Cliff Hengst and Scott Hewicker // Golden Prisn

Cliff Hengst Scott Hewicker Golden Prisn

Cliff Hengst & Scott Hewicker // Golden Prisn November 4 - December 17, 2016 Gallery 16 is pleased to present Golden Prisn, a two-person exhibition from longtime partners Cliff Hengst and Scott Hewicker. This will be the San Francisco-based artists’ fourth and third showing with the gallery, respectively. In addition to Hengst’s found cardboard paintings and text pieces and Hewicker’s brightly saturated abstract paintings and prints, the artists will expand their work into sculptural installation, ceramics, and a wall mural. In doing so, the artists seek to activate the gallery space into a charged and inviting color environment, beckoning a creative community to celebrate resilience despite constant waves of change endured by the artists of San Francisco.

Hengst and Hewickers’ vibrant works bring tangible perspective to their three decades as residents of San Francisco’s Mission District. For Golden Prisn, the artist’s marry the word “prism” with the concept of the “Golden Jail.”

Describing a situation as paradoxically valuable and trapping, the “Golden Jail” limits the inhabitant, making any alternative to the current situation comparatively worse. The introduction of the prism into the exhibition’s title promotes an uplifting opportunity to re-interpret the often-told tale of San Francisco’s gentrification and technification. White light contains the full spectrum of colors, though only visible through a prism. Hengst and Hewicker are that lens, making the unseen narrative of artists amid unceasing change colorfully visible.

In the sense that color does not belong to anyone, Hengst and Hewicker draw inspiration from the sad and weirdly ostentatious nature of the everyday world around them. Largely made from humble materials, their work emphasizes a human touch. It revels in the beauty of the handmade and empathizes a solidarity with the downtrodden and discarded.

Hewicker adds, “In some ways we are stuck in an uncertain and unstable place, but it creates this urgent dynamic that propels us to make work while we still can.”

On Thursday, November 17th, Scott Hewicker invites local luminaries in the art and poetry scenes, including Kevin Killian, Linda Geary, and Laurie Reid, for An Evening With The Color Organist — poetry readings and performance inspired by color, accompanied by a trio of electric organists led by Hewicker. Saturday, December 10th from 8pm, Cliff Hengst performs as Bobby Coupon in Lounge Lessons: A Musical Journey of Life Reflections and Motivation through Song — a lounge act meets motivational seminar of Hengst’s own creation, which debuted earlier this year in two consecutive sold-out shows at Machine Project in Los Angeles.

gallery 16 / 501 Third st / san francisco, ca / 415 626 7495 / gallery16.com

Cliff Hengst, Remorse, The Fatal Egg That Pleasure Laid, acrylic on wall, 2016

Cliff Hengst, Set-Up, 2014, watercolor and ink on paper, 7 x 10 inches, SOLD

Cliff Hengst, The Hurting, 2015, watercolor and ink on paper, 8 x 10 inches, inv#627

Cliff Hengst, Nostalgia For Sex, 2015, watercolor and ink on paper, 7 x 10 inches, inv#628

Cliff Hengst, Kevin’s Aura, 2016, newspaper photo and watercolor on paper, 11.25 x 8 inches, inv#631

Cliff Hengst, The Violets, 2016, embroidery floss on linen, 30 x 30 inches SOLD

Cliff Hengst, 17th Street, 2016, embroidery floss on linen, 18 x 12 inches SOLD

Cliff Hengst, My New Reality, 2016, Flashe and acrylic on canvas, 66 x 44 inches, inv#634

Cliff Hengst, Untitled (Grupo), 2016, acrylic on found sign, 28 x 22, inv#635

Cliff Hengst, Subgroups, 2016, acrylic on paper and poster board, 90 x 77, inv#701

Cliff Hengst, The Cave Of Altamira, 2016, acrylic on panel, 24 x 19 inches, inv#656

Cliff Hengst, The Cave Of Altamira, 2016, acrylic on panel, 24 x 19 inches, inv#656

