Rainforest Cafe

Curated by Higinio Martinez

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 1, 2024, 6 - 9 pm

Showing: June 1st - July 6th, 2024

Guerrero Gallery is proud to present Rainforest Cafe, a group exhibition curated by Higinio Martinez, featuring works by twenty artists hailing from Los Angeles and beyond.

Featured Artists: Frances Stark, Ben Quinn, Karin Gulbran, Mia Scarpa, Melvino Garetti, Javier Ramirez, Sonya Sombreuil, Maija Peeples-Bright, Jason Meadows, Matthew Sweesy, Nina de Creeft Ward, Athena Paola, Julianne Lee, Ava Woo Kaufman, Rossana Romero, Thomas Linder, Jack Alving, Lara Karadogan, Ava McDonough and Oskar Peterson

Installation View | Rainforest Cafe

Frances Stark, Study for "Welcome to the Anthropomoephecene", 2024, Acrylic Ink and Collage on Canvas, Diptych: 12 x 16 in. / each, | $25,000

For many, the words Rainforest Cafe still ring with a warm and hazy nostalgia, recalling bites of chicken fingers and quesadillas punctuated by a recurring simulated thunderstorm and a canopy of recorded bird sounds on loop. Rainforest Cafe still remains as an archetypal example of the immersive themed restaurant–a space that eschewed white linen table cloths and chandeliers, for faux vine-covered ceilings, animatronic animals and a talking tree named Tracy. However there’s no amount of “Python Pasta'' that can assuage the letdown as our jaded selves are forced to reckon with the naive illusion that forms that jungle themed restaurant–a honed tool of hyper-capitalism that uses an elaborate naturalistic set and a veneer of conservationism to hawk mediocre food and overpriced merchandise to tourists. Yet through this whole charade, therein still lies the deeply human impulse to represent the natural world as a means of reflection and connection–an impulse that was shared by the creators of the restaurant chain and similarly runs through the works of all the artists featured within Rainforest Cafe the exhibition.

Ben Quinn, Spirit of a Snail (Nature Painting 001), 2023, Watercolor, Charcoal, PVA, Inkjet Print Fixed to Canvas, 72 x 60 in. | $14,000

Ben Quinn, 2 Bugs, 2022, Watercolor, Charcoal, PVA, Inkjet Print Fixed to Canvas in Artist Frame, 11.5 x 14.5 in. | $1,800

Karin Gulbran, Boar Family in the Rain (with Purple Flowers), 2020, Glazed Ceramic, 22 x 19.625 in. | NFS

Depictions of the natural world date back to the beginning of humankind and artistic expression, and the desire to depict spaces and beings that are outside of our species and realms of knowledge have never waned. Yet as can be expected from such a collection of artists, the varying approaches employed by these artists are wide and far reaching. For many, the animal form in all of its manifestations becomes a site for investigation, play and projection.  Nina de Creeft Ward’s raku-fired ceramic sculptures are saturated with a quiet empathy and gravitas–the artist’s “Bluebuck ‘You Will Always Be With Me’”, features the bust of this now extinct animal, its head turned and eyes closed in a delicate almost slumber-like pose. Maija Peeples-Bright’s ceramics on the other hand, glow with an effervescent energy as googly eyed animals with mouths agape interact with other similarly goofy beings such as in “Bat Snail”. At the far end of this spectrum is Thomas Linder’s “The Colosseum”, in which a gigantic cowhide has become a substrate for a trompe l'oeil pool table that follows the natural contours of this pelt–a surreal juxtaposition that’s both emotionally evocative and deeply confounding.

Mia Scarpa, Kiss From a Rose, 2024, Acrylic on Canvas over Panel, 38 x 26 in. | $5,650

Melvino Garetti, Space Is The Place, A Pleasure Place, 2023, Acrylic on Canvas, Plastic, 10 x 10 in. | $5,000

Melvino Garetti, Curious Spirit, 2012, Low-Fire Ceramic with Glaze, 13 x 19.5 x 5 in. | $10,000

Similarly, another grouping of artists tends towards materiality, form and more abstract means as a way to unpack and explore our natural world. Ben Quinn’s “Spirit of a Snail (Nature Painting 001)” features a verdant and immersive field of greens and browns punctuated by an inkjet print of a snail hovering in the middle of the composition, while Matthew Sweesy builds materially rich and chunky oil paintings on wood that call forth fauna and atmospheric occurrences. Lara Karadogan creates carved clay compositions that are then painted to accentuate and interspersed with arrows and other language that contrasts the organic undulating forms. While Julianne Lee’s “A Cloud Forest at Lava Lake” employs six lava rocks arranged in a grid on a canvas bag in which they were collected, all enveloped and emanating a custom scent created by the artist from essential oils and synthetic aromamolecules–a deceptively simple piece which leads viewers on an open-ended journey via olfactory and sculptural means.

