(805) 259-5099
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EVENT: MY ROBOT RAN AWAY WITH MY CHERRY IN SAN FRANCISCO
WHAT: ART EXHIBITION
WHO: JERICO WOGGON
TIME: DECEMBER 6, 2004- JANUARY 20, 2005
LOCATION: 2223 Restaurant and Bar, San Francisco
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND IMAGES: (805) 259-5099, www.cherrymeltdown.com
RETRO COMICS AND ROBOTS: Jerico Woggon’s Solo Show Transforms
Old Comic Book Motifs into New Work
What do you get when you mix a retro comic book heroine, robots, SoCal car
culture and biology slides? My Robot Ran Away with My Cherry in San
Francisco, Jerico Woggon’s first solo exhibition of paintings
in San Francisco, at 2223 Restaurant and Bar. Woggon’s latest neo pop
work draws upon an ecclectic range of sources, including the the retro Archie
comic book heroine Katy Keene (created by Jerico’s grandfather BillWoggon)
and the do-it-yourself aesthetic of the Burning Man arts festival. “Artists
throughout history have paved the road for us and now we have to just go down
it. The art road has been paved and as a young artist there’s only one
way to go. It’s cut and dry. You’re an artist and you must create,” said
Woggon . In My Robot Ran Away with My Cherry in San Francisco,
Woggon shows his talent for successfully metabolizing a vast collection of
ideas and symbols into his own pop art inspired continuum.
At 2223 Restaurant and Bar, abstract robots, dynamically graphic cherries,
and beautifully simplified organic forms grace the walls. Looking over the
images in My Robot Ran Away with My Cherry in San Francisco,
don’t be surprised if this new work is reminiscent of old comic books
or scientific drawings from the 1950s. Woggon consciously expands on the older
pop culture vocabulary of Katy Keene and the other comic book art created by
his grandfather, Bill Woggon, using the color palate of faded textbooks.
The graphic repetition and glossy texture seen in the exhibition are also drawn
from Woggon’s ten-year stint working on promotional concept cars, including
the Hershey Kiss Mobile, for Prototype Source. “It started when I just
wanted to paint my van as a young artist surfer kid, that entered me into the
world of car culture. Listening to oldies and working on old cars I just pretended
I was back in time. That’s what happened. And then finding that I excelled
with my hands and eyes. Now, it’s a natural progression. Car restoration
is so small. And art is so vast. Cars are just one part of my life. There’s
so much more freedom in the art world,” said Woggon about his transition
into working with fine art. Southern California’s car culture has inspired
visual artists since the 1960s when pop art first began its joyride. Now, as
earlier custom car afficianados such as Von Dutch are being appropriated as
brands and resold to the masses, the moment is ripe for Woggon’s evocation
of an earlier era of gearheads.
Though the imagery in Woggon’s current exhibition is somewhat familiar,
the use of just paintings is a departure for the artist, who has been recently
exhibiting his large scale installations and using his creativity for planning
art happenings and events. After ten years of party planning and master-minding
elaborate exhibitions of large work, what is it like for Woggon to return to
the humble sanctity of paintings? “I felt like a musician picking up
the instrument after not doing it for awhile. Canvas has been a side project
for years. Taking it on full time, it’s like I’m making up for
lost time. It feels like I just stepped into a whole new world and I’m
free,” said Woggon.
My Robot Ran Away with My Cherry in San Francisco is especially
poignant for Woggon because this year Katy Keene celebrates her 60th birthday.
Though his grandfather is not alive to help celebrate the milestone, Woggon
is taking this opportunity to remember his grandfather through his art.
After all, it was his grandfather’s first encouraging words and example
as a living, breathing artist, that set Jerico down his current path. As
Woggon said, “To be able to create your own vision, that’s
it. My grandfather’s success and his passion and his connection to
people: kids, fashion, drawing art. That’s what I want to follow
is the artistic dream.”