August Exhibitions Announced at AR4T Gallery

News release from AR4T Gallery:

AR4T Gallery is pleased to present a duo show featuring new works by Brennan Coyle and the Electric Coffin team.

This exhibition, which runs from August 2 through August 25, stems from work born out of the garage: suggesting how powerful physical and mechanical limitations are tools in the hands of creative rebels, exploring the tossing out of preconceptions, embracing thought among a culture of steel and gasoline, in extolling of the brotherhood of craft.    
 
Based in Seattle, Brennan Coyle's intricately hand-carved and hand-painted skateboard decks communicate both grit and grace. Also from Seattle, the "Built From Death" duo, Patrick "Duffy" De Armas and Justin Kane Elder of Electric Coffin Supply Co. use salvaged, sustainable materials to build out their industrialized yet highly artistic concepts. 
 
Works include paintings, restructured skate decks, and a mixed media 15 foot installation using reclaimed, recycled, repurposed wood/media.

From the artists:   
 
The garage has been the starting point of numerous outcasts, serving as a catalyst for their invention. It began in an era inspired by rock 'n roll, fast cars and tattoos.  It was an age when humanity's shell cracked open and seeped out a culture so pure that it altered everything in its path. Rebellious artistry was forged within those four walls. They housed a breed of creatives that customized and fabricated everything by hand. These individuals forged the ideals adopted by the blossoming skate and surf cultures. Strip down each of these cultures and their fundamentals are identical. Each one is innovative, rebellious, and hard working. Both strive to search for the limits, ignore the risks, and ask questions later. We are part of this brotherhood...
 
Today the beautiful imperfections of hand made objects are over looked and cast aside. People instead expect computer aided perfection. "Built to last" had meaning once, now it's just a catchy slogan. This is wrong and that is why we have chosen to celebrate and embrace our heritage. We aim to pay homage to the working class creatives that paved the way, and also push those very ideals in unforeseen ways. This show is a tribute to the cultures forged with steel and filled with gasoline. It highlights every drop of paint and each line of ink. It is meant to showcase a collection of art in its natural environment, the place in which it was both conceived and slaved over.  We are a brotherhood of creative rebels.  
 
About Brennan Coyle:  
 
Brennan, who lives and works in Seattle, began working with AR4T Gallery in November 2010 and has contributed his intricately carved and painted skate decks to multiple group shows. His labor intensive process, from detailed line drawing to perilously precise cuts in the decks, with multiple layers of paint and finishing, create an end result of fine art works that are often sold even before doors open to the public.  With an upbringing in Alaska, a partiality for skateboarding and education at the Art Institute of Seattle, Brennan translates woodworking and painting skateboard decks into meaningful, detailed scenes of nature, trees, animals and cityscapes. His work is a nod to skateboard artists who came before him with the skill set of a master painter.

About Electric Coffin Supply Co.:  
 
Electric Coffin is an art based creative firm known well for reusing salvaged material and ideas to create handmade and one of a kind items, as well as their annual "Boxes of Death" art tours. Everything they create is handmade and one of a kind. They thrive on finding and exploring new ways to repurpose yesterday's news. Their approach is to find dynamic creative solutions that not only exceed clients' expectations, but also leave a lasting impression on the community. Each new project unfolds with its' own unique set of circumstances. Giving each piece its own distinct voice within the environment it exists.

A reception for the artists will take place Thursday, August 2 from 6-9 p.m. during Art Walk, with live music from Old Scratch.

For more information, go to www.ar4t.com.