Hope Calling

Esao Andrews grew up in Mesa, Arizona and moved to NYC in 1996 to pursue a life of art making. He attended The School of Visual Arts and now lives and works from his home in Brooklyn with his semi-faithful companion, Soybean. Los Angeles based gallery Thinkspace has teamed up with Above Second Gallery in Hong Kong to present ‘LAX / HKG’. This special group exhibition has been curated by Thinkspace to help introduce our roster to Hong Kong. Featuring two new works each from the likes of Amy Sol, Audrey Kawasaki, Brian M. Viveros, Dabs Myla, Esao Andrews, Joao Ruas, Linnea Strid and Yosuke Ueno. The exhibition will run from November 16th until January 12th, 2013 with an opening scheduled for Friday, November 16th (6-10PM). Thinkspace is honored to be able to showcase the artists we work to support in the bustling city-state of Hong Kong, the epicenter of the Orient’s burgeoning art market. With this special exhibit we aim to shed light on the burgeoning New Contemporary Art Movement that was birthed in Los Angeles and continues to spread out the world over, gaining momentum and winning over new devotees at an astounding rate. With roots firmly planted in illustration, pop culture imagery, comics, street art and graffiti, put quite simply the New Contemporary Art Movement is art for the people. This exciting and challenging movement is showcased in ‘LAX / HKG’ via the works of 8 artists from around the Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varnish may be added to increase the glossiness of the dried film. Oil paints have been used in Europe since the 12th century for simple decoration, but were not widely adopted as an artistic medium until the early 15th century. Common modern applications of oil paint are in finishing and protection of wood in buildings and exposed metal structures such as ships and bridges. Its hard-wearing properties and luminous colors make it desirable for both interior and exterior use on wood and metal. Due to its slow-drying properties, it has recently been used in paint-on-glass animation. Thickness of coat has considerable bearing on time required for drying: thin coats of oil paint dry relatively quickly. Inclined on a sleepy street in Sai Ying Pun is Above Second, an artist-run gallery that doubles as a studio for co-founder Jasper Wong. With the help of fellow artists from across the globe, Wong brings a taste of lowbrow, comic, pop, street and skate culture to Hong Kong. Unpredictable and experimental, the new space opened just last February is a hub for young creatives and artist-types. Openings are a relaxed affair with hipsters spilling out of the gallery onto the pavement with beer, cigarettes or sake in hand. Recently, Above Second began hosting regular indie movie nights called BYOP (Bring Your Own Pillow).