Hibbleton Gallery and Liberty Boardshop present “Unpretentious Art Party”

Hibbleton Gallery and Liberty Boardshop are pleased to present “Unpretentious Art Party” featuring artwork by Ryan Ward, Foof, Paul Nagel, and Scott Lee.  The opening reception will be Friday, August 8 at Hibbleton Gallery from 7-11pm.  This event is free and open to the public.  As usual, tasty refreshments will be served.

Each of these artists has either grown up around or been deeply influenced by skate culture, and this show, our first collaboration, deals with the variety of artwork emerging from that scene. 

Ryan Ward, who works with spray paint on aluminum, creates multi-layered abstract pieces that  “attempt to communicate the struggle for spiritual evolution through multiple layers of color and shape,” Ward says.  A dominant symbol in Ward’s art is the feather.  According to Ward, “The symbolic significance of the feather is deeply rooted in many religious rituals and deals with ascension.  Feathers often represent flight or truth and sometimes virtue in certain faiths.” 

Foof works in a variety of media, including oil and acrylic paint, as well as various printmaking techniques including screen printing, woodblock printing, and metal etching.  Zombies are the subject of many of Foof’s pieces.  “Being trapped in a world where I feel surrounded by brain dead zombies everywhere it wasn't hard to come up for the inspiration for my series of the walking dead,” Foof says. 

According to Scott Lee, “my paintings look like there should be a demented children's book story to go along with them, but there isn't.”  For this show, Lee used both oil and acrylic paint on maple panels.  Lee’s influences and inspirations range from camping to skateboarding to Alphonse Mucha to graffiti to National Geographic.

Paul Nagel, who works with oil paint on canvas, creates scenes from the Southern California environment he grew up in.  “The Los Angeles Basin and broader world is intensely beautiful and incredibly terrible,” Nagel says, “My art is for me a method of grasping my feelings, of understanding my world, of holding onto the beauty I wish to preserve.”

“Unpretentious Art Party” runs through August 31.  Hibbleton Gallery is located at 112 W Wilshire Ave. (West of Harbor Boulevard) in downtown Fullerton.  Visit www.hibbleton.com