IN DREAMS - A solo exhibition by Jayde Fish

For all inquiries, please contact: indreams.fifty24SF@gmail.com

*Click here for show preview*

Fifty24SF Gallery in association with Upper Playground is pleased to announce the opening of "IN DREAMS" the first solo exhibition by Jayde Fish. Opening December 9th at 6:00pm at 218 Fillmore St. SF, CA 94117. Holiday refreshments courtesy of Naked Lunch. Artist in Attendance.

Jayde Fish is a San Francisco based designer and illustrator who takes inspiration from fashion, textiles, nature, and vintage children's books. Jayde's drawings were recently featured on clothing for GUCCI's SS 2017 runway show, after the celebrated creative director Alessandro Michele discovered her work on Instagram. Her work can also be found throughout Facebook in the form of animated characters, and in editorials including Elle, Vogue, and Vanity Fair.

This body of work is a personal exploration of the nature of dreams. How our dreams help us gain insight into our selves, our future, and our surroundings. The mystery of the mind is a powerful one. The Tarot is another common theme throughout this body of work, as Tarot cards have long been used to reveal truths. The artist translates the Major Arcana through her own lens, with densely ornate ink drawings, depicting romantic and classical forms of nature and the spiritual world. The artist hopes the viewer will feel a sense of discovery, resolve, and the inspiration to dream big. 

RUNE CHRISTENSEN - STILL LIFE

FIFTY24SF Gallery in association with Upper Playground is pleased to announce the opening of "STILL LIFE" Rune Christensen's first solo-exhibition in the Americas. Opening Friday October 21st at 7:00pm at 218 Fillmore St. SF, CA 94117. Refreshments courtesy of Fort Point. Artist in attendance. 

Hailing from Copenhagen, Denmark the artist has caught the eye of critics and collectors alike selling out recent shows at Art Copenhagen, Gallery Wolfsen in Aalborg, Helium Cowboy in Hamburg and Scope Miami. His work is also being featured at an exhibition entitled "Urban Dawn" in Beruit, Lebanon alongside world renowned artists El Mac, Swoon, Shepard Fairey and Retna  which opens October 15th.

Artist Statement:

This body of work is inspired by my observations of daily life and our modern society. After having spent significant amounts of time traveling the world and living off the grid, further introspection left me feeling confused, ambivalent and questioning our societal values as a whole.

Struggling with the duality of my own existence, I find myself constantly bouncing back and forth between cynicism and altruism. I see amazing advances in technology and culture but I feel like we are also simultaneously functioning as a brutal neo-feudalist society.

After experiencing a simpler existence abroad, I found myself returning to my country, missing friends and family while at the same time becoming acutely aware of the establishment ready to ensnare me. Could I stay the path or would I be consumed by an addiction to consumerism, obsessed with staying up to date on trends and the reinvention of a contrived identity before it’s expiration date was met? I found myself treading water through an endless stream of imagery until my brain lost its ability to see things clearly and I felt like I was becoming just another deer in the headlights. I find myself falling for the distractions, for this trap all the time. Through this work I’m trying to existentially explore modern society while not becoming marginalized by it at the same time.

-Rune Christensen

Sobekcis "CONTRAST" First Solo-Exhibition Opening Saturday, September 10th at 7pm

CLICK HERE FOR: EVENT LINK

FIFTY24SF in association with Upper Playground is please to announce the opening of "CONTRAST" Sobekci's first US Solo-Exhibition on Saturday, September 10th at 7pm.

"CONTRAST, for us, this word has multiple meanings and a deep resonance to it. In one way we look at it is as an homage to what we have worked on up until now and as an element which has held on through all of our creative transitions over time. Contrast also relates to the duality of our existence as brothers, humans and artists. The goal of CONTRAST is to exemplify the opposition or juxtaposition of different forms, lines and colors in a work of art, in order to intensify each element's properties. In parallel, we also intensify each other's artistic style through our process of collaboration, working together as do the contrasting colors and forms on the canvas. We see the experience of working together not only a rare opportunity, but one that also continuously pushes us forward to evolve our individual styles and skills within the constructs of a disciplined daily practice. " -Sobekcis

Having spent the last few years concentrating on developing their unique graffiti style outdoors, Sobekcis has again shifted their focus towards transmitting their outdoor experience into new studio work, primarily acrylic on canvas and works on paper. Finding themselves enjoying the longevity of fine art vs. the more transitory nature of graf, which in many cases ceases to exist the very next day or week. They have instead endeavored to focus their energies on creating within mediums that inherently have a longer life-cycle. This has enabled them to invest vast amounts of time on producing work that is not only remains as meticulous as possible but also becomes full of richness. Manipulating contrasting colors and forms to create work that seeks to initially catches the eye of the viewer in the moment, while also ensuring that it stands out from the surrounding clutter and background noise of the urban environment. 

