San Francisco Collage Collective art opening tomorrow::

Month Year WestSide Art House & Jazz Club Art Opening & Live Jazz Party Friday Oct 21st 5pm-10pm Exhibit by S.F. Collage Collective "Ekstasis" Live Music With WestSide Jazz Club Free Admission Drinks by Donation Show Title "Ekstasis" The San Francisco Collage Collective is a group of local collage artists who have been working together since 2006. It is a loose knit group of artists from a variety of disciplines and varying degrees of formal art training, who gather together to make collage works. The primary idea is to democratize art by inviting anyone to participate. Since 2006, over 50 artists have worked with the collective. This current show at the WestSide Art House is the collective's first show in San Francisco in 2 years. This show includes works by artists who have previously exhibited with the collective including Gustavo Rivera, Rob Reger, Kathryn Kain, Aimee Friberg, Aung Aung Taik, Chuck Gonzalez, Matt Sullivan, Matt Springman, Rod Ciferri, and Matt Gonzalez. Artists showing with the collective for the first time include Karen Imperial, Danielle Rathbun, Tony Hall, Gary Birnbaum, Mark van Proyen, Roberta Scott, and Joe Engler. Some of the artists work with figurative elements, while others work purely abstractly. There are a variety of different methods employed to construct each piece. Some of the artists utilize magazines, album covers, found materials, and cardboard. Others use textile samples, paint chips, and painted pieces they themselves have created. Exhibition invites, original photographs, and colored paper are among the varied sources these artists employ. To learn more visit our website at http://sfcollagecollective.wordpress.com/ Aimee Friberg Gustavo Rivera Rob Reger Danielle Rathbun Karen Imperial Matt Springman Matt Sullivan Mark Van Proyen Kathryn Kain Matt Gonzalez Aung Aung Taik Roberta Scott Chuck Gonzalez Gary Birnbaum Jim Dorenkott Rod Ciferri Tony Hall Joe Engler Stephanie Vernier -------------------------------

Opening Reception: Thursday, Oct 6,

5pm till late

* sounds by Electroleum and Freemountain Pulsewave

Show runs from October 6 - 29

111 Minna Gallery

111 Minna Street (at Second)

San Francisco, CA 94105

Below, Rob describes his process of the three states of materiality that his collaged forms take in this show:

“Select areas of imagery are first dissected, then carefully brought back to life one connection at a time through the surgical practice known as collage. This life, as these frankensteined “originals,” is similar to childhood- finite in time that it exists, given the nature of the materials used. That childlike existence is then captured and brought into adulthood when I create a second life as these “characters” are re-imagined and printed and painted on wood. Finally, if their Creator is inspired enough by their previous existences, they make it into the spirit-world through film and animation. It is here they are finally allowed to move and have everlasting life. I am interested in taking these collages to a “larger than life” place by physically reproducing them on a large scale, and animating and projecting them. In the past, similar collage works have only been shown in small frames with a magnifying glass. Now the work will be accessible from anywhere in the room.”
-Rob Reger, artist

collage with Matt Gonzalez, view works by Schwitters

On Sunday, Aug 14 the Berkeley Art Museum is hosting a collage making session with SF artist and progessive politician Matt Gonzalez. The collage session is in conjunction with their Kurt Schwitters exhibition which opens August 3. Various members of the San Francisco Collage Collective (including Gallery Extrana co-founder Rob Reger & myself) will join Matt and the public in a collage making session inside the lovely BAM galleries-- it's been a while since we've had an official SF Collage Collective public gathering -- I'm excited to see what materials everyone brings to work with : ) Come find us at 2pm in Gallery B! Also on display at the Berkeley Museum is our friend Desiree Holman's AMAZING show Heterotopias which investigates our fascination with real and fictional personas in fantasy play -- her avatars make me wanna dance!

