"Different Rules"
a solo show by Serge Gay. Jr
January 7 - 28, 2017
a solo show by Serge Gay. Jr
January 7 - 28, 2017
SPOKE SF is pleased to present Different Rules, a solo exhibition by San Francisco-based painter Serge Gay Jr. For his third solo show at SPOKE SF, he has created a suite of fifteen new paintings celebrating and exploring differences among us while providing a lens to view current events and issues.
Working with acrylic on canvas, Serge Gay Jr. creates densely populated and immensely detailed scenes, blending larger societal and political issues with personal narratives and experiences. The artist sites spreading awareness of issues and current events as a primary theme of Different Rules, touching on police brutality, women’s rights, climate change, gentrification, queer identity and the changing political landscape of the Bay Area. With a sense of high tension and a cacophonous bombardment of information, the viewer is emerged in the artists most charged and energetic work to date.
Riotously colored palettes depicting modern scenes and issues amalgamate with nostalgic, sepia-toned vignettes. The interplay between 1950’s and 1960’s aesthetics alongside modern subjects such as people of color, minorities, queers and the “othered” contrasts the political themes of his work. Potently tied with his personal narrative as a queer person of color, the artist ties the current social climate with those of the past while calling on the progression yet to be made. A particularly powerful piece in the exhibition, Less Than Human depicts a young black boy on a tricycle being chased by ghostly police dogs and bullets. As said by the artist “we still have a long way to go when dealing with racism and we, the black community, are still second-class citizens to the far right wing in this country.”
