BURN
Hef (Jamie MK) January 16- February 14, 2004
Jamie began painting in 1984; entirely self-taught, he drew his inspiration mainly from the comic books and fantasy art of his childhood. An appreciation for Hef's visual aesthetic can be gained by taking a short walk down North 12th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where one of his many large murals is located. After several years of professional focus on commissioned murals and sculpture, Hef is taking his work a step beyond these public murals and installations with his first solo show at McCaig-Welles Gallery, entitled
Burn.
This collection of new oil on canvas is a departure from the process of aerosol art, challenging the aesthetic and cultural barrier that has always existed between fine art and the Graffiti Experience.
Burn
includes sixteen small-scale works and sixteen large-scale, oil on canvas pieces.
Hef's subject matter is, in itself, an exploration of
popular
culture; creatures that seem to inhabit Japanimation cells, beautiful women in classic pin-up poses,
and abstractions of postmodern psychedelic themes.
The detail and vibrancy in this collection presents the viewer with an exciting pastiche of Hef
s artistic ideals and their inherent influence on his experience of the world. Hef is emerging as a visual artist whose work continues to evolve out of a love of process, rather than a quest for recognition.