Urban Decay 5 Exhibit Announced

PONSHOP is excited to be one of the sponsors in this year's Urban Decay 5 event at The Fridge (516 8th Street SE Washington, DC) Saturday, June 7 from 7-11pm.  Urban Decay 5 is a celebration of lowbrow art and culture featuring work from contemporary graffiti and street artists as well as tattoo and custom vinyl toy artists.  Saturday's opening reception includes live painting demonstrations from five participating artists.  Urban Decay 5 runs through June 29, 2014.

Urban Decay 5 features the work of: Carlos Aguilar, Javier Padilla, Ashley Chiang, Gregg Deal, Jeremy Gann, Aaron Wilder, HKS181, Gabriel Pons, Damon Farkas, Michael Owen, Richard Raboteau, Matt Corrado, James Walker, Asad ULTRA Walker, Jack Labadie, Sylvia Ortiz, Hamilton Glass, Kevin Rodrigue, Jamaal LamaaJ, Drew Storm Graham, Steve Strawn, Superwaxx, DeeTen, Paula Ibey, Wes Roos, Brendan Tierney, James Fuller, Ben Larsen, Conrad Coe, Joseph Regan, and Bengi Baker.

Cherry Blast Event at Blind Whino, Saturday March 29 (7-midnight)

Saturday, March 29 kicks off the sixth annual Cherry Blast: Art + Music Dance Party at BLIND WHINO: SW Arts Club, a dedicated art space in Southwest Washington, DC (734 1st Street, SW) from 7-midnight.  Gabriel Pons and many lowbrow and contemporary artists from around the nation are contributing to this Cherry Blossom themed art show organized by Art Whino.

Blind Whino, formerly a church, is now a contemporary dedicated art space - the perfect setting for this multimedia, multisensory event.  The National Cherry Blossom Festival partners with Art Whino for visual programming throughout the night. Art Whino curates a massive group art show featuring over 300 cherry blossom-inspired pieces, all available for purchase. A special Washington Project for the Arts exhibit showcases work inspired by the Festival. The microWave project curates 3-D art installations artists throughout the space. Performance artists, bands, and DJs keep the party going into the night.

Tickets:

$15 in advance for this 21-and-over event, and $20 at the door.  Tickets on sale HERE

Exhibition Hours:

Sundays 11am-4pm April 6th - April 20th

Click Here for the Cherry Blast Event Page.

2013 G40 Art Summit: September 13-October 6

Friday, September 13th kicks off a month-long series of art events for the 2013 G40 Art Summit in Washington, DC (734 1st St SW 20024).  Gabriel Pons joins hundreds of other lowbrow and contemporary artists from around the nation in this annual event organized by Art Whino.  Art Whino will be teaming up with Suite Nation to present a month-long, multi-experiential Art Summit with musical performances and large scale murals in DC.  This year’s theme is the “Art of Transformation” and the exploration of reclaimed spaces and objects.  The location of this year’s summit is in a nineteenth-century church which has been vacant for twenty years.  The site will be an all encompassing art experience with every inch of the space covered with works of art. For a complete list of events, visit the Art Whino website

Gabe's piece for the show, titled "Una Barca", was constructed from sheets of plywood recovered from their former "stage" at PONSHOP built for the Public/Private group show in 2011.  The original inspiration for the piece came from the biblical story of Moses who, as a baby, was placed in a raft and sent adrift on the Nile to escape the wrath of the Egyptian Pharaoh who ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed.  This narrative sparked an interest in creating a piece that spoke to the present day condition of refugees around the world and the quiet potential of a child.

"Una Barca" , mixed media on wood, 16"x42"

Urban Decay 4: Opening Reception June 8, 2013

Saturday June 8 marked the opening night of “Urban Decay 4” at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia. This is the fourth year of “Urban Decay” and PONSHOP is excited to be one of the sponsors for the opening reception again this year. The exhibition was curated by Urban Art Syndicate and focused mainly on lowbrow and contemporary art and music. The evening kicked off with a panel discussion focused on the influence of Hip-Hop music on visual art. Speakers on the panel included professional Hip-Hop dancer Kenny Wells and artists: Gabriel Pons, Jack Labadie, and HKS181. The reception included live musical performances by Thrive, Kenny Wells, Lightspeed Rescue, and Expansion Radio. Artists HKS181, Kevin Rodrigue, Jeremy Gann, and Inh Nguyen collaborated on murals in the outdoor quad area, with each canvas being raffled off at the end of the evening.

Special thanks to Deb Yarrington of UAS and Amy Lust of the Workhouse Arts Center for their curatorial, promotional, and organizational expertise. Also a big shout out to All City Print and Design as well as the Urban Decay 4 volunteers who kept the evening’s events running smoothly. Urban Decay 4 runs through July 28.