Photographed by JohnnyRokkit

Opening Night

10.28.06 – 11.25.06

Derek Albeck, Chris Anthony, Van Arno, Bigfoot, Blinky, Andrew Brandou, Dan Brereton, Brezo, Ron Brown, Kelsey Brookes, Ryan Rubnis, Dave Burke, Sean Christopher, L. Croskey, Gayle Etcheverry, Natalia Fabia, Korin Faught, Sarah Folkman, Lauren Gardiner, Antonia Gribnikova, Andrew Hem, Jason Houchen, Sylvia Ji, Caia Koopman, Danielle Lamberti, Tiffany Liu, Jason Maloney, Inky Dreadfuls, Carrie McNinch, Chantal Menard,, Brandi Milne, James Naccarato, Joe O’Neill, Erik Otto, Annie Owens, Joshua Petker, Carlos Ramos, Joey Remmers, Scott Saw, Kathy Stacio Schorr, Jophen Stein, Sean Stepanoff, Nathan Spoor, Sage Vaughn, Vibe 1

– License

For being an LA native and internationally recognized painter, JP is way too nice.  Maybe this is because he never expected his life to take the course it has. After all, he studied sociology and Bible archeology in college.  But who could ask for more than a surprise fine art career?

Spending most his time fussing over gorgeous sirens in his Silver Lake apartment, Joshua contemplates the fleeting moment of a woman’s beauty, the sacredness of motherhood, and the decline towards eternal rest.  Joshua does not seek to objectify his jaw-dropping women, but rather to address the delicate psyche beneath their wanting eyes.  He explores the tragedy and happiness of existence, encapsulated by the mysterious female form.  And digging into Joshua’s thoughts, we found that his canvases are far more than skin deep. —Kirsten Incorvaia

Did you always draw and paint when you were a little kid?

I drew a lot when I was a little kid – Ghostbusters and He-Man and that kind of stuff.  But I was really into playing music as I grew up and I didn’t really start drawing again until I was about 22.  I’m 29 now.

What kind of boy stuff were you into?

I was really into ghosts and the paranormal as a kid.  I wanted to be a werewolf like Teen Wolf.  Obviously, and stereotypically, I wasn’t much into sports growing up.  I read lots of “true ghost story” books and owned every Misfits and Metallica album released up to the time that I was in 6th grade.  I had really long hair until I was 15.  Then I started listening to The Doors, smoking weed, and reading Rimbaud and Nietzsche while balancing a heavy diet of gangster rap and eventually tagging.  I sound pretty awesome huh?

How did you make the transition from sociology grad to fine art painter?  At what point did it click that you were going to live off your art?

When I went to college I had no idea what I was really there for.    I mean, I was there to learn and I learned a lot.  But, I wasn’t entirely sure what career path I wanted to pursue.  I’ve always been really fascinated by history and so I pursued that path.  But, painting came naturally to me and after I had my first show I wanted another and I have been painting madly ever since.  I feel very fortunate to have stumbled into a passion.

What drew you to study Bible archeology?  How does that influence your current beliefs?

I’ve always been interested in Christianity and the history of the world.  The Bible influences almost every aspect of our civilization yet almost no one has read it.  I’ve read it numerous times and many books about the Bible and the scribes that copied the texts over the centuries.  The more one understands the historical figure of Jesus and about the times in which the gospels were written and in what languages, for what audiences specifically, you learn that there were originally many different threads of Christianity- some of which would be completely foreign to Christians today.  Understanding the history of this great religion and how it came to be teaches you a lot of about life and humanity and it can be a spiritual and personally fulfilling study even for those like myself who do not believe in God at all.

Are girls intimidated coming to your house, being surrounded by your harem of gorgeous acrylic ladies?

Haha awww I hope not!  I’m actually really self-conscious about being seen as just a woman-hungry man interested in women and nothing more.  But, I don’t have my own art hanging up anywhere in my house so that makes it better.  There is nothing more awkward than walking into a painter’s house and them having their own art everywhere – making visitors feel forced to comment.  I have a small collection of art I’ve bought or traded for and tend to show that off to girls instead

Every woman wants a Petker rendition of herself.  Do you ever get commissions to draw women that don’t have cute button noses, square jaws, and big lips?  How do you negotiate that with your signature style?