XO: aimee friberg

Kurt Schwitters, Magic, Tate Collection, circa 1936-40

greetings from comic con! we're here helping our friends Emily the Strange with a gallery next to their booth -- a little calm spot to hang and see art -- someone said we were a respite in the storm of the crowds and aggressive imagery --- we agree. : )

We are featuring Emily's creator Rob Reger's personal work and his Emily inspired fine art, along with Buzz Parker's detailed illustrations, work by cut-out artist Turo Scissorhands and Reger's collaborative prints with punk photographer Jenny Lens.
Our living room set up is much cozier thanks to our friends at Boomerang for Modern, a beautiful mid-century design store in San Diego's Little Italy. Thanks Boomerang! If you're at the con, come visit us! Booth #4637
XO

Rob Reger solo show Nov 20 in Pasadena with Beno + Minnie

New Characters Emerge from Emily the Strange Creator Rob Reger

November 8, 2010. Rob Reger, the force behind the iconic Emily the Strange character, opens a solo show at Switcheroo in Pasadena on November 20. The show titled: FACING STRANGE: the Characters of Rob Reger showcases Reger’s recent painting series of interlocking characters and whimsical design. The opening reception is from 7-10pm; Reger’s experimental band Beno + Minnie will play a short set that evening. The show runs through January 15 by appointment.

In this body of work, Reger’s trademark bold graphic design is repurposed and dosed with a colorful serving of psychedelia to reveal a world of new friends and beasts. Subtle narratives emerge, playfully tapping into mysticism, optical illusions, and hallucinations. In a similar vein as Reger’s love of word play, hidden messages, and backward masking, FACING STRANGE demonstrates a balance of opposing forces with characters and shapes all intended for viewing in multiple directions.

Switcheroo is run by artists Amanda Visell and Michelle Valigura. It’s located near the intersection of South Raymond and California, in Pasadena.

FACING STRANGE: the Characters of Rob Reger
Opening: Saturday, November 20th (7-10 PM)
November 21- January 15, by appointment

Switcheroo Workshop & Gallery
543-b S Raymond
Pasadena, CA 91105

www.myswitcheroo.com
Gallery contact: hi@myswitcheroo.com
---------

ROB REGER
Rob Reger is the founder, owner, creative director and president of Cosmic Debris - a design house based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rob and Cosmic introduced the world to Emily the Strange, now an international icon for empowering young alternative girls. Rob has been designing Emily for over a decade and has generated millions of fans of the character. Emily’s voice and image can be found in at 37 countries, through the outlets of Chronicle books, series of Harper Collins novels, Dark Horse Comics, an Epiphone guitar, a clothing line, and an upcoming live action film with Universal Pictures and the Producer of the Hellboy series, 30 Days of Night, and The Mask.

Reger and Cosmic Debris grew out of the DIY punk and guerrilla art aesthetic of the eighties in Southern California, and a fondness for the surrealist art movement. He continues to mix bold graphic design with a pop culture sensibility. Reger holds a B.F.A. from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a M.F.A. in printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute. His paintings, printmaking, watercolors, and collage have been shown in galleries around the world. Outside of Emily and art-making, Reger plays music with his fiancé Aimee Friberg in their experimental band Beno + Minnie.

Mark your calendars for next Friday, October 1st when Strangerous, an exhibition in collaboration with Rob Reger opens at Creative Growth in Oakland. Reger is a Bay Area artist and the creative force behind illustrated heroine, Emily the Strange (he's also Gallery Extraña's co-founder). Strangerous features artwork by Creative Growth artists: Cedric Johnson, David Albertsen, Dinah Shapiro, Donald Mitchell, Franna Lusson, Gail Lewis, George Wilson, Jade Saren, John Martin, Juan Aguilera, Merritt Wallace, Nick Pagan andRodney Ridge . Also featuring Rob Reger’s own ‘rotating paintings.’ Exhibition is on view October 1 – November 12, 2010.

With an opening party, that will take place during Oakland’s monthly Art Murmur event, Strangerousis a marriage of the strange and the dangerous, a fitting Halloween-season-exhibition.

