El Cuervo Gallery Hosts “Made in Kalifornia: the Photography of Travis Haight and Memo Ortega”
417 Main St
El Segundo, CA 90245
USA
El Cuervo Gallery Hosts “Made in Kalifornia: the Photography of Travis Haight and Memo Ortega”
El Cuervo Gallery proudly presents “Made in Kalifornia: the Photography of Travis Haight and Memo Ortega,” a view of Southern California culture by two of its top photographers. The show will feature roughly 25 color and black and white prints from each artist and highlight Haight’s focus on vintage Americana pinup style and Ortega’s concentration on lowrider and Chicano culture.
The exhibit, which opens with a reception on Saturday, May 27, 2017 at 6 p.m., is sponsored by Sapporo, Streetlow Magazine and Camp Out Magazine. El Cuervo’s regular line-up of underground artists, Damian Fulton, Sara Ray, Krk Ryden, Mark Waldman, and REV, will also exhibit at the show, which runs through the end of June.
“I wanted this collection of work for El Cuervo to show my range of interests and subjects, yet remain cohesive in the way I present how I see things through my lens,” said Haight. “I like the dichotomy of the beautiful and the ugly, sometimes represented alone, but often juxtaposed together.” “I still feel new in the lowrider scene because every day is something new – a new car, a new club, a new mural, a new color,” Ortega said. “I’m passionate about the lifestyle, for me a lowrider is art on wheels, and I still love the moment, that second before I take the picture.”
About El Cuervo Gallery
El Cuervo opened June 4, 2016 and is a joint venture between illustrator Ralph Villalobos and mixed-media artist Mark Waldman, former owner of SoCal kustom kulture hub Gasoline (2002 – 2012) and The Dented Can (2002 – 2004). Villalobos and Waldman hope El Cuervo will reignite Gasoline’s creative energy and foster feelings both familial and competitive among local artists. El Cuervo’s front retail shop pays homage to SoCal’s surf and skate lifestyle and sells books, handmade wares and locally-crafted, vinyl toys. The rear of the shop is a dedicated gallery that debuts new works with full receptions every four to six weeks. The 800-square foot space is located on El Segundo’s Main Street, which is quickly becoming a major stop in the SoCal art scene.
About Mark Waldman
Waldman is a mixed-media assemblage artist, whose work has shown at the San Diego Art Institute, Hammer Museum, Las Vegas Contemporary Arts Center, Smashbox Studios, San Francisco State University’s Fine Art Gallery, in addition to galleries and museums throughout the United States and Japan. Waldman was born and raised in Redondo Beach, Calif.
About Ralph E. Villalobos (REV)
Villalobos is graphic illustrator specializing in ink illustration. Villalobos’ work has shown at Gasoline, La Bulla and numerous Day of the Dead shows. He has a background in production art, and worked for Gentle Giant Studios on projects with Disney, Lucas Arts, Pixar and Mattel. He holds a bachelor degree in animation and media arts from the Art Institute in Santa Monica and masters of fine art in illustration from the Academy of Art in San Francisco. He grew up in Lennox, Calif., and Hawthorne, Calif., and currently resides in San Pedro, Calif.
About Travis Haight
Being behind a camera has been a passion for Travis Haight since 1992, when he cut his teeth rolling and developing his own film as he honed darkroom skills before transitioning into the digital photography world. With degrees from both Arizona State University and the Art Institute of Phoenix, he began his freelance commercial and fine art photography career in 2004. Since, his work has been published regularly in a variety of magazines, papers, books and websites both nationally and internationally. Based in Los Angeles, Calif., Travis pursues his creative vision all over the country and works on a wide variety of projects and collaborations with an ever-expanding, diverse cast of characters. For more information, see http://travishaightphotography.com.
About Memo Ortega
Guillermo “Memo” Ortega was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico, and now lives in Los Angeles, Calif., where he was introduced to Chicano Culture in the late ‘90s. In 2010, Ortega began posting his photographs of Gang, Lowrider, DUB & ChicanoMexican American culture on his personal blog and soon gained a reputation for talent in the Southern Californian art scene. Since, his work has been published in magazines around the world, including Streetlow Magazine. Today, Ortega continues to capture lowrider lifestyle in addition to exploring themes in hip hop, with collaborations with artists such as Kurupt, GhostFace and Psycho Realm, among others.
For more information, see http://www.memoortega.com.