Javier Ramirez, Gravy Lover, 2024, Acrylic, Graphite, Solid Marker on Canvas, 20 x 16 in. | $3,800

Sonya Sombreuil, Esmeralda, 2024, Oil on Canvas, 14 x 10 in. | NFS

Maija Peeples-Bright, Bat Snail, 2009, Glazed Ceramic, 6.5 x 10.25 x 4.5 in. | $5,000

Maija Peeples-Bright, Woofus Vitruvius Waterway, 2007, Glazed Ceramic, 15 x 7.5 x 7.5 in. | $9,000

Jason Meadows, Potted Plants, 2020, Aluminum, paint, 21.75 x 12 x 7 in. | PLACED

Jason Meadows, Venus Flytrap, 2020, Aluminum, paint, 19 x 11 x 7.5 in. | $750

Jason Meadows, Wilbur, 2010, Mixed Media, 17.5 x 32 x 10 in. | NFS

Jason Meadows, Teddy Bear Trap, 2010, Bronze, Steel Chain, 20.5 x 22 x 20 in. | $9,000

Matthew Sweesy, Untitled Poem, 2023, Oil on Wood, 24 x 29 in. | $3,500

Matthew Sweesy, Untitled, 2023, Oil on Wood, 11 x 14 in. | $2,500

Nina de Creeft Ward, Bluebuck "You Will Always Be With Me", 2014, Raku Fired Clay, 23 x 20 x 13 in. | $5,800

Nina de Creeft Ward, Coyote #1, 2022, Raku Fired Clay, 6.5 x 21 x 20 in. | $5,800

Athena Paola, Starburst, 2024, Glazed Stoneware, 15 x 12 x 1.5 in. | $1,700

Julianne Lee, A Cloud Forest at Lava Lake, 2024, Lava Rocks from Pisgah Crater, CA; Custom Scent (Natural Essential Oils and Synthetic Aromamolecules), 18 x 11 x 5.5 in. | $2,800

Ava Woo Kaufman, Untitled (Angel Food Memory, White and Yellow, Needle Threader), 2024, Bunka Thread, Linen, Silk Thread, Polyester Thread, Pumice, Binder’s Board, Found Object, 5 x 20 in. | $3,800

Ava Woo Kaufman, Untitled (Angel Food Memory, Plaid, Scissor Sharpener), 2024, Bunka Thread, Wool, Cotton, Pumice, Binder’s Board, Found Object, 3 x 20 in. | $3,800

Ava Woo Kaufman, Untitled (Angel Food Memory, Black, Glass Cutter), 2024, Bunka Thread, Linen, Silk Thread, Pumice, Binder’s Board, Found Object, 5 x 20 in. | $3,800

Rossana Romero, Chimbita (Cargando Mi Historia Entre Tus Manos), 2024, Latex on Paper Mâché, 16 x 11 x 12 in. | $3,500

Thomas Linder, The Colosseum, 2021, Oil on Cowhide, 84 x 100 in. | $18,000

Jack Alving, Skull Crawler #1, 2023, Clay, 4.25 x 5.5 x 4 in. | PLACED

Jack Alving, Skull Crawler #2, 2023, Clay, 7 x 4.5 x 3 in. | PLACED

Jack Alving, Skull Crawler #3, 2023, Clay, 6 x 4 x 2.5 in. | PLACED

Lara Karadogan, Birds on a Leaf, 2023, Oil on Clay on Wood, 10.5 x 13 in. | PLACED

Lara Karadogan, Accuracy, 2023, Oil on Clay Tiles, 30 x 25 in. | $1,200

Ava McDonough, My Love, The Absurd, 2024, Gouache on Cotton Rag Paper, Porcelain with Ilmenite, Polyester Thread, 11.5 x 14 in. | PLACED

Ava McDonough, Swallowtail, 2024, Oil on Panel, 8 x 10 in. | PLACED

Ava McDonough, Take Me Back to the Park, 2024, Oil on Panel, 18 x 14 in. | $3,200

Oskar Peterson, Devil Jumps Over a Fish, 2023, Oil Pastel on Artist's Frame, 24.125 x 24.25 in. | PLACED

Sonya Sombreuil, Full Moon Pando, 2024, Oil on Canvas, 20 x 20 in, $3000