Curator, Rob Reger comes from a pop culture-neo-surrealist aesthetic in his personal artwork, and naturally gravitated toward the more abstract and peculiar side of Creative Growth artist’s work. Reger says about working with Creative Growth, “I'm blown away by what the artists here in the Studio do, how they approach art making, and their unique visions and explanations, (or not!) for their work. There is an absolute contagious creative spirit living at Creative Growth."

About Rob Reger: Reger’s local design house, Cosmic Debris—grew from a tangle of roots joining the DIY punk scene of the ‘eighties with guerilla art, surrealism, and the psychedelic explosion of the ‘sixties. Reger introduced the world to Emily the Strange—an icon of empowerment for young alternative girls and outsiders of all ages.

Featuring music by the all girl, middle-school- rock-band: Poison Apple Pie and Bar by ERA, Oakland

Also on view: Artwork from the students of Summer Scholarship Program 2010. Check out and collect the visionary work made by high-school aged artists with disabilities who have participated in the Creative Growth studio during Summer 2010.

About Creative Growth: Creative Growth Art Center serves adult artists with developmental, mental and physical disabilities, providing a stimulating environment for artistic instruction, gallery promotion and personal expression. Artwork fostered in this unique environment is included in prominent collections and museums worldwide.


WHAT: Strangerous: An exhibition curated by Bay Area artist Rob Reger.

WHEN: Exhibition and opening event during Oakland Art Murmur, Friday, October 1, 2010 from 5:00-9:00pm. Gallery event is free and open to the public. Also open Saturday, October 2, 11am-4pm. On view from October 1 to November 12, 2010.

WHERE: Creative Growth Art Center Gallery, 355 24th St., Oakland, CA 94612, (near 19th St. BART).

PUBLIC INFO: For more information call 510/836-2340 ext.15

PRESS PREVIEW: September 30, by appointment

IMAGES UPON REQUEST:jennifer@creativegrowth.org


FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jennifer O’Neal, Curator / Gallery Manager:

jennifer@creativegrowth.org

Tom di Maria, Director:

tom@creativegrowth.org

Website: http://www.creativegrowth.org/

new show opens next Friday!

Gallery Extraña & Cosmic Debris present:

























SHOW & TELL: My Summer Fantasy
an eclectic melange of desire and daydream by 20 West Coast artists

August 20 - September 23, 2010

Opening Reception Friday, August 20, 7- 10 pm
with equatorial beats by DJ FELINA

Tim Biskup
David Bornfriend
Lon C. Clark
Veronica de Jesus
Brian de Roo
Steve Ferrera
Aimee Friberg
Matt Gonzalez
Jake Huffman
Sarah Jane Lapp
Brian Lucas
Masako Miki
Emily Nathan
Rob Reger
Emilio Santoyo
Gareth Spor
Brian Strang
Tallulah Terryll
Emily Wick
David Wien

www.gallery-extrana.com

above detail: Tim Biskup, Summer Vacation, cell vinyl acrylic on watercolor paper, 2010

Have you checked out the Emily concept store yet (inside the gallery salon space)? We're open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 1-6pm. J0in us for Beno + Minnie performance at 3pm tomorrow at the gallery.

The opening for the Art of Emily show and new Emily the Strange concept shop was a blast-- Here's a couple snaps and check out more images from the party at the link below...


a sneak peek from the windows...pre-party--here's the space


pics of the opening here : http://www.emilystrange.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/3/8/Art-Of-Emily-Art-Show-Opening-Night-Pics

Art of Emily... coming in March

The Art of Emily: A Strange Collection, an exhibition of paintings, original cut-outs, limited edition prints and other mixed media by Emily the Strange artists opens March 5 at Gallery Extraña

March 5th- 29th, 2010

Artist's Reception- Friday, March 5th, 6:00 – 10:00 pm

Gallery Extraña
2912 Telegraph Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94705
http://galleryextrana.blogspot.com/


On the heels of the release of The Art of Emily the Strange published by Dark Horse Books this month, Gallery Extraña presents The Art of Emily: A Strange Collection; the exhibit opens on Friday, March 5 from 6-10 pm. Emily the Strange creator Rob Reger and fellow Emily artists Buzz Parker, Brian Brooks, Nicomi ‘Nix’ Turner and Justin Barry will be present. The opening reception will feature DJ sets by Emily novel co-author Jessica Gruner, She-Bible co-founder Stacy Rodgers and Amedee Ito—all SF local ladies who have played crucial roles in shaping Emily the Strange.

