We Have Rooms but No Borders at stARTup
When Abraham Mascorro Morales arrived from Mexico City to exhibit at stARTup LA18 with works from his Zopilote Inc./ Heliografica Nacional print and photography collective, he couldn't have know he'd share a mutual passion and strike up a friendship with San Francisco based printmaker Eric Rewitzer who was exhibiting with Three Fish Studios, a husband and wife art duo with a magical shop on the ocean side of the City.
The two shared such passion for each others' work they created their own art exchange and visited each others' studios to share cultural experiences and make art.
Left: Abraham Masorro Morales Right: Eric Rewitzer Photo by Michael "Spike" Kraus
Artists have always crossed borders and boundaries to share in the experience of Art. At stARTup we open our doors for artists from all over the world to show their work, make new connections and expand their collector base. We also actively seek international collaborations like our exclusive online partnership with England-based, Artfinder, and invitation to Amanda Færk with Danish gallery, V1, to join our stARTup LA19 Selection Committee.
Here are just a few of the artists we've been honored to exhibit at stARTup. Like the female artists we spotlighted in 'The Future is Female' Art Conversation at stARTup LA, the courage and open hearts these artists bring to our fair, our community and the art world at large is inspiring. We welcome exhibitors from across the globe and wouldn't have it any other way.
stARTup LA 2018 + stARTup SF 2018 exhibitor Hsi-Chi Wu
Hsi-Chi Wu is stARTup's first artist from Taiwan. Bathing in Puli’s forests, taking in nature’s creation, Hsi-chi Wu throws himself into natural environments far away from the city. He lets his body and mind return to their original quiet state, using this as his energy, to begin a painting journey.
With his works, Hsi-Chi asks us to reflect on our humanity. His multi-angle views allow viewers to re-examine their own behavior and the external environment, searching for nature’s fondest moments in the era of technological explosion. He uses nature throughout his artwork, evoking the innocence of childhood memories, with figures that seem youthful, yet, can one’s soul stay naïve and free in the face of the current state of the world? The silence of a painting opens up more possibilities of speech. Hsi-chi Wu sincerely and delicately tells of the islands, forests, and mountains, reminding people that we are slowly losing this beautiful earth.
stARTup SF 2016 exhibitor Elizabeth Briel
For stARTup SF16, Elizabeth Briel traveled from her home in Beijing, China to transform her Hotel Del Sol suite into an immersive Cyanotype painting with her work lining the floors, walls, and ceiling. The series, China Obscura, acts as a metaphor for the screens culture creates – decorative and at times structural barriers that let selective information into and out of a protected space.
Her paintings are views of rooms in China where pivotal people stayed, slept, and worked to change the country's future. China Obscura explores the contrast between outsiders' perceptions of 'the foreign' or 'exotic' versus insiders' familiarity, rather than legacies of the personalities involved.
On choosing stARTup Art Fair to showcase her work, she explains "... This venue is an ideal location for me to explore the confrontations of art with space and perception, in 360 degrees. I invite viewers to view into and out of Mao's office windows from his villa Meiling (Wuhan), a retreat he nicknamed Home of the White Clouds and Yellow Cranes."
Although Elizabeth was born in Vallejo, California, she moved away when she was very young and has lived abroad, mostly China, Hong Kong, and Italy for many years. Her first time exhibiting locally was with stARTup.
stARTup SF 2016 exhibitor Adjani Okpu-Egbe
Originally from Cameroon, Adjani Okpu-Egbe eventually landed in England. His captivating Afro-Expressionist works offer insight into his unusual life and practice. These intensely personal, autobiographical paintings display an undeniable rawness of subject, emotion and media. Often painting on found materials such as reclaimed doors, Adjani's boundless imagination and experimental curiosity allow him to take these salvaged materials to heart and use them as convincing metaphors.
On his work: "I believe that my heritage and spiritualism allowed me to pursue my freedom to become an artist, to look to the future and to see the bigger picture. I share a resilience which is found in Black People everywhere, which stems from the slave trade, colonial rule, apartheid and the difficult events which culminated in the civil rights movement."
stARTup LA 2018 exhibitor Abraham Mascorro Morales
Printmaker Abraham Mascorro Morales considers himself a "huge fan of the image. My interests and issues have to do with popular culture, with icons, I have always had the idea that my work itself is full of symbols. My images are fragments of a great narrative that invites to be explored. I look for heroes and icons, cult objects from popular culture. I do not speak in postmodern, I do not quote Deleuze. I do not read Marx, I give birth to my life, my tastes and obsessions. From there I build bridges that connect with the memories of others, that detonate experiences."
He continues: "I have fun producing images. I'm obsessed with pairs of complementary colors (notably blue and orange.) I see my work as a continuous process for the conformation of a space of representation of the symbolic, same that in a certain moment can be inserted in the collective imaginary of my time."
Sign up for the newsletter and follow us on Instagram for more behind-the-scenes moments and details about our fairs, artists, and special exhibitions.
Feature by Content Curator Mica England and Business Development Director Shannon Kaye