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.