Quintessential

Alec Huxley is a painter based in San Francisco. His work, primarily representational, is filled with contrast. Simultaneously stark and colorful, it focuses on landscapes of the American West Coast. Cinematic scenes serve as imperfect records of place, time and architecture for space travellers and wild animals. A self taught artist, his background includes studies in business, graphic design, photography, as well as a career in printing before committing to fine art.

Chris Stokes uses mixed media to interlace and layer unassuming combinations of color, lines and found materials. Elements from literature, cultural symbols, and architecture meld together to become art that equals more than the sum of its parts. Born in Philadelphia, the long-time San Francisco resident’s recent work is a reflection of his travels, his ever-evolving perspective of the world, and an interest in science fiction. The resulting pieces represent new landscapes and structures that seem barely possible.

David Choong Lee combines elements of graffiti, collage, graphic design, portraiture, and classical realism. He was born in Seoul, Korea in 1966 and moved to the US in 1993 to pursue traditional fine art at the Academy of Art. His first major body of work depicted San Francisco’s homeless in the Tenderloin, then evolved to depict the diversity of San Francisco’s population. Many of the city’s recognizable characters have shown up in breathtaking pieces on his signature wine and cigar boxes. In recent years, Lee has begun to shift focus from the figure to the abstract and geometric. These two styles come together in impressive assemblages that have shown in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Tucson, Canada, and Korea.

Eric Johnston uses academic realism, traditional surrealism, and abstract approaches to contemporary topics to create paintings that are direct manifestations of the way humans perceive nature and the environment in which they exist. The driving force behind his creativity is his search for meaning in our existence by connecting with the world through symbolic recognition. Drawing inspiration from his life, dreams, desires, and the parallel reality encompassing him, he questions our innate aspirations concerning personal happiness. Johnston received training in Fine Arts from the Academy of Art in San Francisco, and currently resides in Northern California.

Erik Otto has been working professionally in the arts for over 10 years. With a passion for creative exploration, he balances his time between painting and design, blending multiple influences into one distinct style that has been presented in distinguished galleries, film/theater sets, street corners, and even a parklet. Often improvising with a growing list of mediums and reclaimed materials, he creates work that is both expressive and conceptual, capturing the moment where beauty meets chaos. Otto received his BFA from San Jose State University and currently lives, works and rides his bike in San Francisco.

Jet Martinez reinterprets Mexican folk art into a distinctive urban contemporary style that is manifested in both large-scale murals and fine art. Flat and graphic in manner, his use and application of color create vibrant, static imagery that celebrates life at its most ecstatic. Originally from Veracruz, Mexico, he is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute and currently lives and works in Oakland CA.

J L King blends elements of surrealism and tromp l’oeil techniques, drawing inspiration from news, science, the nuance of simple mundane objects, and interesting phrases. She is a San Francisco native.

Joshua Coffy is a self-taught artist who draws inspiration from the natural world, scientific illustrations, his love of animals, and how humans relate to them. His work includes multiple layers of texture including paper patterns, maps, newspaper articles, and acrylic paint. He is a self-taught artist living and working in San Francisco.

Kelly Ording creates artwork that blends organic and geometric shapes with exact lines, pairing intuitive and mathematical mark-making. In doing so, she attempts to create and find beauty in simple things. Her pieces are as much about their creation process as the resulting imagery.

Ording is a graduate of San Francisco Art Institute. In addition to fine art, she creates large-scale public works and murals for locations such as Clarion Alley, Pelaga Park Recreation Center, Genentech, Facebook, and Kala Art Institute. This summer, she will complete a large-scale paving project at Unity Plaza, in conjunction with the San Francisco Department of Public Works and the San Francisco Arts Commission.

Kelly Tunstall’s portraits are stylized female figures in adapted environments: nests built of painted boards held together by drawn nails or far off planets. The physical form and its accompanying exterior become a mirror for internal thought processes and turmoil. Working in acrylic, collage, spray paint, pencil, pen and ink, gold leaf and some secret sauce, her experimental yet classically grounded works live comfortably in a space between graphic expression, stylized representation, surrealism, and sketch. The patina of age and calligraphic drawing methods lend further depth to her story-filled worlds. She received her BA from California College of Arts and Crafts in 2002.

Kevin Earl Taylor is an oil painter who examines the chaotic and incomprehensible human paradigm through the exploration of animals and nature. He studied at the Savannah College of Art and Design, and lives and works in San Francisco.

Leon Loucheur is a self-taught artist who focuses on the relationship between the natural and man-made worlds through the exploration of his own psychological biases. He lives and works in San Francisco.

Micah LeBrun is a self-taught San Francisco artist who considers his understanding of art to be derived from what he visually identifies in everyday life. His influences range from the line-oriented work of Picasso, the bold graphic nature of Warhol, and the dominant colorful brushstrokes of Peter Max to modern-day movements such as car culture and graffiti. A self-prescribed wanderer in regards to creative process, he believes that each idea should be executed in the medium and style that best relays its intention.

Monty Guy is a San Francisco painter and illustrator whose earliest memories are drawing in the entryway of his parents’ home in Southern California. A true artist, he is constantly compelled to create and hone his craft, seeing beauty and inspiration in everything around him. He appreciates timelessness in his subject matter as well as in his often-used black and white color palette.

Robert Bowen has been exhibiting his artwork throughout the US for over fifteen years. Bowen got his start through graffiti and street art, briefly attended art school, and continues self-schooling to obtain a classical education as a painter. He lives and works in San Francisco.

St. Monci meanders through the purely gestural and technical applications of abstraction, utilizing his training in street and studio art to create compositions that address perception and matter. He explores the most fundamental elements of art and design, in color and form, and how they relate to each other and the viewer. Dynamic matrices of architectural and graphic elements evoke a visceral reaction to otherwise static elements of flat shapes. St. Monci was born in the United States and raised in Puerto Rico. He returned to earn his BFA and MA at New York State University Oswego and is now based in Rochester NY.

t.w.five works with just one material — vinyl — and focuses largely on process. All shapes are hand-cut to size from large rolls of solid color vinyl, and then carefully applied to a surface of the work. Each work is made of intricately repeating patterns, which require hours of rigorous work. The finished product is a labor of love, weaved and realized by two sets of skillful hands. Born and raised in Sweden and Brazil, respectively, t.w.five is an international art duo based in San Francisco, California. Each artist holds a Masters of Fine Art from San Jose State University and have enjoyed numerous solo exhibitions in the Bay Area and abroad.

Ursula Xanthe Young is a painter, illustrator, and graphic designer whose urban fairy tale images have become a trademark of street culture in San Francisco and beyond. Her fine-lined illustrations and colorful modern paintings exude a style that is unique and appealing to art lovers of all kinds. Young grew up in the green rural dales of Northern England and studied art in New York, Florence, Vermont, Oslo, and London. After graduating from Parsons School of Design (BFA Illustration 1996), she moved to San Francisco’s Lower Haight district and spent nearly a decade there. Following a stint in Alaska, Ursula has settled in Grass Valley CA, where she now lives and works.