Contemporary Surrealists

March 2 - April 13, 2013

MIKE DAVIS &

HENRY LEWIS

A Bittersweet Anniversary 2012

Oil on Wood44 x 33”$6,000

We're very excited to present new works in oil on panel by two stellar San Francisco artists Mike Davis and Henry Lewis. They each separate their fine art with painterly skills from their work as tattoo artists, and have earned well deserved acclaim for both. Although they each possess signature styles, Mike Davis and Henry Lewis both debut new series of works for this show that “move toward the light” side of the dark worlds they expose on the panel.

Mike Davis' current museum show "Hey! Modern Art & Pop Culture Part II" features four of his paintings alongside other renowned contemporary American artists. As a pop surrealist, he is a self-taught fine artist with a fascinating personal iconography. Henry Lewis exposes the warrior essence of his subjects, conveying their victories, tragedies and triumphs. Using his signature symbolism of armor and weaponry, he passionately depicts the inherent fragil-ity of humanity and the individual’s ability to overcome adversity. Although Henry Lewis has shown extensively, this is his first exhibit at Varnish.

Last Saturday, Henry Lewis and Mike Davis debuted their two-person show at San Francisco’s Varnish Fine Art. Exploring personal themes in their work through historical references, the two artists took different ap-proaches to creating allegories in their new work. While Lewis explored mythology and mysti-cism with an expressive, loose painting style, Davis opted for a tightly-controlled approach. Filled with myriads of precise details, Davis’ paintings were presented in wooden frames that echoed their antiquated feel. Meanwhile, Lewis’ works — some of them vertically towering over the viewers — merged allusions to classical mythology with ele-ments of graffiti and abstraction. -- Hi Fructose Magazine

Mike Davis renders complex narrative medieval scenes embedded with his personal symbolic system signifying mortality, folly, and hubris, within whimsical and mysterious compositions. Ancient art, Dutch genre painting and artwork of the Northern Renaissance heavily influence his work which is additionally informed by his twenty year career as an internationally renowned tattoo artist. Davis currently lives and works in San Francisco, California where, in addition to painting, he owns and operates his tattoo shop Everlasting Tattoo.

Mike Davis

Evening Meal 2012Oil on Wood37 x 52”$5,000

Inspired by the Northern Renaissance masters and 1960’s/70’s album art, Mike Davis paints symbolic narratives that tell a tale from the artist’s own life. They may depict a vulnerable passage, a breakup or a middle-of-the-night fear. The very specific and purposefully placed symbols in each work are a part of Davis’ personal lexicon, developed over time to speak to his own experiences. There are many ways to interpret the works, often shadowed by our own histories. The truth of the piece may never be revealed, but the exquisite details and humor in the face of grim circumstances offer the viewer a glimpse into Davis’ very soul.

Enough To Stay Alive 2013

Oil on Wood22 x 31”$3,000

Sum of All Fears 2012Oil on Wood24 x 32”$2,500

Missing Pieces 2013

Oil on Wood20 x 35”$2,200

A Path Carefully Chosen 2013

Oil on Canvas50 x 72”$5,000

“Being a tattooer has really been my art school… it has forced me to draw constant-ly and think about the fundamentals.” – Mike Davis

Necessary Sacrifice 2012

Oil on Wood19 x 21”$1,500

Self Portrait 2013Oil on Wood21 x 18”$1,500

Mike Davis is a modern-day Brueghel with tightly ren-dered and consummately lit surreal scapes. He hand crafted his own beauti-ful wood frames for each painting which remind us of a combo medieval and Frank Lloyd Wright con-struction. --Eclectix.com

You Alone Will Know 2013

Oil on Wood30 x 36”$3,500

Begin! 2013

Oil on Birch 14 x 12”$1,000

In constant determination to perfect his craft, tattooer and painter Henry Lewis lives to work and works to live. His mix-matched taste of art, culture and music, the latter influenced by his late father, jazz musician Juno Lewis, mirrors his experience as a bicultural kid, the fourth of fourteen children growing up in the melting pot of Los Angeles. Born in Pasadena, California in 1977, Henry Lewis moved to San Francisco in 2000 to pursue a career in tattooing, illustration, and painting. He draws on a broad range of influences, which includes fellow tattooers and contemporaries, such as Don Hardy, Mike Davis and Jason Schroeder to the art historical works of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Peter Paul Reubens, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini .

Henry’s creative lust is drawn from his personal experiences as well as those of his peers and strangers alike; he is inspired by themes of strength, passion, love and loss. Lewis’s paintings are breathing collections of life experi-ences, culture clashes and raw emotion elegantly draped in Baroque silk shadows.

Lewis has worked as a tattooer for the past 14 years and is a featured artist at the world-renowned tattoo studio, Skull & Sword. He has exhibited at galleries nationwide and continues to live and work in San Francisco.

Photo of Henry Lewis by Leo Docuyanan

Henry Lewis

The Moon Vow 2013

Oil, Graphite, China Marker & Acrylic on Birch88 x 28”$4,800

Beast Master (Lucien) 2013

Oil, Graphite, China Marker & Acrylic on Birch 88 x 28”$4,800

“Since I could hold a trumpet… I knew that art was gonna be the life and death of me.” – Henry Lewis

Ryan (Wolf Dreams) 2013

Oil, Graphite, China Marker & Enamel on Birch 52 x 28”$3,800

Born into a musical and artistic home, Henry Lewis embraced fine art as a way to deal with the tragedies and triumphs of life. His works are filled with armored subjects wielding ancient weapons; protecting their fragile forms from the outside world and their own inner demons. Though the iconography is ancient, the subjects are modern and the weapons are used not only to protect, but to regain power lost through the travails of life. Through his expressive and evocative brushwork, Henry uses familiar symbols and mythological references to expose his own truths as well as the viewer’s.

As Seen On TV 2013

Oil, Graphite, China Marker & Enamel on Birch 52 x 52”$5,500

Henry Lewis is leaning towards mixing his realism with looser, more street-wise styles. There

are personal raw emotions and warrior-esque expressive gestures, flavored with tribal

Basquiat. In-your-face human-ity strongly erupts from each

piece, portraits full of love, struggle and respect.

-- Eclectix.com

The Reeling 2013Oil, Graphite, China Marker & Enamel on Birch28 x 52”$1,800

Goliath Slays David 2013

Oil, China Marker & Enamel on Masonite 52 x 28”$3,800

Seraphim 2013

Oil, China Marker & Enamel on Masonite 16 x 52”$1,800

©2013 Varnish Fine Art

Directors: Jen Rogers & Kerri Stephens

Layout/Design:Kerri Stephens

Published in the USAVarnish Fine Art

16 Jessie St., #C120San Francisco CA 94105

(415) 433-4400www.varnishfineart.com