Since moving back to Belgrade, Serbia in the beginning of 2015, after completing their design studies in Vienna, Austria at the Applied Arts University. They've switched from a focus on outlined figurative forms in previous shows, to a new body of work that has been in essence, a meditation on openness throughout the piece, which they feel brings more depth of feel and a subtler composition to the work. They have also been exploring increased optical contrast as well as an emphasis on philosophical contrast within the work. Resulting in a collaged landscape of abstract geometrical forms, which translates their extensive street and design experience as well as their current human perspective on to the canvas.

"By transitioning to abstraction we have been able to more efficiently reproduce the way we have worked in the past (outdoors), in which we were transmitting the graf aesthetic on to figurative elements into a new paradigm which we feel is much more balanced with the way we’d like to see our work gain relevance in the present moment and for the future ." - Sobekcis

By adopting a more fluxus-like approach, they have embarked on major works without a pre-determined destination, allowing the creative process to continually evolve throughout the production of each piece and then rolling forward to the next in the series. They seek to give the viewer an experience that leaves their interpretation open, all the while leaving breadcrumbs of subtle psychological cues, not always readily apparent at first glance.

OZMO OPENING THIS FRIDAY/ NEW MURAL IN THE TENDERLOIN

Join us for Ozmo's first US-Solo Show opening this Friday at 7PM at FIFTY24SF 218 Fillmore St. SF, CA 94117

For inquiries please use the contact form on this site.

Below are pictures of Ozmo's new mural at Polk and Olive in the Tenderloin neighborhood of SF. Located on the back of infamous Mitchell Brother's O'Farrell Theater.  Special thanks to Jane Bregman of Street Art SF, John Vochatzer for organizing, to the generous individuals who supported our fundraising efforts and to It's Your District for being a major funder of the project.

'Ferro e Oro' Solo-Exhibition by Ozmo Opening Night July 1st

FIFTY24SF GALLERY in association with Upper Playground is pleased to present 'Ferro e Oro' Ozmo's first solo-exhibition in the United States opening on Friday July 1st at 7pm. 

Born in Pisa in 1975, Gionata Gesi, working under the alias Ozmo, began his foray into the art world by making comics, stickers and posters. 

By the 90s, he moved on to making an indelible mark on the Italian graffiti scene, with one of the most recognizable and ubiquitous tags in Italy. After completing his education in Florence, Ozmo moved to Milan where he continued to work in prominent galleries, fine art institutions and within the public sphere. 

Ozmo’s work focuses on the interplay and relationship between branded images, pop icons, clever wit, and the canonical works of Western Art, creating a jarring tableaux that informs us of our place and history in a heavily advertised , chaotic visual landscape.  Using 21st century surrealist methods, Gionata selects images from Google Image Search and random photographs, developing a postmodern interpretation of visual sampling and re-investing the image with new meaning. 

Notable recent solo shows include “Il PreGiudizio Universale” in 2012 at the Museo del 900 in Milan and Urban Arena at Museum of Contemporary Art MACRO in Rome which included the large scale mural "You Are Worth More Than Many Sparrows". In addition to the previously mentioned museums, his work is also in the permanent collections of Galleria Civica Monfalcone in Gorizia, the Fondazione Bandera per l'Arte Contemporanea in Varese. 

He has also exhibited in the world's capitals of urban culture and contemporary art including New York, Miami, Chicago, Baltimore, London, Berlin, Sao Paolo, Havana, Poland, Vienna, Belgium,Beirut, Paris and of course throughout Italy. Recent notable murals include "Big Fish Eat Small Fish" at Cargo on Rivington St. in 2011 London and "Lady Liberty And David Sharing The Same Pedestal" in 2014 Wynwood, Miami. 

Artist Statement

Ozmo contemplates reality, assimilates it, and processes it, finally releasing it in new forms purified of the limitations of their identities.

Staring at you Ozmo, blended at his canvas, captures your gaze, pulls out tarot cards, and tells you "Ask yourself a question, now look at what you see, interpret it, don't judge it, and free your conscience.  Bless Pinocchio, who tells lies, put a finger in the nose of a skull, open a gap in the stomach and awaken your slumbering king to the power of the mind. Cling to the hand of the poet and contemplate the Holy Mother, allowing her to be what she is not or has never been before."

Iconographies depersonalized, fragmented, and resurrected in a puzzle without form — "Ferro e Oro, Iron and Gold, that's what I am."

Ozmo’s intentions are to convey the renaissance's aspiration for the collection of wonders and to bring about a playful surrealist attitude towards the incident in order to re-create the wonder, magnify the power of contemporary art and the strive to pioneer new areas of urban communication. 

Throughout his career he has been attracted to iconography, whereas an icon acquires its power through its use as an object of worship. Like a collector-scholar of the XVI century , he collects every object that seduces him ,making it,  through a kind of unlawful appropriation,  the starting point of his creative and combinatoric process.

Internet, the more complete contemporary universal library is his main source, for items and input required for this research .

"Ferro e Oro" is scheduled to run through the end of August and gallery access will be available during normal business hours Wed-Sun 12-6pm.