The exhibition will feature previously un-exhibited original artwork, limited edition prints and many rarely seen treasures from the archives of Emily the Strange and her kitties. Signed copies of The Art of Emily the Strange will be available for purchase. “We’re thrilled to present the first Emily show in the Bay Area in over two years at Gallery Extraña, our home base head-quarters and gallery,” says Rob Reger. The Art of Emily: A Strange Collection highlights the art and design that has put Emily the Strange on the map as an international icon for Strange.

The Art of Emily: A Strange Collection runs through March 29th. Limited Emily the Strange merchandise, including t-shirts, apparel, accessories and the new Oddisee Talking BoardTM will be available for sale during the run of the show. The gallery is open on Thursday, Friday & Saturday from 1 -6 pm for the duration of the show. For more info see http://galleryextrana.blogspot.com. Gallery Extraña is located at 2912 Telegraph Avenue (1 block north of Ashby Avenue) in Berkeley, California.


ABOUT EMILY THE STRANGE
Created by Rob Reger and his company Cosmic Debris in 1993, Emily the Strange has become an internationally known icon for individualism, female empowerment, and do-it-yourself style. Born from the San Francisco graphic arts community, Emily graces a full, rock-influenced fashion clothing and accessory line, including everything from T-shirts, dresses, and underwear to toys, guitars, and school supplies. She is the featured character in a series of comic books from Dark Horse Comics, four hardbound graphic novellas for Chronicle Books, and a series of young adult novels from Harper Collins. For more information about Emily the Strange, visit http://www.emilystrange.com or for press related inquiries contact Jennifer Sullivan jennifer.sullivan@gatorgroup.com.


ABOUT GALLERY EXTRAÑA

Gallery Extraña was founded by Emily the Strange creator Rob Reger and artist, curator, and filmmaker Aimee Friberg in the spring of 2008. Its mission is to showcase contemporary work by emerging, mid-career and established artists primarily from the Bay Area. In addition to exhibiting eccentric, “strange”, and off-center work, Gallery Extraña is an alternative screening and performance space. Located in the Cosmic Debris Design House, the open gallery hours are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 1-6 pm. For more information, visit http://galleryextrana.blogspot.com/ or contact the gallery: galleryextrana@gmail.com.

Rob Reger unveils Change of Strange at Varnish Gallery in SF

we're back from much romping and stomping to tell you that we're stoked about this:



PRESS RELEASE – February 2, 2008

Varnish Fine Art presents: Rob Reger: Change of Strange
February 17 – March 28, 2009
Opening Reception Friday February 20, 7-10pm

[press contact below]


Change of Strange emerges from Emily the Strange creator Rob Reger

San Francisco, CA, February 2, 2009. This dynamic and interactive solo painting exhibition of interlocking characters and whimsical design opens at Varnish Fine Art on February 20 from 7 – 10 pm. The opening party will feature a wee bit of ‘Vampa White’ spectacle with a secret special guest directing the 360 degree rotation of the paintings. On the heels of opening an Emily store in Greece and completing the first novel for his character Emily the Strange, this is Reger’s first solo painting show without Emily in five years. Change of Strange demonstrates a change of heart. The show will run through March 27, 2009.

In this new body of work, Reger strays from Emily’s palette of red, white and black with bright, uninhibited colors. His trademark bold yet whimsical design is repurposed to reveal a world of new friends and beasts. Subtle narratives emerge, playfully tapping into mysticism, optical illusions, and hallucinations of the heart. Coming from the love of word play, hidden messages, and backward masking, Reger utilizes a yin yang approach with this work. He demonstrates a balance of many opposing forces, in order to show us that for every evil there is good around the corner.

