Sam Spano - Dinner for Two

Opening Reception: Saturday, January 20th, 6-9 pm

Exhibition Dates: January 20th - February 17th, 2018

Much of Oakland-based painter Sam Spano’s recent work has centered around a subject with a long history winding throughout the works of a lineage of Bay Area painters including Maija Peeples-Bright–that of the dog. And while their works both depict dogs in a variety of ways, Spano’s paintings don’t share the same frenetic energy and exuberance portrayed within Peeples-Bright’s works, instead tending towards a darker more psychological space where dogs or their wilier wolf cousins seem to operate as an avatar for the artist. The artist’s lush oil paintings often feel rooted in fantastical narrative, which is fitting given Spano is currently working on a poem illustrated by oil paintings to be released as a children’s book. The focus of the book revolves around a dog’s dream, which was also the title and basis of his most recent show at 100% Gallery.

The paintings within Dinner for Two capitalize on the mythological themes winding throughout Spano’s work. Some leaning more on the side of the classics, with the huddled couple surrounded by ethereal beasts in tones of deep purples and greens within “Escape from the Underworld (2)”, reminiscent of the harrowing journey of Orpheus and Eurydice. Others feel rooted in a story purely of the artist’s own making, much like the “Wrestler” which features an amorphous fleshy yellow figure entangled in a straining headlock with a scraggly cat twice their size. But if Spano’s most direct painting, “The Date”, is any indication, the artist always retains a sly sense of humor. The unsuspecting victim within the painting slinks backwards, clutching for safety to a wine glass as an unkempt and overzealous wolf leans in with an advance of unreciprocated hunger. And as Spano winds saturated narratives through this adept grouping of paintings, we’re left wondering that if “The Date” is as potentially fraught as Spano seems to suggest what strange horrors might a “Dinner for Two” include?