Tenderloin SF mural project on The Mitchell Brother's O'Farrell Theater-

Ozmo begun work this week on a large-scale mural on the back wall of the famed Mitchell Brother's O'Farrell Theater! Special thanks to Jane Bregman of Street Art SF for helping us find the wall, John Vochatzer for organizing and all the individuals that supported the fundraising efforts, we'd also like to thank the non-profit It's Your District for being a major funder of the project. The theater which has been in operation since 1969 and continues to be one of the US's oldest and most notorious adult-entertainment establishments today. Hunter S. Thompson eloquently described it as "the Carnegie Hall of public sex in America" after a 1985 stint as  self-proclaimed night manager for the club in order to conduct research for a book on pornography.

'Swimmin' In The Playground' Opening Night

Swim Team: Interview with Auguste Somers and Yarrow Slaps

Longtime friends Yarrow Slaps and Auguste Somers may be young, but that hasn’t stopped them from making a splash on the west coast with their art collective SWIM, which already has two successful group shows under its belt at LA’s New Image Art Gallery.

'6th & Market' by Yarrow Slaps

This weekend, Yarrow, 25, and Auguste, 23, bring their eclectic vision of urban contemporary curation to FIFTY24SF with ‘Swimmin’ In The Playground’, a show hitting all the high notes with the aim to bring what Auguste calls ‘the now’ into a single space.

We wanted to pick these guys brains a little and learn some more about their background in the arts and how they go about deciding what’s fresh and what’s not.

SJ: Tell me about SWIM. What is it, and where did you come up with the concept?

AS: I had a friend who tried to do an art brand but it was too pretentious, and they just gave up right away. But then I was like, ‘let’s do an art organization that connects everything in an unpretentious way that puts art first and bridges the gaps in the industry. I contacted Yarrow, who I’ve known since I was like six years old, and the minute I told him about it, he was like, ‘oh shit, I had the same exact idea, and it’s called SWIM’.

Billy Kheel 'AD'

SJ: So you’ve been friends since were six years old? How were your backgrounds similar?

YS: Yeah, we grew up in a similar way, just always around the arts. I might have took like six years off for music, but yeah, like 19 years just being around art all the time.

AS: Well, art has always been mainly a hobby for me, but I was always passionate for the arts, and have always loved discovering new artists. I also listen to a ton of music, and leading up to all this I was listening to a ton of Tyler The Creator and Kendrick and they were all saying, ‘go get your shit done, you can do this,’ so it kind of inspired me.

SJ: You two are some of the youngest people to ever curate a show at Upper Playground. How do you think your age plays a factor in the end product of the show?

YS: Well, as a curator, you just want to do your research, because the more you know, the easier it is think of an artist that would fit with an idea you’re having for the show. Basically, being around art shows you what you like, and doing your research show’s you who you like. Then of course, being from a younger generation, your decisions are going to be more fresh.

AS: Yeah, we’re closer to the source, the life force.

YS: Right in the solar plex...

Ferris Plock 'Ebisu'

SJ: Yarrow, the paintings you’ve selected for this show represent a departure from some of your other work focusing mainly on depictions of hip hop and pop culture icons. What’s behind the recent shift in subject matter?

YS: Well, I used to do a lot of paintings of my favorite rappers, but you know, as an artist you grow. For me personally, it was becoming more of a thing like, ‘who’s gonna post me next, what rapper’s gonna see this?’ But now I’m trying to say something different.

SJ: Right on...and what are you both hoping to accomplish with this show? What’s this show about?

Well, this is our third show, and with all of our shows, it’s kind of all about getting the ‘now’ into the present in one space. Like I believe that everything connects, art, music, theatre, and everything in our show conveys stuff that’s going on right now, like Black Lives Matter, the kind of music that’s popular right now, the sports teams that are popular right now...it’s all connected. Every idea that’s in the zeitgeist, everything that’s on tv and the internet, it all kind of connects in this one space. We basically try to put the youth perspective into a room and the end result becomes something kind of powerful.

SJ: Tell me more about how you see elements in the arts specifically being connected.

YS: Well with music, the idea of storytelling is how they’re connected. For me, I think about art as an essay, like any piece I do I want to research it well, so I can tell a story. Then in rap, if you don’t know what you’re talking about, then you can’t rap.

AS: I’m also into filmmaking, and I see each art show we do as a film that we’re directing. We’re telling it where to go, we’re the directors. It’s very similar to making a movie...you have to edit stuff and cut stuff out and put stuff in. There’s a lot of crossover there. We put our hearts into it and go all out in order to make it something unique and special.We want to make you excited about art again.

Interview by Stephen Jackson

EVENT: "Swimmin In The Playground" Group Show Opening -Curated by SWIM TEAM-

FIFTY24SF Gallery is pleased to present ‘Swimmin’ In The Playground,’ the latest group exhibition from SWIM Team curated by its youthful duo, Yarrow Slaps and Auguste Somers. After two highly successful and critically acclaimed shows at New Image Art Gallery in Los Angeles, SWIM Team backstrokes into the Bay Area with an opening reception at FIFTY24SF GALLERY on Saturday, May 21st from 7 - 10pm in San Francisco’s Lower Haight. The exhibition features an unique array of dynamic and captivating artwork that, as the curators declare, "will make you excited for art again." The featured artists were chosen from a range of criteria prioritizing artist locality, subject matter and resonance within the collective subconscious of the group as a whole.

