercing sense of passion and brand recognition that they share make their art inseparable from the world in which it finds expression. The current exhibition shows artist and writer at their most ingenious, merging art with entertainment. “Unconventional Forces” will represent the first collaboration between these two Southern California based artists.
Kelly Graval, the multi-talented fine artist, illustrator and graffiti artist known as RISK has been synonymous with the Los Angeles art community for decades. With a career spanning 30 years, Risk has solidified his place in the history books as a world renowned graffiti legend. He has come a long way since he pioneered the painting of freeway overpasses, signs and billboards, dubbed "heavens". Although Risk loves aerosol art, he sees it as merely one genre in his life's work. From his days as a student at the USC School of Fine Arts to gallery and museum exhibits around the globe, Risk has transformed from a street artist to a rising star in the contemporary art world.
Risk's works are a cross-section of color field painting, light and space conceptualism and finish fetish sensibilities. Experiential methods exploit transparent aspects of kandy and pearl paint utilizing hi-tech materials, from California car and surf culture while staying true to his adaptive graffiti roots, recycling or re-purposing materials all the same. Risk's work is a constant juxtaposition of advanced color theory. The work depicts an ethereal Yin and Yang quality visually and conceptually.
Risk applies paint to his surfaces in multiple layers of various techniques starting with graffiti and ending with fine sprayed lacquer or resins over vintage candy, metal flake and pearl car paints. The finished product evokes emotion as the coats of atmospheric colors and gradations are trapped between the layers of lacquers and pearls. The end result is a dynamic, well-balanced and organized chaos.
American Beauty Limited edition HPM SERIGRAPH
EDITION OF 50 Hand signed and numbered by the artists
Entrada 290gsm Coventry rag acid free paper with archival ink
Deckled edge
It will be available through Buckshot Prints,
In Studio photos by Birdman Photos.
RISK + TAZ “UNCONVENTIONAL FORCES”
DATE: May 14 - June 4, 2016
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, May 14th, 2016
TIME: 7:00PM - 10:00PM PST
ADDRESS: Buckshot Gallery, 3129 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA
