Travis Louie returns to Seattle’s Roq La Rue Gallery. this August with a new solo exhibition, “Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Monster.”

Travis Louie’s hypnotic “portraiture” is compelling for its blend of the hyper realistic with the blatantly unreal. Fantastical creatures gaze out from paintings so technically refined (using transparent layers of acrylic paint over a tight graphite drawing on a smooth flat surface) that they look uncannily like old photographs. Adding to the discomfiting presence these animal/monster like chimeras have are the human expressions- even if the creature in the paintings looks a bit bizarre, it also looks spookily familiar as well.

Often in his work Louie seeks to create mythological ancestors…long-lost “relatives” captured in Victorian cabinet card/ tint type images. His own interest in Noir imagery, German Expressionism, and personal dream imagery. Each painting comes with a “bio” about each character, written by the artist.

This exhibition will feature 8 larger scale works by Travis. The artist will be in attendance at the opening and signing copies of his new book “Curiosities”, which will be available at the gallery.

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