With a tip of the hat to MC Escher and his interlocking beasts and a nod to Dr. Seuss, parallels are also drawn with the vibrant geometric shapes and bold folk art colors of Alexander Girard’s design. There is truly 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. In this rotation new characters emerge, continuing the narrative and psychedelic fantasy.


---------

ROB REGER
Rob Reger is the founder, owner, creative director and president of Cosmic Debris - a design house based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rob and Cosmic introduced the world to Emily the Strange, now the international icon for empowering young alternative girls. Rob has been designing Emily for over a decade and has generated millions of fans of the character. Emily’s voice and image can be found in at least 26 countries, through the outlets of 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.

Reger and Cosmic Debris grew out of the DIY punk and guerrilla art aesthetic of the eighties, and a fondness for the surrealist art movement. He continues to mix sophisticatedly simple graphic design with a pop culture surrealist sensibility. Reger has an extensive fine arts background, with a B.F.A from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a M.F.A in printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute. His oil paintings, printmaking, watercolors, and collage have been shown in galleries around the world: Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin, Milan, Hong Kong, Sydney, and Santa Cruz.

Outside of Emily and painting, Reger plays music with bands Beno + Minnie and This Isn’t It and co-directs Gallery Extraña, which exhibits contemporary eccentric artwork, located in the Emily the Strange headquarters in Berkeley, California.


VARNISH
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
415-222-6131
q@varnishfineart.com
77 Natoma Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

Gallery Extraña's Defiant Optimism opening party -- Friday, Nov 7

gallery co-directors Rob Reger and Aimee Friberg and David Sloane (center)



Bay area legend Winston Smith


artist/filmmaker Lawrence Jordan and Defiant Optimism curator Aimee Friberg
Lawrence with friends (and former students) Katherine and Ashley James.
Matt Gonzalez

Matt Waters and Emily the Strange writer Jessica Gruner

Reger on piano!

a few more photos here:
http://flickr.com/photos/nenalandia/sets/72157608835216973/

Group Collage Show and animation screening -- Friday, November 7!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For gallery or artist information contact Aimee Friberg, Gallery Extraña, aimee (at) emilystrange (dot) org
For press materials contact Jill Beaverson, Gallery Extraña/Emily the Strange, 510-845-0340 ext 220, jill (at) emilystrange (dot) com



Defiant Optimism: New Works from the San Francisco Collage Collective
November 7 - December 20, 2008
Artist's Reception- Friday, November 7, 6-10 pm
***
8pm -- Screening of early films of master animator, film compositor Lawrence (Larry) Jordan with live piano accompaniment by Rob Reger (Thuja, Beno + Minnie, This Isn’t It)
***

Collage is the thread that brings together this cast of talented, respected Bay Area figures for the first show of its kind in many years. Included are Winston Smith, the artist who gave punk a graphic prowess with stunning high contrast designs, such as the Dead Kennedy's logo, and witty montage compositions that have graced publications internationally. Another treat for the eyes are the colorful surreal narrative collages of Bay Area film icon Lawrence or "Larry" Jordan, whose style is a delightful departure from collage maestro and famous recluse Joseph Cornell, with whom Jordan worked with in the 60s in New York. 3 previously un-exhibited collages from Jordan will debut in this exhibit and the opening will feature a screening of several early silent films set to live piano accompaniment by internationally renowned artist and Emily the Strange creator, Rob Reger. Reger will also debut work that revisits his surreal and absurdly figurative RED SERIES. Local abstract collage artist and vice-presidential independent candidate Matt Gonzalez will also debut new work in the show. Also featured are collages by Francis Mill, Robin Savinar, Rance Brown, Albert Herter, Bernice Yeung, Javier Arbona, David Sloane, Esteban Ortega Brown, Richard Stutting, and Matt Sullivan. The show is curated and produced by fellow collage collective member Aimee Friberg, who also is exhibiting in the show.
Defiant Optimism: New Works from the San Francisco Collage Collective is an exhibit of contemporary collage and montage in which the appropriation of the ordinary and everyday is expressed through the integration (cutting and pasting) of found materials and objects. “Cutting and pasting, shifting and merging; can collaging bring change? You might say it’s a curious idea… can recycling and appropriating visual imagery ignite hope? Maybe we find ourselves hoping for a better composition or for cleaner air. Hoping our color scheme is effective and how it’d be nice to have a stable economy. You might ask ‘where is optimism gleaned in these dark times?’ Is it in the quirky, the mundane, the found, the scattered? In art-making, friend-making? Conversation? And how can we affect change? Scavenging, cutting and pasting make sense to us and in this collective show we hope to call attention to little moments of bliss found in the process of making. We hope to delight and maybe even inspire you to pick up pair of scissors.” SFCC



