Pugilist Music | Ishmael Leaver X Gabriel Shaffer
We are excited to present our next exhibition:
"Pugilist Music"
Featuring new works from Ishmael Leaver and Gabriel Shaffer
Opening Reception is Friday July 12th 7-10PM at 940 Royal Street and mortalmachinenola.com
Ishmael Leaver, a Spanish-born artist raised in the Southeastern United States, found inspiration in Daniel Quinn's 1992 novel "Ishmael." Delving into Quinn's exploration of "new tribalism," societal ethics, and hopes for a sustainable future, Ishmael adopted the novel's title as his artist name.
Ishmael delves into trompe l'oeil, particularly through his hyper-realistic boxcar trains. These 2D works, adorned with graffiti, create the illusion of heavy, rusted train cars as if sectioned from a real-life train. However, each piece is meticulously crafted from PVC board and silicone-molded handrails before being painted with acrylics and aerosols. This medium allows Ishmael to explore endless possibilities in surface texture and design, and effectively demonstrates his esteemed background in graffiti painting, to which he is completely self taught.
Gabriel Shaffer lives and works in the French Quarter of New Orleans. He is part owner and curator of Mortal Machine Gallery. He is also the son of renowned folk/visionary artist Cher Shaffer and learned from a number of pioneering artists in this genre as a youth. Since a sell out premier at the 2005 Outsider Art Fair, in NYC, Gabriel has exhibited and sold his works of art to collectors, rock stars, celebrities, politicians, best selling authors, galleries and museums throughout various major cities nationally and internationally. He has appeared in magazines, newspapers and blogs such as Raw Vision, Art Papers, The Guardian, Art News, Boing Boing, Traditional Home, Architectural Digest, The Huffington Post , Hi Fructose and Juxtapoz. He has also been a contributing writer for Juxtapoz magazine.Gabriel has had extensive experience with producing murals, installations and illustrations for various corporations, restaurants and museums including Facebook, BMW, Pandora Music, Sierra Nevada, PBR, Branded Arts, Mellow Mushroom, SECCA, The North Carolina Museum of Art and The Asheville Museum of Art.