Announcing: Pagan Poetry Opening May 12th

Pagan Poetry : Tino Rodriguez and Virgo Paraiso

Opening Reception: Saturday May 12, 2012, 6-10 pm
Exhibition Dates: May 12 - June 10, 2012
Gallery Hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 11a - 7pm

 Modern Eden Gallery is pleased to announce "Pagan Poetry", an art exhibit by San Francisco artists Tino Rodriguez and Virgo Paraiso.  Using classical techniques, the artists are able to weave provocative and imaginative imagery seemingly borne of dreams and fantasy worlds. Their paintings are inhabited by androgynous magical and mystical beings, hybrid creatures, exotic flora, carnivorous flowers, fauna, and fantastical gardens where things are not what they seem. Tino and Virgo have collaborated on several paintings for this show, adding elements of improvisation and  creative abundance, each playing off each other's artistry. The artists’ individual works will also be on exhibit.

Tino Rodriquez expertly weaves together elements from Catholic idolatry, European fairy tales, Celtic fables, Mexican myths, and Native American legends as he explores the complexity of spirituality, sexuality, and transformation. The duality found in Western religions -good and evil, heaven and hell, spirit and body - intermingle in a vision that makes such distinctions irrelevant. Rodriguez was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, he holds an MFA from the University of Albuquerque. His work has shown in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, San Jose, Boston, Washington DC and Berlin, and resides in permanent  collections at The San Jose Museum of Art (San Jose, CA), The Crocker Art Museum (Sacramento, CA), and The Nevada Museum of Art.

 

Virgo Paraiso’s artwork creates worlds with no boundaries and lush paradise elements. His masterful brush stroke and technique are brought to life with underlying themes of Paradise, Metamorphoses and Hybridism. Each painting is rich in stories, philosophical layers, and symbolism where tales of transformation flourish.  Paraiso was born in Mexico and has  lived in  Okinawa, Japan and Hawaii. He graduated from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco in 2000 and currently resides in San Francisco. His work has shown in Hawaii, Japan, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Boston, Berlin, and beyond.

 The opening reception for "Pagan Poetry" will be held at Modern Eden on Saturday, May 12th from 6-10pm. The exhibition will be on display through June 10, 2012 and is free and open to the public. Complimentary drinks will be served and there will be a special musical performance by Sylvi Alli during the reception.

Exhibiting artists, Tino Rodriguez and Virgo Paraiso will be in attendance. 

RSVP HERE
For more information please contact Modern Eden: (415) 956-3303, Info@ModernEden.com

Featured Solo Exhibition: “Soliloquies from the Silent Country”, Opening Jan 21st

Modern Eden Gallery is pleased to announce “Soliloquies from the Silent Country”, new paintings and sculptures by San Francisco Bay Area artist Lacey Bryant. This will be Bryant's debut solo exhibition in San Francisco. The opening reception will be held at Modern Eden on Saturday, January 21st from 6-9 pm. Live music will be provided by acclaimed Folk group “The Wild Reeds”, and complimentary drinks by Quail Oak Winery will be served to our 21+ guests. The exhibition will be on display through February 5, 2012 and is free and open to the public.

Theatrically posed and surrounded by lush, illusory environments, the subjects of Lacey's works are like illustrations in a picture book written in an unknown language. The images are somewhat familiar but certain elements remains foreign. Like a hazy dream of an imagined childhood long forgotten, the images strive to make you feel as if you just might have been there once, maybe. The stage is set in an imagined world of natural beauty beneath ominously stormy skies. It is a world poised between now and once upon a time.

The use of symbolism gives the work a universal language although many of the symbols can be interpreted in several different ways. Certain motifs are repeated throughout the works such as birds and insects, roots, branches or veins, string, theatre curtains and abandoned objects. Often emitting from the haunting subjects of her work, these symbols represent desires, feelings and afflictions. Lacey’s subjects are often blind to their own dilemmas or at least are unaware of how to change their circumstances. Curtains remind us that we are peering in on a world as artificial as our own. These images are invented to confront issues such as connection, longing, frailty, time and our own mortality.

As is common in Lacey's work, there is a subtle tension between beautiful and unsettling elements. Though the settings are usually very light and airy there is a certain heaviness in the atmosphere and a distinct melancholy about the girls with wild hair and confrontational stares. We are presented with things we are uncomfortable with-spiders, holes, cracks and decay. This contrast is constructed to create a sense of mystery and mood, enticing the viewer to linger and embrace their own hidden dark sides or even to find the beauty in something that scares us. Bryant currently resides in San Jose, CA.

Located in San Francisco's historic North Beach, Modern Eden was opened in June 2010. Local artists Bradley Platz and Kim Larson are Co-Owners and Gallery Directors. Modern Eden Gallery has quickly become one of San Francisco's most exciting and attractive destinations for art. Modern Eden showcases talent-driven art by San Francisco's top emerging and established artists. Modern Eden focuses on figurative and illustrative paintings in genres ranging from realism to surrealism. You can visit the gallery at 403 Francisco Street Wednesday through Sunday 11 am-7 pm or anytime on-line at www.moderneden.com.

