Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art Presents:
OUTSIDE/INSIDE - Stencil Art From Around the World
March 1 - March 16
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 1, 8 p.m. - Midnight

Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art is proud to present OUTSIDE/INSIDE, a showcase of some of the most exciting stencil artists from around the world. More than twenty international artists representing eight different countries are exhibited, including artists from France, Australia, United States, Portugal, Norway, Brazil, Poland, and the United Kingdom. Featured artists include: Adam5100, C215, Dotmasters, Rene Gagnon, Pam Glew, HaHa, Logan Hicks, Hush, Jef Aerosol, Brian Jones, Kaleb, Adam Koukoudakis, Mantis, M-City, Amy Rice, Skran, Chris Stain, Martin Whatson. The exhibition will be on view March 1 through March 16, 2008, with an opening reception held on Saturday March 1, 2008, from 8 p.m. to Midnight.

In OUTSIDE/INSIDE, the geographic exoticism of the artists runs parallel to their distinctive styles; each artist embraces a sweeping variety of hybridized media and innovative techniques, from artist Logan Hicks' hyper-detailed, meticulous renderings of urban city scenes, and the highly technical CMYK ink paintings by British artist Adam Koukoudakis, to the Pop Art of Brian Jones and life-size, black-and-white portraits of French artist Jef Aerosol. Playing with our unconscious attraction to fear and the trappings of the American dream, British artist Pam Glew uses materials that have inherent history - vintage American flags, brocade fabric, aged copper, and antique pages from horror fiction, are used as a canvas and treated with ink, bleach, stitch, ammonia and spray-paint to achieve an aesthetic which pays homage to both street art and confessional art. There are many differences between the mesmerizing faces of France's C215, American artist Rene Gagnon's fusion of graffiti and abstract expressionism, and British artist Hush's vibrant rushes of color, yet they all explore a raw, urban aesthetic.

The commanding platform of stencils facilitates the artists featured in OUTSIDE/INSIDE as they communicate their unique values and perspectives of contemporary culture. Adam5100's pieces satirically challenge concepts of modernity, using spaces as a language to describe forgotten places, and light to evoke their story and contextual meaning in today's environment. Polish artist M-City and Norwegian artist Martin Whatson share an interest in the concept of urban decay, both in the architecture and the people, creating exquisite images of things generally dismissed or unnoticed. Kaleb takes inspiration from the daily plight of survival experienced by the people of his native São Paulo, while UK-based Mantis wanders across the globe, lost in reveries but observing all, acting as a cultural anthropologist who leaves behind his musings in the form of street paintings, a deviously insightful reminder of life's grim realities.

The work of HaHa, Australia's most prolific and notorious stencil artist, reflects the ugly power of mass media within Western popular culture, including the phenomenon of reality TV, the religion of sport, criminal lifestyles, and society's obsession with instant celebrity, while Portugal's Skran calls our attention to the simpler things in life, lost in a lonely world of consumption and technology. Chris Stain cuts his stencils with the hope that he will be able to convey the state of the average American, swept along with the busy current of daily life and frequently unrecognized in society at large. "My work is always produced with an irreverent disregard for medium and wish for mischievous confrontation," offers cheeky Dotmasters, in contrast to American artist Amy Rice, who reveals that, "As an art instructor/advocate for adults with severe and persistent mental illness, I am a true believer in the powerful healing tool that art can be."

Featuring: Adam5100 (USA), Adam Koukoudakis (UK), Amy Rice (USA), Brian Jones (UK), C215 (France), Chris Stain (USA), Dotmasters (UK), HaHa (Australia), Hush (UK), Jef Aerosol (France), Kaleb (Brazil), Logan Hicks (USA), M-City (Poland), Mantis (UK), Martin Whatson (Norway), Pam Glew (UK), Rene Gagnon (USA), Skran (Portugal)

More information on each artist is available upon request.

Please visit www.cultureshockmarketing.com or contact art@carmichaelgallery.com for additional press materials.