About the San Francisco Collage Collective

The San Francisco collage collective is loose-knit group of artists from a variety of disciplines and with varying degrees of formal art training, who occasionally gather together to make collage works. The collective was formed in 2006 when Matt Gonzalez, Robin Savinar and Albert Herter began cutting and pasting together. The primary idea is to democratize art by inviting anyone interested to participate.

More information and work here:
http://sfcollagecollective.wordpress.com



Individual Bios:
WINSTON SMITH
Winston Smith is an artist armed with razor blade and a fiendish wit. His modus operandi since the 1970's has been to kidnap "innocent" images from the pages of vintage magazines and then to diabolically glue them into compromising or politically revealing positions in his surreal collage landscapes. "Perhaps the most vibrant collage maestro since Max Ernst," wrote popular underground artist Frank Kozik, who goes on to credit Winston with being "single-handedly responsible for an entire generation's graphic style." After studying in Italy, Smith moved to San Francisco in the 1970s, working primarily in the road crews of Bay-area rock bands such as Santana and The Tubes. In the mid-70's Smith, along with fellow artist Jayed Scotti, wrote, illustrated and published a satirical magazine titled "Fallout", while also producing and posting flyers for non-existant gigs in San Francisco.

Since then Smith, once known only to DK fans and the punk underground cognoscenti, has been gaining popularity in mainstream culture. He's had one-man shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, London and Rome. His debut book, "Act Like Nothing's Wrong", was published in 1994 by Last Gasp of San Francisco was favorably reviewed a wide variety of regional and national magazines. His eighteen month (1995-97) sojourn as illustrator for SPIN magazine's Topspin political page further brought his work to national attention as did his award for "Best Cover Illustration" from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies in 1997. On the musical front, his bizarre "Insomniac" alum cover for the popular neo-punk band Green Day was voted a favorite in a 1996 readers poll in Rolling Stone Magazine. His works have also appeared in New Yorker magazine, Playboy, Wired, Spin, Utne Reader, and many other punk-related publications. The growing demand for Winston's humorous and controversial collage illustrations prompted the release of his second and third books, "Artcrime" and "All Riot on the Western Front", and the production of his first-ever series of collectible archival prints. The jumbo scale and fine quality of this new print series hugely expands the already powerful visual impact of Winston's work. We have arrived at the threshold of the twenty first century. It's time to call off the art police. The work of mischievous art-criminal Winston Smith is finally being brought to full color justice.

LAWRENCE JORDAN
Lawrence (Larry) Jordan is an independent filmmaker and artist, who has been working in the Bay Area since 1955, and making films and collages since 1952. He has produced some 40 experimental and animation films, and three feature-length dramatic films. He meticulously combines 19th-century engravings, modern imagery and common symbols to construct unmistakable dream-like narratives. He is most widely known for his animated collage films and his diorama boxes. In 1970 he received a Guggenheim award to make SACRED ART OF TIBET. His animation have screened internationally and nationally including institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art –NY and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Jordan is one of the founding directors of Canyon Cinema Cooperative. As former chairman of the film department at the San Francisco Art Institute, Jordan’s impact on the art and film community in the Bay Area is paramount. Fortunate for the general public, Facets Multimedia has just released a four disc dvd set chronicling many of the works from Jordan’s ouvre.