It’s not hard for me to paint anyone beautifully, honestly.  It can be the angle of the head, the direction of the eyes, or the turn of a lip that can create beauty on the most homely of faces.   Additionally, I try to paint emotion and thoughts behind the eyes of the subject, as well as the orange and pink eye shadow. And emotion actually comes across as beauty.

I have painted people of all shapes and colors.  I’ve been asked about painting African-American women before by people who assume I’m not interested in painting non-white subjects. But I actually have and do paint people of all colors and races.  I just tend to paint them in my same lilac based color palette since I make up my colors as I go no matter who the model is.

What is your lifetime goal as a painter?

My goal is the same as many painters before me and that is to last.  To make work that is timeless and makes people feel something forever.
More realistically speaking, my goal is to constantly challenge myself and to do all that I can to expand the language of painting and the visual arts.  I’d like to move more into the abstract and less into figurative work.  I’d like to get the same emotion and beauty I can from a female’s face by painting rocks and the ocean.  I’m working on that right now.

The women you paint are unattainable.  Their gaze is seductive but also “ you can’t have me.”  What draws you to the power of that gaze?  Are they real women, or inventions of the media?

Some are real women, friends.  Others are fashion models I’ll never have the pleasure of meeting face to face.  And, sometimes they are no one at all and just a person I create.  I agree and acknowledge that my paintings have a seductive element.  But I want them to stand for more than just the girl in the painting, if that makes sense.  The paintings are not supposed to be about women I desire or even about desire at all but more about the beautiful mystery that is life.  I tread thin ground now as I try to explain my take on the women in my paintings- they are in an emotional purgatory of my own vision.  They are beautiful and sensitive and trying to convey an inner strength that their delicate female frame doesn’t convey from the outside.  And they want you to think they are beautiful, but they want to be left alone.  Because, they are the bearers of life, and as soon as that beautiful face seduces and leads to love a new life comes shortly after, essentially retiring the beauty that once was to become a care-giver of a brand new life.  And so the circle remains unbroken, your life’s meaning is to create a new life and theirs after you.  An endless circle with no reason or explanation ever offered- but with tremendous beauty and wonder, life- even thought futile- is gorgeous and seductive.

There is also a tragedy to these portraits.  Is there personal history with girls that have heavy emotional issues or traumatic histories?

Joseph Campbell says, “The Buddhists speak of bodhisattva – the one who knows immortality, yet voluntarily enters into the field of fragmentation of time and participates willingly and joyfully in the sorrows of the world. And this means not only experiencing sorrows oneself but also participating with compassion with the sorrow of others. Compassion is the awakening of the heart from bestial self-interest to humanity. The word ‘compassion’ means literally ‘suffering with.’”  And I quote him to say again that life is beautiful even when painful and full of suffering.  We, all people have issues, both men and women.  But, women can look more beautiful while going through life’s issues and so aesthetically, I choose them to express the pain and the happiness.  But, all people, myself included, have issues and times of happiness and sadness to go through in life.

What music do you listen to?

My taste in music is really varied.  At the moment I’m really into late 60’s early 70’s psychedelic bands from California and the UK.  But, I grew up on metal and West Coast gangster rap.  I don’t really ever listen to metal anymore but I do still love rap.

What car do you drive?

A black Volkswagen Jetta.

People put so much importance on the MFA.  Was it hard for you to establish yourself in the LA art scene without an art school background?

I’m in a show at the Fecal Face Dot Gallery, in SF.  Fecal Face showcases and introduces me to a bunch of great talent from LA and beyond.  I recently realized I need to break out of my shell of a painting studio and attend more openings and see what is going on out there.  I rarely go to shows or anything besides.  At the moment I am incredibly fascinated by J.M.W. Turner’s landscape work.  I realize he was not from Los Angeles, or even America and was current only a short 170 years ago… but, he is my absolute god at the moment and I cannot stop staring at his paintings as I dream about what to paint next.  I’m thinking water.

Originally published at The Citrus Report.

Sick style.

