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Vertical Gallery is proud to present presents Heroes & Villains, a group show with an international roster of artists sharing their unique interpretation of comic characters. The exhibition is March 7 - 28, 2015, and allows each artist to show several original works on paper, canvas, and found materials. The opening reception is Saturday, March 7, 6-10pm

The show will feature new work from: Chris Cunningham (Dublin, IE), Cept (London, GB), Steve Seeley (Chicago, US), Parlee (London, GB), Grégoire "Léon" GUILLEMIN (Paris, FR), Adam Lister (New York, US), Greg Gossel (Minneapolis, US), E. LEE (Chicago, US), Brad Novak (Auckland, NZ), and The Thomas Brothers (Bristol, GB).

About the artists: Chris Cunningham’s spray paint and stencil work explores the ideas of contemporary pop culture and mass media as they affect and shape how we operate in our daily lives. Cept is making his Chicago debut with his famous paintings that mix psychedelia with pop art and graffiti. These will be Cept’s final paintings in this style. Parlee is making his USA debut with this group show and will show a new collection of his iconic kids as heroes & villains – all are spray paint, ink and watercolor on paper. Adam Lister makes his Chicago debut with a new collection of his 8-bit inspired watercolor superheroes. The Thomas Brothers make their USA debut creating distinctive mixed-media work exploring themes such as duality, nostalgia, good vs. evil, fairy tales and childhood through comic book imagery.

E. LEE brings his largest work to date with intricate stencil and hand painting on found materials. Grégoire Guillemin will be featuring new work form his wildly popular “Secret Life of Superhero” series. Greg Gossel returns to the gallery with a new series of mixed-media collage works on paper. Steve Seeley has created a new collection of his brilliant re-interpretations of famous comic and cartoon imagery. Brad Novak makes his USA debut with one-of-a-kind, hand-collaged and stencil-spray-painted works involve the layering of popular imagery.

Heroes & Villains Group Show
March 7 – 28, 2015
Opening reception Saturday, March 7, 6-10pm.
Vertical Gallery, 1016 N. Western Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622

Vertical Gallery is very excited to introduce New Zealand artist Brad Novak to the US market! Brad Novak is an urban artist whose work sits between fine art and street art. Under the moniker “New Blood Pop”, or “NBP76”, his one-of-a-kind, hand-collaged and stencil-spray-painted works involve the layering of popular imagery. His works, while at first glance visually striking, call for a paradigm shift in the way we experience life itself. Our over-reliance on science and technology has taught humanity to see the world through a dreamlike state which causes suffering. Many of Novak’s works depict people shedding tears formed from computer circuitry. The artist calls this ‘subconscious escapism’ – the loss of our collective minds. However, Novak challenges us to reconnect with reality by practicing mindfulness – getting out of our heads so to speak. Western medicine and psychology is finally catching up to the teachings of ancient Eastern philosophy.

Whilst living in London in the early 2000s the urban and street art scenes greatly influenced Novak’s work. Additionally Richard Hamilton’s manifesto on Pop Art provided inspiration. In the letter written to Peter and Alison Smithson in January 1957, Hamilton, a British artist, defined the different characteristics of pop art - describing it as ‘transient, glamorous, expendable, sexy, and popular’. The frivolity of these terms forms the basis for Novak’s artistic exploration. Novak, however, combined his love for street and pop art to create his urban series – entitled New Blood Pop.

Novak uses popular culture, specifically the depiction of celebrities from the hyper-inflated world of American stardom. Icons such as Harrison Ford and Marilyn Monroe inhabit his creations. Their iconography is underpinned by the use of repetitive images of fellow superstars, such as Carrie Fisher and Christopher Reeve.

The artist’s background in community-medicine also comes to the fore in this series. Medical iconography is drawn upon, with the Caduceus symbol frequently featured. However, by redeploying elements of street art and urban art, along with influence from his personal study and practice of mindfulness, Novak creates an original artistic dialog through his New Blood Pop series. The artist describes his own experience of the works:

“New Blood Pop is concerned with how we experience life itself, the 21^st century issues we face such as inequalities in wealth and health, sustainability and globalization. I’m also interested in the idea of escapism (from internal pain and suffering) especially through science fiction and the superhero franchise. Of the things we choose to believe, what’s real, and what’s not? These works are global, flagrant, iconic and ironic.

I endeavor to create powerful multi-layered works, with an emblazoned foreground overlaying a “veiled” background, to show that many of us are living life through a distorting veil, clouding our perception. Our awareness tainted by biases and judgments – an unfulfilling fantasy that we’ve created for ourselves – the practice of mindfulness promises salvation.”               

Click here to see available work from Novak

We're very excited to have Greg Gossel coming to Chicago for his solo show Superficial! Greg is partnering with 1xRun for a special hand-printed series. 1xRun will be releasing 21 of the edition and we will have 11 of the edition. Contact us if you would like a preview of the edition. The show at our gallery will also feature over 30 new original works on canvas, wood, and paper.

I have to agree with Greg to his reaction to the work for the show: POW!

Click here to read the full interview at 1xRun.

Click here to purchase a work from the hand-painted series Superficial!

We are beginning to prepare for My Dog Sighs' arrival to Chicago! Here is a video he produced a couple years ago to start getting you ready.