Rude Boy #6, 2001
pigment and epoxy on plastic panel; 30x12x1 inches




 Gesammkunstwerk #2, 2002
found objects; display case, table; 35x43-1/2x22 inches




 Mi Tutto (The Graduate), 2001
epoxy and pigment over five bullet-proof plexi panels; 8x26x18 inches stacked




 Bohemian Advertisements installation view



 Charles Linder: Bohemian Advertisements: New Pictures and Objects

Bay Area conceptual artist Charles Linder opens a solo exhibition of new work at Brian Gross Fine Art on Thursday, June 6, with a reception for the artist from 5:30-7:30 pm. The exhibition will continue through July 6. A conceptual painter, sculptor, and multi-media artist, Linder explores the ephemera of societal remnants, particularly signs and announcements, that become material for the artist’s hand to manipulate and alter their original meanings.

The sources Linder draws from include advertising icons and commercial images. Fusing rural and urban archaeology, road signs battered by weather and bullets are displaced and reappropriated into a gallery setting. A series of drawings feature exhibition announcements the artist has collected over the years. By arranging the cards in six by six grids, Linder recontextualizes the recovered detritus of past exhibitions. At the same time these works satisfy his curatorial instinct with a nod to his gallery managing sub-profession.

Another aspect of Linder’s work reveals itself in a formal, painterly approach evidenced by his epoxy resin paintings. Exquisitely crafted from industrial materials and suffused with rich color, these works are meditations on the painting process.

Showing concurrently with the exhibition is ukiah haiku, an installation at the San Francisco Arts Commission City Site lot on Grove Street. In the vacant, overgrown lot, a gnarled tree appears to be growing out from under the hood of a 1963 Ford Ranchero, accompanied by weathered signs and a reclaimed model of city hall. It is available on view throughout the summer.

Charles Linder, born in 1967 in Pittsburgh, PA, received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and his MFA from the University of California, Berkeley. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions in the Bay Area and recently exhibited his work in Berlin, Germany. Well-known in the local community, Linder is the founder of two alternative art spaces, Refusalon and Linc. This is his fourth solo exhibition with Brian Gross Fine Art.