Check out this rad interview with Petker at Fecal Face, including more of his work.

Via Jess.

“I used to say I was born in the wrong century. The way overly dramatic kids claim to be old souls living in the present day, I was convinced I was secretly an impressionist painter, meant more for turn of the century’s demi-monde opulence rather than today’s world of animators, illustrators, and monster movie artists. I didn’t go to art school. I don’t know all the proper techniques. I learned colour theory by doing graffiti, but the story of the graffiti-artist-turned-fine-art-painter has been played out since the mid-’80s. My own life seemed to be working against me. I was convinced I should have been born in 1850.

Then I realized that I was approaching everything wrong. I live in Hollywood, this century’s den of inequity and excess. I have eccentric colourful friends that rival the models of Degas and Renoir, I spend nights at Los Angeles bars that could rival those painted by Monet, and as this is 2007 I have access to neon pink and hot orange that I imagine even Van Gogh wouldn’t know how to utilize. I am a contemporary painter interested in historic themes. There isn’t anything wrong with that. I don’t have any art school loans to pay back. I primarily paint women because I’m tremendously influenced by Klimt – and really focused on beauty.”

- Juxtapoz Magazine, October 2007

Check out more of Joshua’s work:

http://www.joshuapetker.com/

http://www.myspace.com/thechoke

Tonight was the premier of Voleurz family new Skate/Ski/Snowboard film at the Shark Club, just down the street from my apartment. Although I don’t really know many of them, a few of these guys graduated from my high school years before me, and are Vernon locals. Anyways, being in the Snow scene made me really miss home. It is really weird to think that in a month or so it will be Christmas. I mean, there is no way the weather here is indicating to me that winter is on the way, i guess thats just the difference in elevation? Anyways, I miss Silver Star and the white fluffy stuff, and all the people that come with it. I spent five solid months working everyday up there, its kind of creating a hole in my day-to-day here, I feel like I should be there. The cherry on top is the fact that I currently am struggling to breath, my nose is so stuffed up i could be inhaling gasoline and not even notice.  Sometimes I wish it was easier to forget about some things, missing stuff is just such a downer. This new “be positive” attitude is going to be harder to keep up than I thought.

Handed in two whole projects today, not really compleatly pleased with either of them. Its actually not raining here which is nice, I found an artist on the web the other day that i really loved. I seem to be more drawn to the simple and beautiful artwork. I am an idiot and didn’t take down the link, so now I am searching to find her again, hopefully i succeed so I can share later.  I have stumbled upon some other ones in the search, Joshua Petker an L.A. artist with a really seedy style [His paintings are like that girl that you know will destroy you but somehow you just can't resist. -Manuel Bello] and Maya Hayuk, from NYC. Her murals fascinate me, normally i find excessive use of color to be repulsive, but she pulls it off in an amazing fashion with some of her work. Check em’ out!

Joshua Petker

Maya Hayuk

♥k.h.w.

in an interview with artslant, joshua discusses the influence of the incomparable gustav klimt on his work,

JT: You credit Klimt as being a major influence to you stylistically. Do you use symbols in your work similar to the way he did? Are they graphics and ornament for you or something more?

JP: I’m not so sure Klimt was really a symbolic painter. I think for him it was mostly about decoration and beauty. And, in that sense I definitely do things similar to him. In my own opinion, Klimt’s main goal was to create beauty and I think he felt ornamentation was an acceptable tool for his work. There were artists then and now that think decoration takes away from the intellectual impact of the work – I disagree. Because I too focus almost entirely on beauty I continually look to Klimt for guidance on decoration and mood and believe ornamentation is acceptable considering the intent of our work.

click here to read the interview in it’s entirety.

joshua petker’s myspace

joshua petker’s website

this portrait was a commission. joshua is an amazing artist with a beautiful style. if you want to commission him for your own portrait or to buy one of his incredible existing paintings you can contact him here or here.

check out joshua petker’s paintings here.

joshua petker’s myspace

Joshua Petker’s paintings are so very Queen of the Damned. And although I’m sure no one would consider this a compliment — it was heavily panned by critics and received some Rotten Tomatoes — I do. The movie was highly-erotic, blood filled, and downright sexy (Stuart Townsend in leather pants?). Likewise with Petker’s pieces. His constant subject is a haughty femme, sometimes a few femmes, but always with plump lips lasciviously taunting the viewer. Enjoy.