"Jordan is one of the most prolific and accomplished stalwarts of the Bay Area independent film community. He takes full advantage of the tendency of disparate objects to take on new meaning, and form new relationships when they are brought into close proximity or when their usual context is changed. While these film collages link together a myriad of symbolic forms in new combination, the smooth, lyrical progression of the work results in a powerful sense of wholeness and totality." - Hal Aigner, San Francisco Chronicle "One thing: If I'd have to name one dozen really creative artists in the independent (avant-garde) film area, I'd name Larry Jordan as one. His animated (collage) films are among the most beautiful short films made today. They are surrounded with love and poetry. His content is subtle, his technique is perfect, his personal style unmistakable." - Jonas Mekas

MATT GONZALEZ
Matt Gonzalez is a native of Texas, who in addition to making collages, is a political activist who is currently serving as Ralph Nader's running mate.
Exhibitions include: a.Muse Gallery (two-person show); Lincart Gallery (two-person show); McAllen Art House (group show); Adobe Books Backroom Gallery (solo show); Soap Gallery (solo show); Johansson Projects (group show); In vitro Gallery (solo show).

ROB REGER
Rob Reger is the founder, owner, creative director and president of Cosmic Debris - a design house based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rob and Cosmic introduced the world to Emily the Strange, now the international icon for empowering young alternative girls. Rob has been designing Emily for over a decade and has generated millions of fans of the character. Reger and Cosmic Debris grew out of the DIY punk and guerrilla art aesthetic of the eighties, and a fondness for the surrealist art movement. He continues to mix sophisticatedly simple graphic design with a pop culture surrealist sensibility. Reger has an extensive fine arts background, with a B.F.A from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a M.F.A in printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute. His oil paintings, printmaking, watercolors, and collage have been shown in galleries around the world: Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin, Milan, Hong Kong, Sydney, and Santa Cruz.

Away from the company, Reger draws and creates everyday, and spends much of his off time as a musician recording and performing with his bands
Thuja,This Isn't It and Beno + Minnie. Reger loves eating his home grown veggies and spending time with his kitties.

FRANCIS MILL
Francis Mill is presently a director at the Hackett-Freedman Gallery in San Francisco. At the University of California, Berkeley, he received his undergraduate degree in architectural design in 1989 and followed by a masters degree in fine arts painting in 1990. Francis began teaching painting and drawing in 1991 at the Academy of Art College and was the dean of graduate studies from 1995-1999. He exhibited throughout the 1990s at the Ebert Gallery in San Francisco and was included in the biennial at the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento in 1993. Today, Francis is exploring the integration of his interest in architecture and the fine arts.

DAVID SLOANE
San Fransisco-based David Sloane combines images of interest that he finds through out his wanderings in the city. When asked why collage, he states, “there is elation of coming upon an old print of a Buddha or a Chacmool or a curious anonymous face from another era or culture. It may just be a quizzical expression on a face, an invitation in the eyes. Whatever. I am drawn to this process and inspired to create a collage or montage with this key piece.”

BERNICE YEUNG
Bernice Yeung is a San Francisco-based journalist. Some of her earlier collage and graphic design work has appeared in her now-defunct zine, option 8.

RANCE BROWN
The four-eyed son of a printmaker/art teacher mother and audiophile father, Rance has been eating paste since his formative years in Western Massachusetts. Beginning his design career at a monument (gravestone) design firm in the 12th grade, he later graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Art Direction. He's since earned his lunch money producing much less morbid art for boy-band CDs, breath mint packaging, video game sleeves, and a slew advertisements that you'll never, ever see.

