"The Order" Opens This Saturday

 This Saturday at Modern Eden in SF- opens a new exhibition of two artist whose works we love and have featured over the years. Titled "The Order", it 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" at Eclectix Gallery. 

 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 from Chaos.

 Modern Eden will also be showcasing a International group exhibition “The New Surrealism : A Collection of Strange”- 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, Adriana Michelle, 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.

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

Modern Eden Gallery Grand Opening Exhibit

The new Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco's North Beach is somewhere to visit and support. Checked out their grand opening exhibit and was impressed by all the pieces. Some of the artists were shown in a number of past Eclectix exhibits, some were new to me - but all were high caliber choices with eclectic themes. Moody landscapes, mythical portraits, pop-surrealist pieces, gothic images and so much more! So happy to see artist Bradley Platz open this space, a much deserved venue and studio for his art, as well as for the other great artists. Michael Ryan has a number of his fantastically gloomy, classical works here and Leilani Bustamante and Marco Mejia's works are  newbrow must-sees as well. Alphonzo Solorzano and Miquel Felipe's works have a religious, folk-art-Latin feel to them with a warm, gritty street edge.

The clean, new space is purrfect - large, different bends and alcoves to it, with a number of ideal spots for sculpture display as well. It has a nice grace and flow to the overall ambiance. You might catch Bradley at work on his easel in the back area. There is handmade local artisan jewelry and fine crafts in a side store section. This exhibit is one of the best to be seen in SF right now, so get on down and see it before it closes July 14th!

Modern Eden Link

Modern Eden Grand Opening This Saturday

Date:	Saturday, June 12, 2010
Time:	6:00pm - 10:00pm
Location:	Modern Eden
Street:	403 Francisco Street
City/Town:	San Francisco, CA

Bay Area Townie: Bradley Platz's Art

Fifth In a Series on Bay Area Artists

Bradley's art is masterful, edgy yet serene, calling forth the Old Masters - elements from renaissance imagery - with a wonderfully disquieting bit of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion thrown in. Based on or inspired by myth, allegories and fables of old, he injects his own modern twist of our mortality and circumstance with seeming ease and grace.

Dictionary definition of "allegory" - a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.

One of my faves by Bradley is "Charon and the Shades"- (fourth from the top). The painting depicts Nicole Ritchie, (as a general symbol for the modern celebrity and wealth) on the boat with Charon. Charon was the ferryman on the river Styx, the mythological old man who took the souls of the dead across the river into Hades, provided that they had a gold coin to pay for passage. Historically, among the wealthier classes a gold coin was nearly always placed under the tongue of the departed for this reason. Nicole is represented dry and emaciated, having little physical beauty left but a wealth of gold which, ironically, is pouring out of her mouth in a familiar cathartic expulsion. The "shades" or souls trapped in purgatory are swarming the boat, these are souls with no money for Charon, eternally stranded on the shores of the Styx. The painting represents celebrity privilege as the continuation of the aristocratic privileges that have extended back to the time of myths and gods.

Besides the larger epic works, Bradley also has an ever-growing series of enticing little portraits. Pictured here are some early works "Creatures" done on black velvet. His "Creatures" are playful, little gargoyle-like beings which radiate golden light and simple minded expressions in floating postures. Bradley's later (and currently developing) characters are gothic portraits with a "Night Gallery" ambiance. With names like "Mistress" and "Patriarch" or "St. Nihilist", these evoke lost souls captured for eternity within a delicate small oval Victorian frame. They have a beautifully poetic, historical bent; the images are small, yet powerfully potent, full of personality, expression and emotion.

"I believe that a painter should honor what has come before and show respect where respect is deserved. My work is based upon religious icons and renaissance imagery which is set in a modern context. It is a constant personal inquiry; piece by piece it is a task of deconstructing our idols of worship and considering how they have changed through the centuries. "

Bradley currently lives, works and paints in San Francisco. He has been a regular contributor to Eclectix Gallery exhibits as well as part of a two-man show with artist Michael Ryan, aptly titled "Portraits & Allegories", in 2008.