Esther Pearl Watson-show

I would like to invite you to Visions of the Future Paintings by Esther Pearl Watson January 10, 2009 - February 7, 2009 OPENING: Saturday, January 10th , 2009 (7 - 10pm) Billy Shire Fine Arts 5790 Washington Blvd. (near Fairfax Avenue and the 10) Culver City, Ca 90232 323-297-0600 www.billyshirefinearts.com Party People will perform at 9 P.M. check them out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNHXEcOmgTY Esther Pearl Watson's work has always been about telling stories, and the works in this exhibition, "Visions of the Future," continue down that road, transporting the viewer through the patchwork fields and neglected small towns of her quirky Texas childhood. With their humor and faux-naïve charm, the works are part fantasy, part homage to the past. Executed in acrylics, graphite, silver leaf, and spray paint, images of pink or metallic spaceships hover over tilted and flattened perspectives of rural landscapes-some idyllic, some litter-strewn. Watson's works combine a sophisticated use of mixed media with an assumed unschooled style in which Watson adopts the vernacular of Outsider Art. The frames, which Watson creates with paint, glitter, and silver leafing, interact with the paintings to convey her vision. In addition to the paintings, the show will feature a 10-foot wooden flying saucer, glittery and pink, with a small open door to allow a peek inside. "It's the saucer my Dad said he would take me to school in, as I imagined it finished (from my childhood perspective)," says Watson. "It's fun and strange to build a version of my Dad's saucers." "Visions of the Future" opens January 10, 2009 with a performance by the "Party People; " space-themed music will play through a Commodore computer-the perfect complement to Watson's father's futuristic visions using outdated engines and computers. There will also be a limited number of Watson's upcoming 400+ page book, "Unlovable", published by Fantagraphics. For more information contact gallery director, Annie Adjchavanich, 323-297-0600 or e-mail anniea@billyshirefinearts.com.