Danni Shinya Luo "Soft Candy "

February 14 – 26, 2012

Book Release & Signing Party: Valentine’s Day
Tuesday, February 14th; 7-10 PM

Danni Shinya Luo “Soft Candy “

Shanghai-born Danni Shinya Luo presents a collection of brand new drawings, paintings and illustrations. Luo has emerged as one of the most important female voices in contemporary symbolic art. Turning the pages of this dainty 7″ x 7″ art volume is like stealing glances into a beautiful young woman’s salon — the voyeuristic reward of forbidden access. Watercolor, ink and graphite give rise to Luo’s vision of sexuality, innocence and whimsy over 200 full color pages behind a foreword by art impresario Billy Shire (of Soap Plant, Wacko and La Luz de Jesus Gallery). This new collection explores shifting perspectives of beauty, attraction, lust and decency presented through alluring and decadent images of the female figure. Visions of nymphs in a myriad of suggestive contexts are divided into five distinct chapters -each acknowledging a different aspect of sensuality as expressed through food, frailty, fetish, fauna and fantasy. The notion of eye candy is emblematic of the capacity to sense flavor, and Luo’s gift for capturing the soft, subtle sweetness of young adulthood is often erotic but always tasteful.

Shinya’s art is whimsically feminine, and her watercolor paintings are meditations on the female figure. The colors are fresh and luscious, her line work fluid and organic, and her composition engaging and impactful. Psychological tension and emotional torsion fill the images, binding love and lust. SOFT CANDY is an irresistible temptation that satiates the hunger of desire.

At first blush, Danni Shinya Luo would seem to be the unlikeliest source of the sexually charged material in Soft Candy. A sweet and invariably good-natured Chinese girl, she can disarm you with her bubbly personality while her paintings all but clobber you over the head. Her primary subjects are nubile nymphets; as wrapped in allegory as they are naked. They are both innocent and in your face. While the natural inclination of many artists is to paint naked women, most of Danni’s contemporaries (and a great deal of her predecessors) have managed to miss the sublime femininity that seems to come so easily to her. Sensuality and fragility, enacted simultaneously, don’t battle on her arches –they dance. Whether in her watercolors or in her sketches, which encompass both the doe-eyed and the deadly, the graceful lines of her figures boast that most prized of artistic commodity: intuition.

Danni Shinya Luo – 4th of July Party

Danni Shinya Luo – A Breeze

Danni Shinya Luo – A Drink With Her

Danni Shinya Luo – After the Show

Danni Shinya Luo – A Moment

Danni Shinya Luo – Archer Angel

Danni Shinya Luo – A Song For You

Danni Shinya Luo – Bang Bang

Danni Shinya Luo – Beached Beauty

Danni Shinya Luo – Bubble Park

Danni Shinya Luo – Bunny Hug

Danni Shinya Luo – Club Girl Sketch

Danni Shinya Luo – Coco Angel

Danni Shinya Luo – Come Closer

Danni Shinya Luo – Cop Girl Sketch

Danni Shinya Luo – Costume Party

Danni Shinya Luo – Cows Ate My Shorts

Danni Shinya Luo – Dancer

Danni Shinya Luo – Demon Girl

Danni Shinya Luo – Demon Girl 2

Danni Shinya Luo – Dip

Danni Shinya Luo – (Do) You Wanna Hold Me?

Danni Shinya Luo – Drying Off

Danni Shinya Luo – Ex-Cheerleader

Danni Shinya Luo – Fantasy Cowgirl

Danni Shinya Luo – Farmer’s Daughter

Danni Shinya Luo – Faux Hawk

Danni Shinya Luo – Flirty Red Head

Danni Shinya Luo – Forget Me Not

Danni Shinya Luo – The Fortune-Teller’s Daughter

Danni Shinya Luo – Game Night

Danni Shinya Luo – Girl From the Other Side

Danni Shinya Luo – Girl Next Door

Danni Shinya Luo – Girl Stretching

Danni Shinya Luo – Going Out

Danni Shinya Luo – Going to the Club

Danni Shinya Luo – Hula

Danni Shinya Luo – I’m From the River

Danni Shinya Luo – Indian Party

Danni Shinya Luo – Joyce

Danni Shinya Luo – Kinky Games

Danni Shinya Luo -Last Touch Up

Danni Shinya Luo – Lazy Afternoon

Danni Shinya Luo – Let’s Go To Hawaii

Danni Shinya Luo – Like This?

Danni Shinya Luo – Little Dragon

Danni Shinya Luo – Little Sprout

Danni Shinya Luo – Lollipop

Danni Shinya Luo – Looking For Me?

Danni Shinya Luo – Magician’s Assistant

Danni Shinya Luo – Munki Cutie

Danni Shinya Luo – Monsters Get Shy, Too

Danni Shinya Luo – Mythical

Danni Shinya Luo – Obey Me

Danni Shinya Luo – On the Grass

Danni Shinya Luo – Our Sins

Danni Shinya Luo – Out of the Water

Danni Shinya Luo – Playmate

Danni Shinya Luo – Pool Sketch

Danni Shinya Luo – Princess

Danni Shinya Luo – Rachel

Danni Shinya Luo – Rooster Girl

Danni Shinya Luo – Satan

Danni Shinya Luo – Sauna Sketch

Danni Shinya Luo – School’s Out

Danni Shinya Luo – Shakti Girl

Danni Shinya Luo – Siberian Kitten

Danni Shinya Luo – Silly Sketch

Danni Shinya Luo – Sisters

Danni Shinya Luo – Skinny Dipping

Danni Shinya Luo – Smoke

Danni Shinya Luo – So What

Danni Shinya Luo – Special Care

Danni Shinya Luo – Spring Break

Danni Shinya Luo – Squid Balls

Danni Shinya Luo – Stretching

Danni Shinya Luo – Sun Bathe

Danni Shinya Luo – Taking a Measure

Danni Shinya Luo – Teddy Bear Love

Danni Shinya Luo – The Look in Her Eyes

Danni Shinya Luo – Tipsy Blonde

Danni Shinya Luo – Tramp Stamp

Danni Shinya Luo – Tribal Princess

Danni Shinya Luo – Tropic Lust

Danni Shinya Luo – Valentine

Danni Shinya Luo – Vice

Danni Shinya Luo – Vintage

Danni Shinya Luo – Waking From a Nap

Danni Shinya Luo – Water Bondage

Danni Shinya Luo – White Riding Hood

Danni Shinya Luo – Woof

Danni Shinya Luo – Yes, Master

All of the drawings in this show were created specifically for (and published in) the Soft Candy art volume (published by Last Gasp Books, and available now).

Contact Gallery Director Matthew Gardocki for purchase info:
info@laluzdejesus.com  (323)666-7667