I’m honored and pleased to be participating in this year’s “Crime on Canvas” show. This show is held in conjunction with the Life is Beautiful Festival in Las Vegas, NV. The line up of artists is stellar, and I am truly honored. I created a life size mixed media assemblage, called “Little Big Horn.”. \This piece will be on display for the first time ever and available through MModern Gallery. The show will be held at the former WESTERN HOTEL 899 Fremont Street. Las Vegas, NV 89101. For further info and inquiries contact the Shag Store in West Hollywood. 323.424.3005 Or Jay Nailor  via email mmodern@gmail.com See details and press info below.

“Little Big Horn” was created specifically for the Crime on Canvas event. for inquiries please contact Jay Nailor at mmodern@gmail.com

Life is Beautiful/Crime on Canvas Press Release

For 2016, Life is Beautiful is adding something amazing to the ART portion of the festival this year and you’re one of the first to hear about it!

Life is Beautiful is proud to present “Crime on Canvas”, a group art exhibition featuring an all-star cast of fine artists from the Pop-Surrealism/Lowbrow art genre. This art movement has taken the contemporary art world by storm over the past decade or so and continues to gain momentum with its amazing visual imagery, craftsmanship, humor and plethora of non-traditional fine artists.  Experience a vast array of provocative artworks that covers a wide variety of influences that are sure to delight and stimulate your senses.

This exhibition, being curated by the husband and wife team of Jay Nailor and MiShell Modern (from M Modern Gallery and CUR8L8) hosts over 80 of these top artists and includes original paintings, rare prints, sculptures and other creative mediums. As a huge bonus, the majority of these fine artists will be attending the festival to meet and greet you in person (they might even be sober enough to explain their works to you).

Please read on to further immerse yourself in what you can expect to see, broken down into subject categories within the genre, and keep in mind that many of the artists cross over into more than one of the categories described below:

Expertly Illustrated:

These are top illustrators and animators (you’ll probably recognize their works from ads, posters, album covers, Disneyland as well as magazine and book illustrations) featuring Camille Rose Garcia, Shag (aka Josh Agle), Mab Graves, Brandi Milne, Jasmine Becket-Griffith, Kukula, Nouar, Tim Biskup, Glenn Barr, Eric Joyner, Bob Dob, Amanda Visell, Keith Weesner, Joe Vaux, Gretchen Lewis, Bwana Spoons, Selena Wong, Adam Labuen and Isabel Samaras.

The Dark Side of Beautiful:

Features haunting artworks from some of the masters in the dark arts, visual effects and tattoo world supplied by Travis Louie, Ray Caesar, David Stoupakis, Naoto Hattori, Chet Zar, Lori Nelson, Redd Walitzki, Nicomi Nix Turner, Erica Flannes, Heidi Taillefer, Matt Dangler, Damien Echols, Lorri Davis and Menton3.

Sculptural Tendencies:

We’re guessing you’ve never seen sculptures quite like this and challenge you to take a look for yourself with amazingly crafted works by Scott Hove, Colin Christian, Laurie Hassold, Jessica Joslin, Mike Leavitt, Chantal Menard, Jaclyn Presant, Michelle Valigura, Bosko Hrnjak and Adam Wallacavage.

Painters of Seemingly Wild Women:

Provocative scenes are expertly painted and themed around the fairer sex and not always suitable for children. You’ll want to peruse these gorgeous works that portray both the immense strength and subtle vulnerability of beautiful (in their own way) women. All cleverly painted by artists John Brophy, Brian M Viveros, Dan Quintana, Jennybird Alcantara, Jasmine Worth, Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman, Christine Wu, Troy Brooks, Annie Owens, Jeremiah Ketner, Zoey Stevens and then add in portraiture pleasures from Mike Stilkey and Andrew Hem.

Animalistic Instincts:

These aren’t your parent’s typical animal scenes and portraits!  Get ready to feast your eyes on these amazing depictions of animals in settings you’ve never dreamed of (or you’d maybe be in this exhibition).  These exquisite works have to be viewed up close and personal since it’s difficult to describe their sheer creative elegance.  We want you to hunt down these ferocious pieces of art by Josh Keyes, Martin Wittfooth, Camilla D’Errico, Scott Musgrove, Luke Chueh, Brad Woodfin, Joe Ledbetter and Anthony Ausgang. Their precision, composition and subject matter will amaze you.

The Quadruple G’s (Graffiti Gone Gallery Guys):

You’ve probably seen their billboards, painted walls, wheat pastes, stickers and tags (maybe even at Life is Beautiful): However, did you know that the artists listed here all made the transition to showcasing their works in prestigious fine art galleries and museums the world over?  Here’s your chance to see incredible fine art pieces from Andrew Schoultz, Shepard Fairey, Greg (Craola) Simkins, Ron English, Jeff Gillette, Buff Monster, Dave Kinsey, Trav, ThankYouX, Alex (easeone) Pesante and the Panik Collective. And yes, most of them still do Graffiti when free time allows.

Hometown Heroes:

We’re betting you thought we’d forgotten some of your homegrown favorites! Some may have left your town due to increased demand for their artworks, but they represent Vegas worldwide with aplomb! So come out and support these art luminaries that do Vegas proud and view art creations by Amy Sol, Casey Weldon, Gillean Clark, Juan Muniz, Giovanni Morales and Jerry Misko.

The Music Connection:

Hey, we recognize that music and art go hand in hand; so we thought we’d throw in some super talented fine artists with some major ties to the music scene.  To have some fun with this category, we suggest placing these artist names in the search engine of your choosing and better get to know Brandon Boyd, Chris Mars, Frances Bean Cobain, Lindsey Way, Amanda Erlinger, Ryan Alosio and Jessicka Addams (Jessicka is also our co-curator/partner in crime).

What about the Kids?:

Art should surround us all, regardless of age, so we decided that we’d do a mini gallery solo exhibition (within “Crime on Canvas”) of 9 year old Elisabeth Anisimow’s paintings that should inspire the inner child in all of us (and especially your own children if attending).  Elisabeth is featured in the Nickelodeon series “All in With Cam Newton” as an aspiring talent who’s looking to, one day, make her living as a fine artist (we think she’s easily on her way). Artist Josh Agle (aka Shag) is her art mentor for this segment and the episode was filmed at the Shag store in West Hollywood, California.

Pop Up, Pop What?:

Look for side-by-side pop-up galleries to provide a glimpse into what the Shag stores (West Hollywood & Palm Springs, CA) offer from fine artist Josh Agle (aka Shag) and that M Modern Gallery exhibits from other fine artists!

Come see us. Please, please, please!:

We’re all extremely excited for you to visit us during our Western Hotel takeover with “Crime on Canvas” and guaranty not to disappoint.  So, drop by to say hello and you might even walk away with an amazing piece of fine art to add to your collection or to start one with.  All these incredible pieces will be available for sale, so you may want to make “Crime on Canvas” your first stop at the festival or risk missing out.