On the heels of his ribbon-cutting for an Emily the Strange store in Athens Greece, Emily creator Rob Reger returns full-force to the fine art forum with Change of Strange at Varnish Fine Art with an opening reception February 20, 7-10pm.

Rob Reger: Change of Strange
February 17 – March 28, 2009
Opening Reception Friday February 20, 7-10pm
Varnish Fine Art
77 Natoma Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

Change of Strange emerges from Emily the Strange creator Rob Reger

San Francisco, CA, December 17, 2008. On the heels of his ribbon-cutting for an Emily the Strange store in Athens Greece, Emily creator Rob Reger returns full-force to the fine art forum with Change of Strange at Varnish Fine Art with an opening reception February 20, 7-10pm.  “The adventure in the exploration and ‘what will happen next’ excites me in the process of ‘making’ art,” says Reger.  This process lead inevitably to a solo show of intricately woven, colorful forms of paint on dynamically conceived canvases, leaping beyond the world of Emily.

In the Change of Strange series of paintings, Rob Reger tips his hat to such influences as Escher’s play with interlocking characters, Rube Goldberg’s connections between items and the emerging story, Dali’s surreal forms, and artwork from the psychedelic ‘60’s.  Reger paints with a touch of Maurice Sendak, creating new beasts and monsters with a whimsical tap-on-the-shoulder of the frightening.  “This show is very much about character development, formal design (playful elegance), creatures that hide and appear only after staring at it for hours, and suggesting just enough to have the viewer start to see connections and creatures I didn’t literally see myself.”-Rob Reger    These emerging characters contained within the paintings overlap, share body parts, and suggest bigger and smaller characters.  The artist plays with the use of space and the interplay of positive and negative, mathematics, and tricks to the eye, adding the element of viewer interaction.  There is no such thing as upside-down in Change of Strange.  Incorporating a patent-pending device designed for this show, the artwork is viewable 2-ways without removal from the wall, and new characters emerge, continuing the narrative and fantasy.  

Created by Rob Reger over 15 years ago, Emily the Strange has become an international icon for individualism, female empowerment, and do-it-yourself style.  She’s a witty, no-nonsense 13 year-old girl, inspiring people to follow their own path and become their own hero.  You can find Emily in items just about everywhere in 26 countries, including Chronicle books, a series of Dark Horse comics, a limited edition of Jones Soda, an Epiphone guitar, a line of Manic Panic hair products, an upcoming Harper Collins novel, and an upcoming Emily the Strange film from the producer of the Hell Boy series, 30 Days of Night, and The Mask.

*High-resolution images available upon request
Gallery Directors Jennifer Rogers and Kerri Stephens opened Varnish Fine Art on April 19, 2003.  Beginning with the remains of a brewery built just after the 1906 earthquake, Rogers and Stephens designed and rebuilt the space, including a main gallery, mezzanine gallery and wine bar, combining gallery with community.

VARNISH Fine Art
Press Contact:
Jennifer Rogers
Varnish Fine Art
415-222-6131
q@varnishfineart.com

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