Print Release - Femke Hiemstra

Femke Hiemstra
"La Mort En Cadence"
gclee print, edition of 20
signed and numbered
11" x 11"
$225.

We are please to release a print by Femke Hiemstra "La Mort En Cadence", based on her original work of the same name that will be featured in Roq La Rue's "Death and the Maiden" show opening Friday June 8th. This print will be available to walk in's only the night of the opening, we will then offer remaining prints online the next day!

Up Next ~ "Death and the Maiden" Group Show

We are really looking forward to the " Death and The Maiden " group show we have opening on June 8th. Based on the medieval theme (and repeated often throughout art history most notably the Romantic period) of a maiden waltzing with a skeleton in a Danse Macabre, the visual is a metaphor for the fact "no one gets out alive", and remembering it can make life a little sweeter. We asked a group of artists to submit their take and we are excited to show you the results! But until then, here is a sneak peek at the painting study for Esao Andrews piece...

Special Group Show in LA!

You are all invited to "Kingdom Animalia" a group show I'm co-curating with artist Joey Remmers in LA on June 29th. This show is special to me because all profits (after the artist gets paid of course!) goes to support Big Life Foundation, an anti-poaching organization that is near and dear to my heart and doing really outstanding an effective work. Press release after the image. Clap your peepers on that artist roster. James Jean will be doing a limited edition print available at the opening party (and it will be a PARTY- thank you Landrover!) as well!
-Kirsten



Land Rover Anaheim Hills
Presents
Kingdom Animalia
Group Art Exhibition to benefit Big Life Foundation
Curated by Joey Remmers and Kirsten Anderson
Friday, June 29th 7pm – 10pm

Animals play many roles in our world; Muses, symbols, companions, talking creatures and moral teachers. From the lowly jackal to the regal lion, from literature to art to social culture and how we interpret animal behavior in human terms and draw moral conclusions. Kingdom Animalia aims to explore how artists use and view animals to inspire, think and create.

The show will be exhibited at Land Rover Jaguar of Anaheim Hills in CA with an exclusive and festive opening reception taking place on June 29th, 2012. ALL proceeds from the show will be donated to the Big Life Foundation as well as a portion of the proceeds of any Land Rover vehicles sold from the Anaheim Hills location the evening of the event. All curation, installation, and sponsorship is happily donated, because really...who wants to live in a world without majestic creatures such as elephants, rhinos, and all of the other creatures that our part of our global heritage?

Show line-up includes recognized artists from around the world including;
Amy Crehore, Amy Sol, Ana Bagayan, Brad Woodfin, Brian Viveros, Camille Rose Garcia, Christian Van Minnen, Chrystal Chan, Craig LaRotonda, Dan May, Dan Quintana, Dave Cooper, Heidi Tailleferr, Henry Lewis, Glenn Barr, Greg Simkins, James Jean, Jessica Joslin, Joe Ledbetter, Joey Remmers, Kim Thompson, KMNDZ, Kris Kuksi, Krista Huot, Lindsey Carr, Lola, Madeline von Foerster, Marco Mazzoni, Mark Dean Veca, Mark Garro, Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, Martin Wittfooth, Melissa Forman, Mia Araujo, Michael Page, Nathan Ota, Nathan Spoor, Naoto Hattori, Nick Baxter, Nick Brandt, Nicola Verlato, Paolo Guido, Sam Wolfe Connelly, Seamus Conley, Scott Musgrove, Shag, Shaunna Peterson, Suzanne Falk, Ti Kunkit, Tom Bagshaw, Travis Louie, Ver Mar and Yumiko Kayakawa.

Femke Hiemstra Interview

Here is a nice article with Femke Hiemstra at Last Junkies On Earth...

"Besides the use of characters and other popular visual language modernity or actuality is not really part of my work; the themes are more of a timeless kind. Battles and conflict, lost loves, taboos and cults, death and so on. I tend to lean more to the darker side of things, I've noticed over time. "

Up Next! ~ Derek Nobbs

Get ready for a dose of dark and dusty Americana with our first solo show by NW artist Derek Nobbs, opening Friday May 11th with a festive party from 6-9pm.

Roq la Rue is pleased to present a solo show by Northwest artist Derek Nobbs, inspired by all things dark and dusty. Derek is a true Northwest Calaverist with a quickly growing fan base, for his use of skeleton iconography as subjects in his vintage vignettes. These skeleton characters pose amongst the romantically macabre maritime backdrops or dark, western tinged Americana settings he uses for his lyrical paintings. Each of his theatrical pieces, done in watercolor and gouache are showcased on specially "aged" papers using  Derek's "secret recipe" (which may or may contain coal dust, ambergris, tabacco found in a civil war soldier's jacket pocket, wolves blood, and the last dregs of whiskey found in the his great grandfather's old derelict cellar.)
Similar to Mexico's Posada in the use of skulls and skeletons as characters, Nobbs work is less political and more environmentally themed, but also containing a playful whimsy in contrast to his grim subject matter.