For Immediate Release
Contact: Laurie Steelink
310.264.4678
Images available upon request

Five Stories High: GEORGANNE DEEN, LLYN FOULKES, MANUEL OCAMPO, RAYMOND PETTIBON and ALAN RATH

February 25 through April 1, 2006

Catalogues Available

Track 16 Gallery is pleased to present “5 Stories High,” separate surveys of work spanning the careers of five prominent and influential artists: Georganne Deen, Llyn Foulkes, Manuel Ocampo, Raymond Pettibon and Alan Rath. 5 Stories High runs from February 25 through April 1, 2006, with an opening reception on Saturday, February 25 from 6 to 9 P.M. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 A.M. to 6 P.M.

With amazing consistency, over the span of the three decades reflected in this body of work, GEORGANNE DEEN has presented paintings and sculptures rife with beauty, but which, under each surface, yield layer upon layer of emotion -- iron fists in velvet gloves -- disturbing and at the same time humorous -- eliciting feelings to which we cannot help but connect. Her influence on both her own, and succeeding generations of successful young artists is legendary.

LLYN FOULKES’ vivid brand of unvarnished realism is unique. His vibrant, sometimes three-dimensional paintings are packed with content––strong personal statements regarding a world gone mad–– corporate greed, environmental disregard, and war. Painstaking craftsmanship make these works, from 1963 to the present, among the most powerful paintings of the last forty years, to which those who were privileged to view his retrospective, "Between a Rock and a Hard Place," will attest.

MANUEL OCAMPO's reputation is so filled with myth and legend, one might think he was dead. He is not. He is barely 40, and is expected to be present at the opening of this exhibition. Born in the Philippines, this self-taught painter moved to Los Angeles at age 19, and two years later was included in the Paul Shimmel-curated show, "Helter Skelter: L.A. Art in the 1990's" at MOCA (along with two other artists in this exhibition, Llyn Foulkes and Raymond Pettibon). Ocampo's incendiary "Anti-colonial" paintings put him on the art map, getting him not only an invitation to participate in 1992's international exhibition "Documenta IX” in Kassel, Germany, but getting him thrown out -- for the use of the image of the Swastika in all but one of the paintings. Winner of the Rome de Prix in 1995, Ocampo decided to switch gears. Having gained success in the art world by becoming a darling of rich, white collectors, (in effect, he’d been embraced by the enemy,) Ocampo decided to turn from painting the images that "got him there," to a much more contemporary vocabulary, which he employs now -- still with sting -- but more in touch with today’s culture than yesterdays.

RAYMOND PETTIBON's success (since his work in the late 70's and early 80's designing flyers and record-covers for Black Flag and other punk groups) is now world-wide. Known for drawings which incorporated familiar images from comic books, literature and politics, combined with pithy and powerful text, Pettibon seems to connect with everyone on some level, so much so that he resonates with school kids and scholars alike while being sought after for museum shows -- such as his solo show now at the Whitney -- and winning one international prize after another.

ALAN RATH is finally getting his due -- that being a steady stream of collectors and museums pursuing his work, along with public commissions, and requests for shows and lectures far and wide. Armed with a degree in electrical engineering from MIT, Rath, a Cincinnati native, lasted 6 months in the corporate world, and has not been seen in a suit in the intervening 20 years. Instead, he has taken advanced technology as both a subject and a medium, to create, as an artist, a veritable commentary on how history has been, and is being affected by technology’s advance. Laced with humor, his (primarily) video work, provides a wry commentary on the intimate relationship of people and machines. An unparalleled and uncompromising craftsman, Rath conceptualizes, designs, and constructs every aspect of his creations.