The show features an assortment of 24 Bay Area artists, six select LA-based artists and six SWIM Team all-stars from various locations to round things out. The group operates within a wide-range of mediums, techniques and career levels. From Tracey Snelling’s scale model neighborhoods to Matt Gonzales’ assembled collages. Justin Hager, Yarrow Slaps and Michelle Guintu’s often humorous interpretations of pop culture to Jason Jägel's mixed media paintings created from C-prints raided from his photographer wife’s studio trash bin.  Kristen Liu-Wong’s otherworldly erotic neon-pastel clad illustrations will certainly pique some eyebrows as will Sean Newport’s mesmerizing geometric wood assemblages. There are so many spectacular artists and so much great work to share with you, we barely know where to start. Guess you're going to have to come check it out for yourself.

Featured Artists:

Alex Hartong

Angela Dalinger

Anne Regan

Ace West

Auguste Somers

Billy Kheel

Chad Hasegawa

Don't Fret

Dave Schubert

Dustin Fosnot

Ferris Plock

Frohawk TwoFeathers

Jason Jägel

Jonathan Mannion

Justin Hager

Kristen Liu-Wong

Lucila Orengo

Marc Etherington

Marie Englesvold

Matt Gonzalez

Meegan Barnes

Michelle Guintu

Monica Canilao

Monica Kimgarza

Muzae Sesay

Nathan McKee

Nome Edonna

Rabbit Garcia

Rich Fonseca

Rich Jacobs

Rye Purvis

Sean Newport

Telopa Treloky

Tracey Snelling

Xara Thustra

Yarrow Slaps

EVENT: Vargas- Creator of the Pin-Up Girl and Lower Haight Art Walk Friday, April 1st From 6-10pm.

FIFTY24SF Is proud to announce our upcoming Lower Haight Art Walk featuring a selection of limited edition prints by Alberto Vargas.

Born 9 February 1896 in Peru, Alberto Vargas was the son of a renowned photographer, Max Vargas, who had taught him how to use an airbrush by the time he was thirteen. In 1911, while accompanying Max on a trip to Paris, Alberto came upon the famous magazine La Vie Parisienne, and its sensuous front covers by Raphael Kirchner made a lasting impression on him. He studied in Zurich and Geneva before leaving Europe because of the war and arriving on Ellis Island in October 1916. 

After moving to the US, Vargas' career took off during the Roaring Twenties with commissions pouring in from Harper's Bazaar, Paramount Studios, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers and MGM. In 1939 Vargas gained US citizenship, the same year that Esquire Magazine, shortly after Esquire introduced the "Varga Girl Calendar" which sold better than any other calendar published up to that time. During the WWII years, Vargas further gained notoriety from a series of patriotic pin-ups for Hearst's American Weekly Magazine and his accommodating special requests from soldiers for mascots illustrations.In the 1950's he judged the Miss Universe Pageant, freelanced for fashion labels and continued to paint Hollywood stars during this time as well including the likes of Betty Grable, Ava Gardner and Marilyn Monroe. For his dénouement in 1958 Hugh Hefner, publisher of Playboy Magazine invited Vargas to contribute to Playboy Magazine on a monthly basis resulting in the production of over 152 works during the 60's and 70's including two front cover images. The photo-realism achieved through his use of watercolor and airbrush that Vargas was able to attain over the course of his career is was unmatched at the time and resulted in the founding of the "Vargas Award", awarded annually by Airbrush Action Magazine. Past recipients of the award include notable artists such as Hajime Sorayama, Todd Schorr and Scott Jacobs among others.

Upon his wife's death in 1974, the artist sadly lost much of his interest in painting and life. However in In the late 70's he worked on an autobiography with Reid Austin entitled "Vargas". He also produced album covers for The Cars for their "Candy-O" Album and two covers for Bernadette Peters. He died in Los Angeles, CA in December 1982. 

 

Sam Flores' Solo Exhibition "Daydreams and Nightmares" and Interview

Sam Flores' upcoming solo exhibition, "Daydreams and Nightmares," opens this Friday, December 18th at the FIFTY24SF Gallery in association with Upper Playground. Through his ability of lucid dreaming, Sam explores how "imagination and creativity come from our subconscious... this new body of work takes you to the place where Dreams and Nightmares meet, the world where ideas, imagination and creativity live.”

Our own Jake Goble and Trevor Martin sat down with Sam to discuss the upcoming show:

Jake Goble: So, have you  thought of a name for the show yet?

Sam Flores: Yeah, it's called "Daydreams and Nightmares."

J: Okay, what made you come up with that name?

S: It's just kind of a different exploration of just being, like, being in a dream or a nightmare and kind of controlling that and tapping into your subconscious, imagination and inspiration. Where it all kind of comes from - from those worlds. So, I'm kind of leading you, it's a walk through my daydreams and nightmares, just kind of all the visuals that I see. So it's kind of getting a little sneak peak into my world.

