Don Pendleton’s new solo show The Reflected Sound of Everything opens this Saturday (May 28, 2016) at Laguna Beach, California’s Artists Republic.
Don Pendleton’s work is highly recognizable from his decades of illustrative work in skateboarding. From 1998 to the present, Don has been one of the top artists and graphic designers for the skateboarding industry. Working with companies like Alien Workshop, Element Skateboards, Vans, and Volcom, he has seen his work used for over 688 skateboard graphics as well as television commercials, music posters, and murals across the globe. Don had his first solo museum show at the Huntington Museum of Art in West Virginia in 2014, and in 2015 Don won a grammy award for his art direction on the Pearl Jam Lightning Bolt album.
The artists reception is Saturday, May 28, 2016 beginning at 6 PM. Artist Republic is located at 1175 S. Coast Hwy in Laguna Beach, California. For the official word from Artists Republic please follow the jump.
DON PENDLETON
“The Reflected Sound of Everything”
May 28th – July 10th, 2016
Artist’s Reception: Saturday May 28th, 6-9pm
Presented by Vans
LAGUNA BEACH, CA (May 18, 2016) — Artists Republic is pleased to showcase The Reflected Sound of Everything, a solo show by Don Pendleton.
Don Pendleton’s work is highly recognizable from his decades of illustrative work in skateboarding. From 1998 to the present, Don has been one of the top artists and graphic designers for the skateboarding industry. Working with companies like Alien Workshop, Element Skateboards, Vans and Volcom, he has seen his work used for over 688 skateboard graphics as well as television commercials, music posters, and murals across the globe. Don had his first solo museum show at the Huntington Museum of Art in West Virginia in 2014, and in 2015 Don won a grammy award for his art direction on the Pearl Jam Lightning Bolt album.
Pendleton’s new works for his show The Reflected Sound of Everything will be exploring past themes and showing them in a new light. Since much of his graphic design work has not been seen by many viewers outside of the skateboarding world, he wants to revisit those ideas for a new audience. This show will be “…the present and the past combined merging into a one single statement that’s a reflection of a little bit of everything over the past 18 years.” In order to present these ideas in a new way he has focused on a different technique of old school cut and paste. “The interesting thing about cut paper is that it’s ultimately a combination of design, illustration, color theory with a similar composition I use with painting so hopefully it’s a step beyond my usual work.”
Unlike Pendleton’s previous solo shows with us, this one will be focusing on the process and the embodiment of his work over the years. With the focus being on the process; the flow of the works will become a narrative along the way. “Past shows have all been paintings so it’s a very typical approach to creating the work. I feel like with this exhibit, I was more conscious about the colors and how the pieces connect to each other, the flow from one piece to the next so it’s a more cohesive, flowing body of work.”
About The Artist
Don Pendleton is an American artist whose techniques range from creating digital and hand painted artwork for his legendary body of skateboard graphics to original acrylics on canvas for gallery shows, murals, conceptual art, and installation pieces that merge linguistics with his narrative artistic vision. His aesthetic compositions resonate from linear organic cubist creations and similarly move to more expressionist forms that deal with issues of communication in a narrative, visual context. He often incorporates references to insects, animals and ambiguous characters to complete his finished compositions. These equivocal Archetypes are in constant interaction competing for space within the linear composition of the painting creating a confluence of tension and issues of communication that is a metaphorical reflection on the state of contemporary society and culture: “I was always drawn to this idea of people cohabiting the same space and the conflicts that arise on a regular basis within that space. Whether it’s war or arguments or brushing shoulders or stepping on toes, there’s a consistency within the line and the space but at the same time, there’s tension and conflict and potential for fights. All of that appeals to me when breaking up the space and creating a piece. I like the tension, I like the potential for conflict that people might recognize but I also like that there are characters in there that are basically on top of each other who may look confused or perfectly at ease within the chaos.” While the preponderance of his artwork is centered on his linear organic cubist, expressionist style, he continues to explore different new techniques to aesthetically complete each project he engages.
About Artists Republic
Since opening its doors in 2010, Artists Republic has been one of Orange County’s premier venues for new contemporary art. Located in Laguna Beach, CA, the gallery is dedicated to the support of emerging and mid-career artists whose work has impacted and influenced lives through youth culture. Artists Republic is located at 1175 S. Coast Hwy in Laguna Beach and specializes in original works, prints, books and more. www.artists-republic.com. A huge thanks to the ongoing support from our friends at Vans.
About The New Contemporary Movement
The New Contemporary movement, widely acknowledged to have begun in the early 90’s on the West Coast, evolved in reaction to a conceptual turn in fine art. Founded in part on a rejection of the arbitrary division of visual culture that tends to elevate “high art” above the social and popular realms, the movement invoked the countercultural and drew content from an immersion in social experience. The standard of excessive academicism and abstraction, against which it grew, was commonly held in higher regard than more figurative, graphic or representational forms of art. This marginalization inspired the New Contemporary movement to set its own terms and create its own context for the reception of its work. With a renewed emphasis on technical skill, narrative and representation, it has encouraged a social return in art. Moving away from the standard art education model that demands graduate school, an excess of critical rhetoric and an art world careerism, these artists, many of whom are self-taught, have sought their own inspiration and voice instead, drawing on everything from popular culture and social media platforms, to street art, murals and graffiti. By creating a distinct community in support of the diversity of its visions and styles, the movement has mortared and upheld its own invisible school.
Don Pendleton’s solo exhibition “The Reflected Sound of Everything” opens Saturday, May 28th from 6 to 9pm. The artist will be in attendance. Show runs May 28th – July 10th, 2016 at Artists Republic Gallery, 1175 South Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA. Parking meters free after 7pm. Works are for sale. Gallery hours: Thurs-Sat 12pm-6pm, Sunday 11am-5pm, and by appointment. www.artists-republic.com.