Cliff Hengst, I Am Something That You’ll Never Comprehend, 2016, acrylic on panel, 24 x 19 inch, inv#643

Cliff Hengst, Rich Is Better, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 22 inches, inv#655

Cliff Hengst, Fat And Fucked Up, 2016, acrylic on panel, 8 x 22 inches, inv#638

Cliff Hengst, Fourteen Days Is Not Enough, 2016, acrylic on canvas board, 10 x 8 inches, inv#649

Cliff Hengst, Untitled, 2016, ink on watercolor paper 11.5 x 8.25 inches, inv#630

Cliff Hengst, Clarion, 2016, color pencil on found cardboard, 10 x 11.5 inches, inv#658

Cliff Hengst, Jarrold, 2016, color pencil on found cardboard, 48 x 7 inches, inv#657

Cliff Hengst, Hoff, 2016, color pencil on found cardboard, 10 x 5 inches, inv#652

Cliff Hengst, Treat, 2016, color pencil on found cardboard, 6.75 x 3.25 inches, inv#653

Cliff Hengst, It’s A Long Way Down, 2016, acrylic on panel, 17 x 12 inches, inv#641

Cliff Hengst, I Didn’t Even See It Coming, 2016, Flashe and acrylic on panel, 19 x 14 inches, inv#637

above: Scott Hewicker, Terrarium, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 55 inches, inv#631 left: Scott Hewicker, Golden Hour, 2016, vinyl window installation, dimensions variable, inv#646

Scott Hewicker, Forming, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 55 inches, inv#634

Scott Hewicker, Against The Grain, 2016, spray paint and acrylic on canvas, 28 x 22 inches, inv#630

Scott Hewicker, Morning Is A Lifetime Away, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16 inches, inv#641

Scott Hewicker, Throw Back The Little Ones, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 28 x 22 inches, inv#640

Scott Hewicker, Tortoise Perfume, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 35 x 31 inches, inv#629

Scott Hewicker, Careening, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 55 inches, inv#633

Scott Hewicker, Your Gold Teeth, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18 inches, inv#639

Scott Hewicker, Annunciation (The Waiting Is The Hardest Part), 2016, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 30 inches, inv#632

Scott Hewicker, The Night Has Opened My Eyes I, 2016, 40.5 x 30.5 inches, pigment on HahnemĂźhle Museum Etching, edition of 5, signed and numbered, inv#644

Scott Hewicker, The Night Has Opened My Eyes II, 2016, 40.5 x 30.5 inches, pigment on HahnemĂźhle Museum Etching, edition of 5, signed and numbered, inv#643

above and right: Scott Hewicker, This Night Has Opened My Eyes III - X, 2016, block monoprints on paper, each 14 x 11 inches, inv#645

Scott Hewicker, Doorway In The Dark, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18 inches, inv#638

Scott Hewicker, Becoming / Belonging, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18 inches, inv#637

Scott Hewicker, Turning, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16 inches, inv#636

Scott Hewicker, Prism, 2016, watercolor on paper mounted to panel, 9 x 11.5 inches, inv#642

Cliff Hengst and Scott Hewicker’s artwork is available through Gallery 16 Gallery 16 is located at 501 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 Inquiries may contact Griff Williams at 415-626-7495 All images ©Cliff Hengst ©Scott Hewicker gallery16.com

Gallery 16 was founded by artist Griff Williams in 1994. Since then, Gallery 16 and its fine art imprint Gallery 16 Editions has produced exhibitions with over 250 artists and published over 800 prints, artist books, and multiples with artists including Michelle Grabner, Ari Marcopoulos, Jim Goldberg, Colter Jacobsen, Bill Berkson, Harrell Fletcher, Lynn Hershman, Amy Franceschini, William Kentridge, Tucker Nichols, Libby Black, Deborah Oropallo, Jim Isermann, Graham Gillmore, Mark Grotjahn, Rebeca Bollinger, Rex Ray, and Margaret Kilgallen.