J: Nice, do you think that reflects - at all - currently, where you are right now with just your work, or just kind of a different idea you had-

S: It's an idea, it's just some imagery that I wanted to create. It's also kind of - maybe - just to illustrate what everyone goes through. It's not just me personally. It's just kind of - kind of a broad range of stuff that people deal with in life and in general.

Trevor Matrin: I'm gonna interject. The last show, it was "A Light in the Darkness?"

S: "A Light in the Darkness"

T: "A Light in the Darkness," and the previous show to that was "A Lion and the Lamb?"

S: Yeah

T: How does this show relate to both of those?

S: Well it's all a balance. And so we have "A Lion and the Lamb" - that was kind of the innocence and darkness and it's saying with how to balance your light and dark. And this is just when you have your daydreams and nightmares and just kind of finding a balance and being able to live in - in the middle of both of those - kind of on the razor's edge. It all kind of incorporates into itself - I like to have a lot of balance in my work and in my life so balance comes into play with a lot of my work.

J: Sweet, how many new pieces are you hoping to have for the show?

S: Hopefully 18 to 20.

J: Okay

S: That's what we're shooting for.

J: And then - are you gonna kind of emulate that whole kind of idea with all of the pieces?

S: It's kind of a broad - it's not like every piece has exactly to do with the title or the concept. It's more just - there's gonna be a lot of stuff like that but it's kind of, it's fun because it can be really broad and general because it's anything you can think of. Daydream, imagine - that just comes into your imagination - into your thoughts. So, it's just kind of a little bit of everything. It's just kind of a broad umbrella of - of anything that can happen within a daydream or a nightmare.

J: What are you most excited about that you have done or are hoping to do for the show?

S: I'm pretty excited about all of them! I'm gonna do this floating whale-ship. It's kind of a floating whale-taxi that transports people through a dark place and gets them to their destination safely. So I'm excited about that one. That one's coming out soon.

T: That one's really cool. You did a piece called "Follow Me" for the last show that was really, really popular. We're releasing a print of "Follow Me" now for this show, a year later and the whale piece is kind of the continuation of that piece, "Follow Me."

S: Yeah, it's a series.

T: It's kind of the evolution of it and the interesting thing that Sam talked about specifically in the "Follow Me" piece which is continuing from the floating whale piece - who's title we have yet to make - is that when people stick together and band together and help each other out, the ycan get through - you know - some of the challenges that we're facing on and individual level, and - you know - that's kind of what the whole theme is - banding together, getting through in the dark passage ways of life. You know, being empathetic and encourage one another and be a team, you know?

J: Absolutely

T: And Sam, do you want to enumerate what the different characters were in "Follow Me" just to give him some backstory?

S: It was kind of a parade, like a band of misfits and just people in life and it all kind of represents also, like you're different parts of each person's personality and things that go on in them. So there was - there's this woman. She had kind of like a general's jacket. Like she was her own boss - her own general. There was-

J: There was a two person centaur?

S: Yeah, there was a centaur - there was a Sagittarius couple, kind of one connected. There's an emo, mad french clown..

T: Riding an emo water buffalo? You we're so funny when you said that to me,"Sometimes you just feel like an angry French clown riding an Emo-Water Buffalo.", I laughed so hard, I love the humor in your work!

S: Emo water buffalo with a Hitler comb over. Then we have - yeah so there's all these different soldiers, then there's pretty much just a lot of - so each character kind of represents how like everyone from San Francisco - how broad and how much of a melting pot that is and then it also represents kind of how all your different personalities and moods and stuff go on inside your self. So it's a little bit of everything but this is just a continuation with the floating whale-taxi.

T: And there are some characters there that are also on the famous Haight Street mural?

S: Yeah, exactly. So those all represent the eclectic melting pot of the city as well.

J: Sweet, so what would you say you're keeping it  a little bit  [personal?] or just experimenting with the show?

S: We're doing some cool installation stuff. I want to kind of have people visit this forest and this dark - not really dark - but this kind of represents inside your mind. So you're going to walk into that installation and be inside someone's psyche or imagination. So I'm excited about that and pretty much all the pieces together - how they play off each other. That's what I'm excited about.

J: Do you want to tell me about this piece.

S: So this piece is called, "[Lady Soul?]" and she represents the story of Icarus and the sun - he flew too close to the sun and his wings melted. So this represents that as well as

J: He's flying too close to her.

S: Yeah, so he got too close to her and it can represent a lot of stuff like she's kind of a seductress.

J: A solar siren?

S: Yeah, and so in the next painting it's actually two guys and they're brothers - Icarus and Dicarus - and they both fucked up and got too close - like their temptations. Now they're going to be falling and all of their feathers are on fire. It's kind of like my own illustration of a siren or a temptation.

J: Do you use foil?

S: This is gold leaf, yeah. The background is gold leaf. I just wanted it to be glowing a lot, really bright - different golds and oranges and yellows and stuff.

J: What other pieces have you done off the top of your head?

