PX Photography
Check out the photography of Quentin Shih. He is a Chinese photographer that utilizes vast sets and dramatic lighting to create really strange narratives. His recent work includes stunning fashion photography inset into drab backdrops with shockingly normal Chinese students or government workers .
Some of my favorites include: Shanghai Dreamers #2, Shanghai Dreamers #5, Stranger in a Glass Box #5, Stranger in a Glass Box #16
Jeffrey Beauchamp
My husband and I bought one of Jeffrey's works years ago without even seeing the painting in person after receiving a postcard with this work on the front. The girl looked exactly like our daughter at the time and the little boy on the broomstick resembled our son (plus he was on a broomstick). We had never met Jeffrey, so were delighted to chat with him some about his work and this one in particular. It turns out the title (Drop a Bell Down the Stairs) is in a song by local harpist, Joanna Newsom (cousin of Gavin). The kids in the painting are his own and are now teenagers. I like Jeffrey's landscapes because they are not some cliche Marin landscape painting. They are imaginative and have a dreamy quality to them that makes me smile and miss my childhood (and want to take his summer painting classes).
I loved the work of Marc last year at the fair, so it was a pleasure meeting the gallery representative, Marcel Huisman, and chatting with him about Marc's work. His photographs seems to be taken on a beach in Southern California, yet when you look closer, you realize they are such a random capture of anywhere, anyone, any time, and any place. His photos emphasize light and shade and the way time affects the beauty of a moment. My favorites are Playa 35 and 43.
Alex's work probably had the biggest crowd and most attention at the show. His work is large and interactive and fun. I had a client with me who was trying to decide whether he could pull off the Pamela Anderson in his dining room. After using the magnifying glass to check out the smaller inset image, his wife gave it a no, but it could have been fun. I liked the Steve Jobs piece with the inset of Neil Armstrong. Cao's preferred medium is black and white and all the tones in between. He intended to have the main image and the armies of tiny images start a dialogue where the characters are pitted against each other in time.
Another confession...my husband and his groomsmen wore black and white checkered Vans to our wedding. I was walking by Danielle Steele's gallery a year later and saw a painting in the window of black and white checkered Vans. I bought it for our anniversary and my husband loved it, but we never had a chance to meet the artist. When the Steele gallery closed, I was always curious what would be next for Gordon. I managed to meet him and his lovely wife at the fair. He was adorable and had some great stories, one of which was that he gave the table top seen below to a friend as a present and now multiple people want dibs on the next one. It had years and years worth of spills and splatters from his work. Gordon starts his work flat on the table and then builds on it upright. I like that Gordon paints every day inanimate objects but treats them like portraits giving them a new life and importance. His latest work at the fair included the industrial hardware below that he has been collecting on eBay.
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