Paintings by

Joshua Petker - Shawn Ferris - Alice Tippet

Opens Friday March 11th 2005 6-10pm
Closes April 1st

~ see the gallery online ~

Roq La Rue is pleased to present the work of three painters for its March show. All three painters work contains a mixture of sumptuousness mixed with a darkness, whether in subject matter or technique.

Los Angeles artist Joshua Petker originally hails from a graffiti back round, self-teaching himself about the use and appreciation of color along the way. Later he took up painting, inspired by the rich decorativism of Gustave Klimt, the awkward figurativism of Egon Schiele, and the Pop sensibility of Andy Warhol. His paintings of contemporary demi-monde, shadowy beauties struggling with dark temptations create an aura of a punk belle epoch, rendered in his own street art spin on art nouveau sensibilities with bold deep blocky color and quick graceful line work.

Seattle artist Shawn Ferris creates paintings that combine mystery and humor. Using classic archetypal images such as crowns, eggs, and snakes, she adds her own interpretations and characters to the tableau, such as boxing and gambling bird chicks. Her technique fuses loose backgrounds that look aged and weathered with subject matter rendered in a crisp, meticulous manner.

Alice Tippet also lives in Seattle and is known for her spin on traditional watercolor painting. Inspired from everything from the natural world, “red in tooth and claw”, to the illusional aspects of civilization, often depicted using imagery culled from colonial times or British royalty. At first her paintings draw the viewer in with a soft palette and gentle images only to reveal upon closer inspection a departure from idealistic imagery that straddles the line between truth and the macabre.