13� vase
13� vase
10� vase
10� vase
10� vase
10� vase
8� porcelain plates
basement gallery install
20” x 16” mixed media on canvas 8” vase
gallery install
8” x 11” mixed media on various found paper
“Lumpy Space Dragon” 42” x 26” x 12” Mixed media Collaboration with Alvaro Luna
work in progress from hanoi
“Pipe Dreams” mural in new york
pipe dreams
Sheryo & the yok
May 16 – June 30, 2013 Artist Reception: Thursday, May 16th, 7-9 PM Krause Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of recent works by Brooklyn-based duo Sheryo and the Yok. While previously seen in group exhibitions, Pipe Dreams marks their first solo show in the United States, which has been precisely that, a pipe dream, since establishing the city as their primary residence last year. Working with installation, graffiti, and illustration techniques, the artists have culled together collaborative pieces that represent their shared life together. From their nomadic adventures the past year to in-jokes with their friends in New York, the Yok and Sheryo seamlessly combine a lifetime’s worth of adventures into every detail of their characters. Visually astonishing, each line builds up the layers of meaning behind each illustration. This most recent body of work is layered with adventures as they departed the United States for countries like Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. By traveling to their native countries as well as a few places in between, Sheryo and the Yok characterize their formative life experiences with the memories that are being made together on these adventures. For example, after returning from warm Mexico to the rain and snow of New York they used their cartoons to reflect on the sunnier days behind them; beer bottles, Spanish, and surf boards began to be a present part of each piece.
For some years now, the droopy eyes and twisted moustaches of Yok’s black-lined characters have been staring aimlessly from Australian alleyways, zines and gallery walls. Yok has exhibited in Tokyo, New York, Berlin, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei. He also edits the independent art periodical King Brown. Sheryo’s art is slightly odd, weird, imperfect and gnarly. She seeks to investigate, analyse and document the human psyche and frustrations towards contemporary lifestyles and its mercurial nature, and the effects it brings to our aspirations, life and desires by offering personal commentaries. Sheryo has exhibited and painted in NY, LA, Atlanta, Singapore, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Seoul, Belgium and Vietnam. Some of her clients include Adidas Originals, Converse, MTV Asia, Intel and Nike.
However, the most striking shift in their practice came about during a visit to Southeast Asia. The artists began experimenting with traditional Vietnamese vases. As with all their art, these pieces can be seen as a collaboration, not only with each other, but with the past. In this respect, Pipe Dreams takes on a double entendre—representing the opium dens seen in the country’s history. Filled with Chinese dragons, pipes, and geishas entwining with New York natives, such as rats and cockroaches, Sheryo and the Yok put their own illustrative styles on imagery that is already a part of our collective conscious.
Krause Gallery 149 Orchard Street, NY 10002
WWW.THEYOK.COM WWW.SHERYOART.COM