"LOWBROW ART: Nine San Diego Pop Surrealists"
2009-01-25 until 2009-05-24
Oceanside Museum of Art
Oceanside, CA, USA United States of America

Blurring the boundaries of high and low art, Oceanside Museum of Art brings the Lowbrow art of 9 San Diego artists into the museum with the upcoming exhibition LOWBROW ART: Nine San Diego Pop Surrealists. Referencing multiple dimensions of pop culture, this exhibit highlights alternative styles of expression that comment on the subculture of San Diego. The exhibition presents Mary Fleener, Scott Saw, Tim McCormick, Scrojo (Craig Haskett), Jason Sherry, Charles Glaubitz, Ron Wharton, Pamela Jaeger and Jen Trute. Each artist extols their narrative world of fantasy through a personal approach reflecting the regional underground culture. A preview reception introduces the exhibition on Saturday, January 24th from 5:00- 7:00 p.m. OMA’s receptions are known for their party atmosphere complete with wine and scrumptious hors d’oeuvres prepared by OMA’s own Culinary Arts Council. Admission to the reception is $8. Members of the museum enjoy complimentary admission as a benefit of membership. The exhibition will be on view through May 24, 2009.

Everyone who has watched cartoons, read a comic book, listened to rock music, watched horror movies, seen Elvis on black velvet or surfed has been in the throws of lowbrow counterculture. The roots of Lowbrow date back to California in the late 1950s with Ed (Big Daddy) Roth and Southern California hotrods, “kustom kars.” During the 1960s the underground comix of Zap, Robert Williams and R. Crumb added to the growing alternative art world. Continuing to gain in popularity this genre picked up influences from ‘60s TV sitcoms, psychedelic rock music, Japanese anime, pulp fiction, beatniks, graffiti and street culture. The Lowbrow “art movement” is associated with 1994; the year Lowbrow pioneer Robert Williams founded Juxtapose, a magazine devoted to subculture art.

This exhibition is sure to surprise and delight with a wide range of imagery from around San Diego. Scrojo has been making illustrative posters for the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach for years and created a special poster for the exhibition. Jen Trute brings the iconic Barbie back to life with a dark humorous twist in her detailed oil paintings. Mary Fleener references retro and psychedelic influences in her funky vibrant paintings. Tim McCormick, Pamela Yager and Charles Glaubitz, will mesmerize with their pop surreal narrative imagery that draws you in beyond the surface.

Jerry Waddle, co-curator with Michael Gross, will be giving a gallery talk on Thursday, February 26 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the museum. Jerry is the owner of Ducky Waddles Emporium, a book store, art gallery and center for cultural studies in Encinitas. The talk is free for OMA members as a benefit of membership and $5 for nonmembers.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of California

Other Important Exhibitions in California