Chasing Butterflies.

Purple Sugar.

Winter Time Love.

Bloody Mary.

View more of Petker’s work here.

Joshua Petker is a 27 year old artist straight out of LA, California. His vibrant style of graffiti art mixed with classical and sometimes gothic portraits of beautiful and attractive women have made him one of LA’s hottest urban artists that everybody is talking about. I (Aaron) am a huge fan of his art (as is Megan) and was lucky enough to grab an exclusive interview with the man himself. Special thanks to Joshua for the interview. Enjoy!

When did you first realize that “art” was a possible career path for yourself?

Well, the realization that made a difference was when I became certain (and comfortable) with the notion that I was an artist and would create for the rest of my life no matter the success. That freed me to have a day job to pay my bills so I could create art in the evening without the pressure of being a starving artist. And so I’ve always had my art career on the side until it was able to make it my full-time gig.

Was it hard to get recognized for not having an art school education and did you find yourself scrutinized by others?

No, actually it has never been a problem. I do think a few more doors would have been open to me at the beginning had I of had the attention of a professor to guide me or something… but, no one has ever unfairly judged me for it. If the art is high enough quality it shouldn’t matter your background.

Primarily your paintings are of women. What is the reason for this?

Well, I am tremendously interested in beauty and am extremely influenced by the work of Gustav Klimt. I started painting by emulating some of his paintings and have never steered far from this original theme. I do think women can express emotion more colorfully than men and my paintings are about emotion and beauty and so women became, for me at least, the most natural thing to paint.

What is your favorite medium to work with when creating a new piece, paint, pencil, mixed?

I usually just start with a rough pen/pencil drawing and then start to work with the paint. I feel I actually draw better with the paint… if that makes sense.

Would you say that each of your portrait pieces can tell or have personal stories attached to the person in them? Is this intentional?

I hope all of my paintings contain a bit of mystery and cause for intrigue. I have feelings about all of them but I honestly want people to take away from them whatever suits them.

What is the key to never getting tired of doing what you do?

a psychotic drive to achieve? lol I don’t know.

Do you draw live models or work from photographs?

I work from photographs. I have models pose for photos but I also utilize photos from magazines as well.

What is the LA art scene like? Was it hard for you to be excepted into the community?

Well, this city probably has like 5-10 art scenes. But, I love Los Angeles. This city is mostly made of people who move here to get famous so people are welcome to all really. Of course there is snobbery in some circles but that is part of the overall charm of the city.

Does music influence you at all?

Yes. I listen to music 24/7. I paint to my ipod on shuffle all day and all night. I love music.

Where or from whom do you draw your inspiration?

There’s a Belle and Sebastian lyric where he sings, ‘Make something pretty while you can, don’t fall asleep..” and, that always strikes me as romantic. I don’t believe in God or souls. But I love being alive and am a fan of the universe. I know death is coming but i want to leave a garden of beautiful work in my wake. That’s motivation for inspiration for me.

Be sure to check out more of Joshua Petker’s work on Myspace and his Official Website.

- A

artist joshua petker is having a solo show
this saturday night the 15th in san francisco.

the shooting gallery

839 larkin st.

7-11 p.m.

map

if you want to go to the show
send an email to justingiarla@comcast.net

the shooting gallery

joshua’s website

joshua’s myspace

any girls interested in modeling for joshua petker paintings in the la area contact him here.

joshua petker

“I’m looking for 2-3 girls able to model this coming weekend in the LA area. I work from photos so this is just a 2-3 hour photo shoot – if even that long. Must have your own transportation. I’ll provide libations and high res images of the finished paintings. Must be into fashion as you style yourself.

Thanks!”

i am madly in love with joshua’s work. i stumbled upon him whilst i was perusing juxtapoz.com. so if you live in the la area and you like his work, even if you’re discovering it for the first time here, get in touch with him, and be forever immortalized in a petker.

joshua petker’s website

image from