Image from Bent Gallery
If you missed Shizu Salamando’s recent show at the Tropical de Nopal, not to worry. She will be presenting new work with the artist Albert Reyes at Bent, located at 1011b Mission Street, South Pasadena. The show “So High School” will feature a number of new works from both artists. The opening reception will take place on Friday, December 7 at 7 pm. The show closes on December 31, 2007.
Albert Reyes’s drawings and illustrations incorporate everything from icons of corporate America to Hollywood stars to mass media to politics to consumerism. Reyes has exhibited at numerous galleries in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and in Paris, France. He has also appeared in the New York Times and appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, CW’s Online Nation, and CNN.
About Shizu Salamando from the Tropical de Nopal:
Shizu Saldamando’s work depicts subjects from the richly diverse communities of East Los Angeles, South East Los Angeles, Downtown LA, and the surrounding cities within the San Gabriel Valley. Toggling between portraiture and candid captures, Saldamando’s pieces consist of detailed renderings and multi-layered collage that pay homage to friends and their eclectic styles and musical tastes. Each person she depicts, exudes an intense power and vulnerability whether it be on canvas, paper, wood, or cotton fabric. The variety of materials mirrors the complexities of her subjects. By using materials such as glitter, origami paper, ballpoint pen, bed sheets, handkerchiefs, ruled notebook paper and plywood, Saldamando mimics the sundry styles of the people she chooses to represent. The use of origami paper integrated with prism and scrapbook paper point to a perceived ethnic or cultural context, but the juxtaposition of these materials, dislodges and confuses any cultural generalizations. Her use of ballpoint pen similarly references both smart Latino Low-Rider art and the doodling of an office or academic environment.