ROBIN SAVINAR
Robin began making collage in 2006. She has done more than 125 works including miniature landscapes, figurative representations and light, ordered abstractions. Prior to collage Robin worked in art forms including paper maché, oil painting, writing, translating, dancing and roller derby. She resides in her birthplace, San Francisco, and has lived in Los Angeles, CA, Santiago (Chile) and Madrid.

JAVIER ARBONA
Javier Arbona was trained as an architect and now studies urban geography at UC Berkeley. He often tries to explore city form in his collage work.

RICHARD STUTTING
Twenty-seven years ago, Richard Stutting rode a punk-influenced wave onto a chiaroscuro island. No one was creating work quite like his – the photographic collages played contrasts like Miles Davis blowing out a sweet, dark tone. Typography had personality; images moved without budging and there must have been some artistic epiphanies, because now that edgy style is being emulated in many more places. And Richard Stutting has been refining and perfecting it for twenty-seven years.

Cutting-edge, surreal, texturally rich: terms we often use to describe the photo/collage technique that is the hallmark of Richard Stutting's imagery. His photo-collage designs have appeared on numerous CD covers, book jackets, editorial features and private commissions. This award-winning artist combines traditional collage with new digital techniques to bring edgy post-modern visions to life - rock & roll you can touch.

ALBERT HERTER
Albert Herter attended the San Francisco Art Institute where he studied conceptual art though his work has consisted primarily of painting. He recently moved back to his hometown of New York and started the New York Chapter of the Collage Collective. He has been greatly influenced by the cut-ups up of Henri Matisse and work of Jean Arp. His latest work consists in laying down specifically cut pieces of paper on a scanner arbitrarily. This makes the work entirely ephemeral and speeds up the process greatly. He is also interested in the play between negative and positive space in his collages.

AIMEE FRIBERG
Aimee Friberg has exhibited, performed and screened her short films in Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, New York , California, Texas and Mexico; she resides in Berkeley. She is passionate about being curious, living simply, laughter as medicine and trusting the now. She works in a variety of media including photography, tactile installation, video/film-making, sound, electronics, performance, drawing and most recently -- collage. Seeking the sublime in the mundane, her artwork illuminates the subtle forces at play in our daily interactions. With this new collage work, Friberg pays tribute to the white on the page and the fruit of looking, then looking again.

Aimee received her B.A. at the University of Washington Seattle (UW) and served as a Teaching Assistant for DXARTS while at UW. Until recently she co-programmed and produced performance, film and lectures at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA); Aimee is co-director of Gallery Extraña, works as a freelance photographer and is presently curating an experimental film series for the Havana International Festival of Latin American Art in Cuba. She enjoys singing and playing percussion in her band Beno + Minnie and tending to her veggie garden.
Aimee has exhibited or performed at The Kitchen Center for Media (NY), Jack straw's New Media Gallery (Seattle), Artist’s Television Access (SF), The Lab (SF), Secluded Alley Works (Seattle), Jacob Lawrence Gallery (Seattle), Henry Art Gallery (Seattle), Blue Sky Gallery (Portland), Sand Point Naval Base (Seattle), and the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art.

ABOUT GALLERY EXTRAÑA
Gallery Extraña was founded by Emily the Strange creator Rob Reger and artist, curator, and filmmaker Aimee Friberg in the spring of 2008. Its first show in July of the 2008 turned the heads of national press with the elegant illustrations of Nicomi Nix Turner. Its mission is to showcase contemporary, emerging, and mid-career artists primarily from the Bay Area, with a special focus on talent from the East Bay, where the gallery is situated. Gallery Extraña is committed to exhibiting eccentric, “strange”, and off-center work, and seeks to promote local and underrepresented talent. Outside of featured shows, Gallery Extraña hours are by appointment only. Call 415-238-7385 or write aimee@emilystrange.org to schedule a viewing.

Image credits: post front-- Genetic Sport, Winston Smith, 2008; post back-- Duo Concertantes (film still detail), Lawrence Jordan, 1961-64.