Restricted Freedom" & "Ceci n'est pas Graffiti"
FIFTY24SF GALLERY PRESENTS TWO SOLO SHOWS APRIL 3, 2008 FEATURING NEW WORK BY LUCY McLAUCHLAN and SLICK
FIFTY24SF GALLERY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
(p) 415.252.9144 (e) gallery@upperplayground.com
LUCY McLAUCHLAN ‘Restricted Freedom’and SLICK ‘Ceci n’est pas Graffiti’ New Paintings
April 3rd – May 1st, 2008
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 3, 2008 7-9:30 p.m.
San Francisco, CA (February 2008) – FIFTY24SF Gallery is pleased to announce the opening solo exhibition of UK-based artist, Lucy McLauchlan as well as Ceci n’est pas Graffiti, a solo exhibition of new graffiti-related work by Los Angeles-based artist, Slick.
This will be the first solo show of Lucy’s work in the US in which she will present a collection of new paintings incorporated into a site-specific installation that will literally transform the gallery. Working in a style that combines illustrative linework, bitonal colors, figurative subject matter, and primal stylings, Lucy’s work is both graphic and subtle at the same time. Expressive faces with delicate expressions inked in black blend together amidst abstract deisgn elements that sweep across the page giving her work a sense of movement and flow.
Slick will present large-scale acrylic, marker, and spray paint works on canvas as well as sculpture and a series of smaller, panel pieces. For the subject of this series, Slick uses the train – an urban canvas foreign to him as a youth growing up in Hawaii. Through this series, Slick is able to explore an era of train painting while paying homage to the East Coast graff writers who transformed it into a phenomenon. When known for his graffiti, Slick worked in a highly rendered, 3-dimensional style. For Ceci n’est pas Graffiti, he works in a more gestural style, taking it back to the essence of graff where simpler strokes enabled the artist to work under time constraints.
Lucy McLauchlan was born in Birmingham, UK and has shown extensively with international shows at such illustrious galleries as BLK/MRKT Gallery, the Eclectic Gallery in Tokyo, the Wolverhampton Art Gallery, the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and a recent solo show at Lazarides Gallery. Lucy has been featured in numerous publications, but amongst them are I-D, Vogue, Relax and Lodown magazines. Lucy is also one of the founding members of Beat13, an artist collective that began in Birmingham in 1999 and whose collaborators list includes the animated pop band Gorillaz, Banksy’s Pictures on Walls, Keep A Breast Charity and the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.
Slick was raised in Hawaii and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18. He attended Otis Parsons, and later received training at the Art Center College of Design. It was at Otis Parsons where he met his crew K2S (Kill to Succeed). Slick has founded prominent streetwear companies such as Third Rail Clothing™, Fuct™, Shaolin Worldwide™, Dissizit™, and the toy division STD™. He has worked on special projects with corporations such as Levi’s and Nike, and with recording artists, The Pharcyde and Booyaa Tribe. Slick’s utilization of computer graphics, painting techniques, and aerosol techniques has presented a style uniquely, and respectively his own.
About Upper Playground and FIFTY24SF Gallery
Based in San Francisco, California, Upper Playground was founded in 1999 and has become a leader in today’s progressive art movement with its innovative apparel line and art gallery, FIFTY24SF. Recognized as a catalyst for the fusion of fashion with art, Upper Playground produces apparel lines bi-annually and features designs from notable local and international artists. Upper Playground apparel is sold nationally and internationally in over 300 boutiques and online. The FIFTY24SF Gallery is based in San Francisco, CA and showcases art from some of the best contemporary artists in the world with its monthly art exhibits. Please visit www.upperplayground.com for more information.