When:
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 21, 2012 6-9 PM,
Artist Lacey Bryant will be in attendance

Where: Modern Eden Gallery
403 Francisco Street
San Francisco, CA 94133

RSVP HERE

Join Modern Eden for First Friday in North Beach
next Friday August 5th!
7-9 pm

FB Event Page, CLICK HERE

Sophia & The Demiurge

Purchasing Info.

beinArt Surreal Art Blog

Thanks to beinArt for featuring The Order on their blog. Check it out HERE and also be sure to check out the show on July 16th at Modern Eden Gallery!

Both Michael Ryan and Bradley Platz are featured artists of The Beinart International Surrealist Collective and draw inspiration from mysticism and allegorical storytelling using traditional artistic mediums.

Press Release: The Order: July 16, 2011

Modern Eden is pleased to announce The Order, an exhibition featuring new paintings by Bradley Platz and Michael Ryan. The opening reception for The Order will be held at Modern Eden on Saturday, July 16th from 7-10pm. (Press and Collector Preview at 6pm) Live music will be provided by DJ Ed Aten and drinks will be served to our 21+ guests. The exhibition will be on display through August 14, 2011 and is free and open to the public.

"The Order" draws from the imaginative collaboration of Michael Ryan and Bradley Platz. Former studio mates and long time friends, "The Order" will be Platz and Ryan's 2nd duo show after 2008's acclaimed "Portraits and Allegories". In this new exhibition the concepts of both artists weave together through their respective solo work and culminate to find an exact cohesion in a 2 panel diptych in which Platz and Ryan have collaborated. The dramatic piece depicts Sophia and the The Demiurge, Gnostic and platonic deities responsible for fashioning the material world out of primordial chaos. From San Francisco to Seattle the artists have put together compelling individual bodies of work that, collectively, tell a story about the incidental beauty of creating Order.

Both painters are featured artists of The Beinart International Surrealist Collective and draw inspiration from mysticism and allegorical storytelling using traditional artistic mediums.


Bradley Platz will also be unveiling “The Golden Calf” a life-size modern masterpiece measuring a whopping 12 feet tall. The Golden Calf adorns the walls of Modern Eden and viewers have been able to watch the monumental painting’s progression, over 5 years in the making.

Bradley Platz’ intricate oil paintings deal with the alternating nature of worship in the modern age. Using classical symbolic imagery from old world traditions and transposing subtle hints of modernity, his work might best be described as tarnished elegance. Ever present also are certain whimsical and subtle symbols that carry the viewer through his body of work as a reader through a story, or a craft on the sea. Bradley is co-owner and curator at Modern Eden Gallery and has shown his work throughout the United States and beyond. He currently resides in San Francisco, CA.

Michael Ryan creates allegorical images rich in symbolism, dealing with the human condition, society, and the world that surrounds him. Ryan expertly blends his long developed traditional painting techniques with ideas and subjects that are often other-worldly. Michael’s work shows his constant fortitude by alternating from bold strokes to delicate brushwork. His work is deeply psychological, each painting is a glimpse at a graceful and interrupted moment that tells a story through it’s subtle nuances. Michael Ryan has been in numerous publications (Spectrum 14, Wizards of the Coast, White Wolf Studios and Strange Horizons) and has shown his work as well throughout the United States. He currently resides in Seattle, WA.

In addition to "The Order", Modern Eden will be showcasing a International group exhibition “The New Surrealism : A Collection of Strange”. Modern Eden invited selected artists to submit works in homage to the strange and weird, reflecting the evolving future of surrealism in the modern age. Exhibiting artists include: Steve Bartlett, Bonni Reid, Sandra Yagi, David Ball, Lee Harvey Roswell, Vahge, Allison Sommers, Adriana Michelle Mekan, Lacey Bryant, Lance Hewison, Michelle Waters, Moises Hergueta, Christine Benjamin, Kieran Collins, Emilio Villalba, Anderson Lewis, Andy B. Clarkson, Natasha Dikareva, Archer Dougherty, Samuel Araya, Baldur Helgason, and David Camisa.


Modern Eden Gallery is one of San Francisco's newest and most exciting destinations for art. Located in San Francisco's historic North Beach, Modern Eden is one of the city's largest art galleries. Opened by local artists, Bradley Platz and Kim Larson in June 2010, Modern Eden showcases talent-driven art by San Francisco's top emerging and established artists.

When: Opening Reception: Saturday, July 16, 2011 7PM, Artists will be in attendance.
Show runs through Sunday, August 13, 2011

Where: Modern Eden Gallery
403 Francisco Street
San Francisco, CA 94133

Links:
www.ModernEden.com
www.orderofthedemiurge.com
www.MichaelRyanArt.com
www.BradleyPlatz.com