Forbidden Gallery
Presents
"Electric Tiny Wonderland"
Jason D’Aquino and Jeff Soto
April 5th – May 3rd
Reception Saturday April 5th 7:30pm – 12am
Jason D’Aquino
My work is strongly influenced by the images of my childhood.
I was first exposed to Art through the colorful pages of children’s
books. They fascinated me, and profoundly affected my artistic
sensibilities. To this day, Fairy tale and nursery rhyme imagery
are ever-present in my artwork.
Using high-powered magnification glasses, I create drawings
of a painstakingly miniature scale. The concentration of detail
emphasizes the poignancy of the message. A work of such proportions
must be viewed at very close proximity. The necessary intimacy
rules out casual observation entirely.
Through the juxtaposition of old surfaces and new icons, time
becomes confused and the question of chronology comes into
play. The image seems to have been created long before the
birth of the characters or scenarios depicted. The viewer
must struggle to cope with this anachronism. What results
is a state of confusion. In the throes of this art-induced
disorientation, one might clearly see the truth of the work
www.jasondaquino.com
Jeff Soto
Since a young age Jeff Soto has been captivated by the visual
arts. He
credits early exposure to the work of artists Mercer Mayer
and Patrick
Woodroffe as stimuli for his creativity. When he was 15 he
began to dabble
in the art of graffiti, which he credits as a major influence
in his art.
His artistic influences are too many to list but include Van
Gogh, Paul
Cadmus, Lisa Yuskavage, Twist, Otto Dix, Georganne Deen, Alex
Gross, Manuel Ocampo, Margaret Kilgallen and the Clayton Brothers
(to name but a few). Jeff's work has been shown in galleries
across the US, and recently in
Europe. He graduated with Distinction from Art Center College
of Design in
Pasadena, California. In his spare time he likes to sleep
in with the wifey,
look for aliens at night, read comics, take crappy photos,
and nurture the
always growing cacti farm.
www.jeffsoto.com