S: We've got a lot - oh, there's one I'm really into. He's kind of a dream guide and so what he does is get people through their dreams and their nightmares safely. He's a hired gun and he's this renegade dude and he has these horns that are actually a Native American Dream-Catcher. And he has a dream catcher inside these horns so it helps him capture and protect himself as well as his client and getting them through their craziness safely. He's almost kind of like a Beetlejuice character. You want to hire him but you also don't because he's trouble. But he's good at what he does and gets you through, but it comes with a price. He keeps the objects that he acquires in your dreams in his dream catcher net.

J: For all these shows. people kind of expect something coming in and then when they're there they're kind of sensing something, but what do you want someone to - after they've left and they're going to reflect on the experience - what do you kind of hope for them to take from it?

S: I like people - I just want them to become more aware of their inside - imagination and ideas. And if they're kind of in tune with their thoughts and imagination and dreams, you can kind of tap in and bring a lot out. I just want people to have more of a realization of what goes on inside their imagination.

J: One last thing, for anyone that is thinking about coming or doesn't know a lot about you, what do you want them to know about the show?

S: Kind of the same thing that I was talking about before. It's a little trip through my subconsciousness and imagination and also kind of illustrates everyone else's and how to tap into that and maybe figure out what things are or just how they might look in an illustrated form or a visual form of some of your thoughts and imagination. Yeah, that's kind of abstract and doesn't make sense but that's how all the stuff is. It's more like to see it than talk about it.

J: Not everyone gets to visualize-

T: -Thoughts in new ways

S: Yeah, this is kind of how I'm doing it or how I see it so now other people can see it through me or my art.

J: Hopefully, it allows them to do more of the same.

S: Exactly, yeah that's my goal too.

J: Cool, I appreciate it man, thank you.

EXHIBITION DETAILS

DAYDREAMS AND NIGHTMARES

PRESENTED BY FITY24SF AND UPPER PLAYGROUND

OPENING FRIDAY DEC. 18th, 6pm-10pm

218 FILLMORE ST. SF, CA

FOR INQUIRES CONTACT: GALLERY@FIFTY24SF.COM

FIFTY24SF.COM

Jeremy Fish: "O Glorious City" At City Hall - Now Open!

FIFTY24SF in association with Upper Playground and the San Francisco Arts Commission are proud to present "O Glorious City." Now open to the public on the Ground Floor of San Francisco's City Hall, the exhibition features 100 newly commissioned works of art by Jeremy Fish. "O Glorious City" features both drawings and photographs about San Francisco, with many relating specifically to historic City Hall. As part of his process to create this exceptionally large body of work, Fish assumed the role of the first official Artist in Residence at City Hall with gusto. The show's title, "O Glorious City", comes from a text written by former Mayor Edward Robeson Taylor inscribed in the rotunda of City Hall: "San Francisco, O glorious city of our hearts that has been tried and not found wanting, go thou with like spirit to make the future thine."

EXHIBITION DETAILS:
O Glorious City
A solo exhibition celebrating SF City Hall's 100th birthday
Exhibition Dates: November 4, 2015 - March 25, 2016

Artist Reception and City Hall Birthday Party
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Artist and Curator-led Tour: 5 p.m.
Birthday Party: 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Free and open to the public.

Click Here For The Price List/Preview

Purchase inquires are now being accepted, please contact gallery@fifty24sf.com or (415) 728-8344 for more information.

Sam Flores Print Signing

Upper Playground, in association with FIFTY24SF, is pleased to announce a unique collaboration with SPARC - San Francisco's Premiere Cannabis Dispensary, and long-time UP artist Sam Flores. The collaboration consists of a limited edition run of Men's and Women's T-shirts and Sweatshirts, exclusively available through SPARC, as well as 2 new Sam Flores prints. The prints will be released this Friday 11/20, with an artist signing between 5:00pm-7:30pm at SPARC's 1256 Mission Street location in San Francisco. There will also be a new gallery installation of Sam's work on view and available for purchase in SPARC's Vapor Lounge.

FIFTY24SF Gallery Presents "Pareidolia" a Solo-Exhibition by David Choong Lee

FIFTY24SF GALLERY in association with Upper Playground is proud to announce the opening of our upcoming exhibition "Pareidolia" a Solo-Exhibition by David Choong Lee 이충엽 . Opening Saturday, October 24th at 7:00pm. For inquiries please contact gallery@fifty24sf.com

Fifty24SF Gallery Presents "DEVOLUTION"

“DEVOLUTION“, a group show featuring the work of Tina Lugo, Benjamin Constantine, Smithe and Lauren YS opened tonight at Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco. The highly anticipated exhibition brings together a diverse group of artists, each presenting works that explore surreal characters where the human visage takes on a bizarre new form. "DEVOLUTION", presented in association with Upper Playground, is showing at Fifty24SF Gallery through mid-September.

For Art Inquiries please contact: gallery@fifty24sf.com

Devolution: Group Exhibition at Fifty24SF Gallery

Fifty24SF Gallery in association with Upper Playground presents "Devolultion", group exhibition featuring the work of Smithe, Tina Lugo, Lauren YS and Benjamin Constantine. "Devolution" Opens August 1st 2015, 7pm at Fifty24SF Gallery.

