Salt & Vinegar-Bijijoo, Gabe Lanza, Jason Herr, Sherri Rogers, Sun Mi, TOMO77, Vivien Chung

Exhibition: August 8 – September 6, 2020

Exhibition Video Walkthrough

Salt & Vinegar” Summer Group Exhibition 

Continuing our tradition of non-themed summer group exhibitions, La Luz de Jesus Gallery is pleased to present “Salt & Vinegar” Why Salt & Vinegar? Because frankly, who doesn’t love a delicious Salt & Vinegar chip. Featuring the artwork of Bijijoo, Gabe Lanza, Jason Herr, Sherri Rogers, Sun Mi, TOMO77, & Vivien Chung. 

Bijijoo- Bijijoo (moniker for Michael Todd “B” Horne, i.e., MTB Horne) is a mostly self-taught painter who uses monsters to communicate emotions and new ideas. His work draws on his technical background in math, science, and computer programming, as well as his young daughter’s imagination and love of monsters. After getting a Ph.D. in biophysics (2008), he began painting several series of surrealist works, including The Presidential Ham, Celebrity Still Life, and The Arthropod Companion. After a break that included remodeling an old house and becoming a father, he has reset his painting practice. B lives in Portland, Oregon (USA) with his wife and daughter.

Gabe Lanza –As a multidisciplinary artist, my paintings, mixed media works, and fiber studies introduce a simple story that freezes the dialogue while allowing the viewer to imagine what’s happening before and after. While drawing inspiration from my travels around the world due to my job at a rug manufacture, my interest in folk and textile art offers an aesthetic richness full of colors, narratives, and textures. With that inspiration, I often combine my work with a particular subject matter that I find familiar: robots, linear faces, and bold dark outlines. My work process is split between the exploration of the medium being used and my heavily sketched out and clear understanding of the finished project. This process allows me to work toward something slightly abstract that becomes more focused as my decisions with the materials and sketches play themselves out.

Jason Herr-My work exists between the high and low brow, sensible, and the absurd. The meticulously rendered work occupies flattened spaces creating a sense of anxiety while creating narrative work that is still ambiguous—inspired by outsider art and expert craftsmen. I wedge myself between these concepts hoping to find the best of all the elements, incorporating ideas into the artwork that explores fascinations that shaped my interests and personality in early childhood and the confusion and acceptance of my environment in adult life. Jason Herr Graduated with a BFA from Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in 2015. He has shown in galleries in Lancaster, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York City, and Leeds England. He has contributed illustration work for Mondo Zero press, Kus! comics, Lifted Brow magazine, and Future Islands. Jason also routinely publishes and distributes his own zines.

Sherri Rogers – Some days, we long for the recent past- a world of hugs and handshakes. Some days we want to skip ahead to a future beyond the pandemic glitch. We stare out the window of our individual bubbles, trying to parse the errors in our new reality. Rogers is a painter and VFX artist in Vancouver, BC, Canada. After many years doing digital painting on highly realistic 3D objects for feature film, Sherri’s traditional paintings combine portrait techniques with graphic design principles and pop culture themes.

Sun Mi -The tranquility behind my work derives from my sensitive care towards the synchronization and constant adaptation towards my culture. The Korean diaspora guided me to remain more true to my heritage, whereas integrating quickly into a host society. As a child of two Asian immigrants, my parents valued fluency in one’s culture and language. Their approach was to teach me how to read, write, and speak Korean through manga. Through their decision, I was taught the importance of bold expression and non-conformity.

Tony Aguero (TOMO77)-Tony Aguero is an interdisciplinary artist based in Portland, OR by way of Costa Rica. Driven by the world of circumstance, his work often explores themes of human behavior, capitalism, and pop culture in an immigrant’s context. Tony’s love of expression began in graphic design 30 years ago and, out of curiosity and experimentation, has evolved into illustration, acrylic, and collage. “My choice of medium comes to me in whatever I’m feeling … English is my second language, and my ideas are often more easily understood through my work than my words. Like anyone, I hope that people connect to my work and reflect on how their own behaviors impact their surroundings.” His work has appeared in exhibitions at La Luz de Jesus and One Grand Gallery, along with editorials Juxtapoz, Gestalten’s Editorial, and AI-AP New York two years running. You can often find him sourcing his latest ideas — people watching with a pen, notebook, and an Americano.

Vivien Chung-is a painter living in Los Angeles. Her work investigates the relationship between figure and landscape, documenting the ongoing struggle to sublimate our animal nature in a civilized society. The vibrant surfaces oscillate between fluidity, precision, and childlike naiveté. Always there is an undercurrent of open, unrestrained beauty and sensuality. Her work is greatly influenced by the works of Fragonard, Rubens, and Watteau, along with painters of her youth, such as Elizabeth Payton and Cicely Brown. She spent a decade working in the performing arts and fashion industry, and often incorporates theatrical narratives and set design into her painting environments. Every painting is a play unto itself. Vivien received her BFA from California College of the Arts San Francisco, studying under Linda Geary.

More information and images coming soon.

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