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Living Dead - Pooch & Paul Torres, at Harold Golen Gallery (Wynwood Art District)
Pooch. Muerto Mechanico. Courtesy Harold Golen Gallery
October 11th - November 1st
Opening reception: Saturday, October 11, 2008 7pm- 11pm
Harold Golen Gallery presents the exhibition “Living Dead,” which includes recent works of Pooch and Paul Torres. Pooch was raised on a diet of Walt Disney World, Ray Harryhausen films, H. P. Lovecraft novels, Comics, and Florida tourist traps. He paints images that seem to exist in a bizarre afterlife. Early on, Pooch was exposed to artists and illustrators, such as Frank Frazetta, MC Escher, Dali, Bosch and HR Giger.
A self-taught artist, he owes much of his painting skill to over ten years of daily tattooing and drawing. His art is a visual cocktail mix of Far East mysteries, the magic of European painting, with a shot of tattoo culture, shaken and stirred, and served up in a souvenir tiki skull.
Working in different series allows Pooch the freedom to explore various cultural symbols, but also keeps him inspired to dig deeper into those respective subjects. Pooch’s paintings are intended to hold the viewer’s attention, which is quite a challenge in today’s TV, film and computer age. Holding the old masters in high regard, he has a strong respect for painters of the Flemish age, such as Bosch and Van Eyk, and modern artists such as Todd Schorr, Joe Coleman, Mark Ryden and Robe.
The art of the Chilean, Paul Torres, embodies a rich imagination and is laced with social commentary and a soulful interpretation of everyday life. He works with a variety of mediums ranging from oil to acrylic, ink and dry mediums, preferring oil. Although he feels very comfortable working from life and models, he also uses his imagination, combined with working from life, to bring the work onto a more personal level; aiming for magic realism, rooted in the tradition of the old masters, with undertones of modern influences. Paul has been called a visionary artist and a soul artist.
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