About The Artists:

Benjamin Constantine: Benjamin is a predominantly self taught artist living and working in Brisbane, Australia. In his pieces, casts of anonymous characters interact, in states of anxiety or elation, elements within or around them often becoming involved and synonymous. Constantine's work has appeared in VICE comics, the Fantagraphics's publication 'Beasts!2' and in 'Secret Prison' amongst others.

Tina Lugo: Tina's work expresses a sexual and often tongue-in- cheek humor fueled by cartoons, animation and early 90’s television. The use of enamel and plexiglass in her work is to suggest that the smooth, hyper-gloss finishing of a world that allures us will always be beneath a transparent barrier we can touch but never enter-a replication of the voyeuristic qualities we all posses. Her style references and pays homage to her variety of modern influences which include: Takashi Murakami, Toshio Saeki, Hanna Barbera, Japanese animation, and Henry Darger. Tina Lugo was born and raised in the Bronx and recently moved to Portland. She studied at the School of Visual Arts. 

Smithe: Born and raise in Mexico City, Smithe begain drawing around age 12. Influenced by the local graffiti artists in his neighborhood, Smithe would walk the city and look at the graffiti on the walls. He was intrigued by how quick you could get a message out. Smithe's art has opened many doors for him as he has traveled the world showing his work, with shows in England, Belgium and Germany.

Lauren YS: Lauren YS is a Bay Area based fine artist, illustrator and muralist. For "Devolution,"  Lauren has collected a host of her characters in states that play off her interpretation of the word: entanglement, malaise or playful struggle. YS graduated from Stanford in 2013 and showed her first artworks at FIFTY24SF. She has since completed a residency in Vienna at Rabbit Eye Movement and painted at several international mural festivals.

'Take It Acid Is' by Mark McCloud Opens at Fifty24SF Gallery

Presented by Fifty24SF Gallery and Upper Playground, Mark McCloud's 'Take It Acid Is' exhibition opened Friday, June 26th in San Francisco. The show features actual blotter paper from the largest collection of blotter art in the world, "The Institute of Illegal Images" and a selection of forensic photographic prints provided by BlotterBarn.com.

The Friday opening at Fifty24SF Gallery coincided with Grateful Dead's "Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead" in Santa Clara over the weekend. McCloud, who is recognized worldwide as the preeminent collector of LSD art, stated “This show focuses on the blotter art that I obtained or created through my 50 years of love for The Grateful Dead.”

The Golden Road Gallery was in attendance Friday, displaying an extensive collection of Vanity Blotter for collectors to purchase.

Check out Upper Playground's coverage of the show here.

 “Take It Acid Is” is currently on view at Fifty24SF Gallery.

Take it Acid Is by Mark McCloud

FIFTY24SF GALLERY in association with Upper Playground is proud to announce Mark Mc Cloud's "Take It Acid Is" exhibition featuring key examples of actual blotter paper from "The Institute of Illegal Images", the largest private collection of blotter art in the world and a selection of forensic photographic prints from BlotterBarn.com . Opening Friday June 26th at 7pm.  

"They are a wonderful testament to the age of acid"  -Terence McKenna

"This show focuses on the blotter art that I obtained or created through my 50 years of love for The Grateful Dead ." - Mark McCloud 

Recognized worldwide as the preeminent collector of LSD art and holding a Masters of Fine Art from UC Davis and two-time National Endowment for the Arts recipient, Mc Cloud has been celebrated, vilified, indicted, acquitted and ultimately conscripted to the annals of psychedelic art history. Mark and his collection have been featured in Vice, National Geographic, Juxtapoz, Beautiful Decay, Cabinet, Salon, SF Weekly, SFAQ and The Bold Italic among others. He continues to acquire and preserve pristine examples of this, both global and Bay Area-centric cultural history to this day from his home in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco. The Golden Road Gallery will also be on hand the night of the opening with an extensive collection of Vanity Blotter for collectors to purchase.

BICICLETA SEM FREIO INTERVIEW WITH UPPER PLAYGROUND

Interview by Jy-Ah Min for Upper Playground

J: We are excited to present original works by BSF for the first time in the US. Tell us a bit about the origin of the name, Bicicleta Sem Freio which translates to “Bicycles Without Breaks”. When did the name emerge?

BSF: The name came about when we were in college, we went to a congress of students, we saw many lectures professionals and decided to come together and work. At first we wanted a very unpretentious and fun name. We had no idea what was going to happen after.

J: So Art, Design and Rock & Roll. How do you combine all these elements in your process?

BSF: We believe that there are no differences between these concepts. Music, art and design are for us completely mixed as they are all part of our day to day life. We have always been doing poster design first for our friends and we love this form of illustration.

J: We often view Art and Illustration as a very subjective and personal process for the artist. So it’s rare to see two individuals work so closely together under one banner. What is the work dynamic like for BSF?

BSF: In the beginning we were designing together, but over time each one developed more personal traits and style. But the process is always shared and jointly agreed. We consult each other a lot. We are our own critics.

