As interest in the worlds of “low-brow” and pop-surrealism continue to grow, so does the number of different artists avidly participating in them and, on a lesser level, the forums that they have to present their work through.  While the portal for us to view a broader variety of unique personal visions has been widened, the platform for more derivative work to be showcased has grown as well.  This, of course, is to be expected from any burgeoning artform.  For example, early hip-hop music was primarily “good time” and “party”-based until Grand Master Flash and the Furious 5 unleashed the potent social awareness of “The Message” onto the world in 1982.  Later on, Public Enemy came in with a more militant, political style and N.W.A. broke ground by bringing aggressively profane gangster rap to the suburban masses.  Rap music has evolved and, periodically, a breakthrough group such as these will smash through and open the door for similar acts to come up in the game and get their voices heard.  However, it’s important to recognize that the Wu-Tang Clans of the world are few and far between and,  for every Tupac Shakur, there are a thousand Ja Rules and 50 Cents kickin up Bentley tire dirt all over his firmly imprinted footsteps.  The art “game” isn’t much different and, for every mind-blowing master painter like Ron English, there are hundreds of others simply riding the aesthetics laid out by the innovators that have come before them and auto-tuning out sub-par Mark Ryden/Marion Peck knockoffs.  One of the greatest things about the underground contemporary art world is it’s wide-open potential for amazing new viewpoints, but, when everybody’s shit starts looking alike, it becomes just as vapid and soulless and any other surface-based craft that focuses on the marketing before the substance of a product.

Two particular artists who have seemingly avoided the pitfalls of so many contemporaries without effort are New York painter/illustrator, Travis Louie and sculptor Kris Kuksi from Kansas.  Louie and Kuksi have become notable standouts in the contemporary art world for each of their incredibly unique styles and respective visions.  Of course, if one was to pick their styles apart, certain influences would likely make themselves apparent, but their works are not limited by the aesthetics of those that have inspired them.  When you see a piece of work from either artist, the technique and imagery is unmistakably all their own.  This month both artists have consecutive shows running side by side at Seattle‘s Roq La Rue, which has regularly proven itself to be one of the genres most consistent and discerning galleries over the last 10 plus years. Read the rest of this entry →