J: The title of the show, “This Is Not A Poster” refers to new works that reflect on all the years you’ve spent illustrating posters for music bands and festivals. But these new works have no band and no music behind them right? Or do they?

BSF: People are used to look at posters with an information to read. One of our intention is to hold the viewer, making him look more purely on the visual and feel free to imagine and create his own interpretation of it.

J: It’s interesting to hear that your aim is to free the imaginations of the viewer instead of guiding them to a specific direction.  Could you tell us about how you determine what goes into each work? Is it an instinctive process or more layered and systematic in determining how the details come together?

BSF: Our work is pretty much instinctive and very experimental. We are always adding new elements and taking some off. We try new colors all the time, very weird sometimes and also new patterns too. We don’t have any idea of how it will end up and look like. We try to have fun during the process and to not repeat ourself. If not it will be like a formula and we will be quickly bored and probably our public too.

J: So your visual strategy to hold the viewer results in works that have a lot of random energy, movement and color with a lot of detail. When do you know when it’s done?

BSF: Well its never done to be honest, i could work on these pieces forever as we love details but at some point we need to give up and move mostly because of dead-line (lol) or space on the sheet or canvas!

J: If I am a fly on the wall in your studio, what would I hear?

BSF: We enjoy Hellbenders, its a band from our city.

This Is Not A Poster by Bicicleta Sem Freio at Fifty24SF Gallery, Opening May 1st 2015

Fifty24SF Gallery in association with Upper Playground and JUSTKIDS is proud to present “This Is Not A Poster” by Brazilian duo, Bicicleta Sem Freio, opening May 1st 2015.  The exhibition at Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco will be their first solo show in the United States.

Recognized worldwide for their expressive line work and warm, vibrant color schemes, the multi talented Brazilian illustrators and muralists, Douglas de Castro and Renato Perreira will showcase original work inspired by their love of Poster Art.

Over the past decade, Bicicleta Sem Freio has been pursued to realize posters for Vampire Weekend, Jurassic 5, Kings of Leon and Beck among many others, and have produced custom work for some of the best musical talents in the industry.  In continuation of their creative output inspired by music, the artists aim to playfully pay visual homage to the Art of music posters by presenting a body of work for fictitious bands and themes.

“The essential idea is that we love posters and we past almost 10 years doing it for local bands and festivals and we wanted to do a show with fake posters with no info, the letterings are only ornamental and don’t mean anything” -BSF

Bicicleta Sem Freio’s signature style, which draws references from their roots in music, Brazilian culture, their love for 80s and pop culture iconography, have been emerging on large-scale public installations all over the world, including one of the largest artist mural in Downtown, Los Angeles just painted last year.

In conjunction to their first ever show in the United States, a second mural is planned for Bicicleta Sem Freio in San Francisco, with more information to be announced soon via Upper Playground.

Exhibition: May 1st – June 15th, 2015

Opening: May 1st, 2015 – 7pm, Artists in Attendance

Fifty24SF Gallery 218 Fillmore St. San Francisco, CA 94117

For art inquires please contact: gallery@fifty24SF.com

For upcoming details about the show please follow: @fifty24SFgallery, @justkidsofficial, @upperplayground, @bicicletasemfreio

Brazilian Duo, Bicicleta Sem Freio's First US Solo Show at Fifty24SF Gallery, San Francisco

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Fifty24SF Gallery in association with Upper Playground and JUSTKIDS is proud to present “This Is Not A Poster” by Brazilian duo, Bicicleta Sem Freio, opening May 1st 2015.  The exhibition at Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco will be their first solo show in the United States.

Recognized worldwide for their expressive line work and warm, vibrant color schemes, the multi talented Brazilian illustrators and muralists, Douglas de Castro and Renato Perreira will showcase original work inspired by their love of Poster Art.

Over the past decade, Bicicleta Sem Freio has been pursued to realize posters for Vampire Weekend, Jurassic 5, Kings of Leon and Beck among many others, and have produced custom work for some of the best musical talents in the industry.  In continuation of their creative output inspired by music, the artists aim to playfully pay visual homage to the Art of music posters by presenting a body of work for fictitious bands and themes.

“The essential idea is that we love posters and we past almost 10 years doing it for local bands and festivals and we wanted to do a show with fake posters with no info, the letterings are only ornamental and don’t mean anything” -BSF

Bicicleta Sem Freio’s signature style, which draws references from their roots in music, Brazilian culture, their love for 80s and pop culture iconography, have been emerging on large-scale public installations all over the world, including one of the largest artist mural in Downtown, Los Angeles just painted last year.

In conjunction to their first ever show in the United States, a second mural is planned for Bicicleta Sem Freio in San Francisco, with more information to be announced soon via Upper Playground.

Exhibition: May 1st – June 15th, 2015

Opening: May 1st, 2015 – 7pm, Artists in Attendance

Fifty24SF Gallery
218 Fillmore St.
San Francisco, CA 94117

For art inquires please contact: gallery@fifty24SF.com

For upcoming details about the show please follow: @fifty24SFgallery, @justkidsofficial, @upperplayground, @bicicletasemfreio