Morgan Slade’s Company of Killers at Shooting Gallery

When viewing the new Morgan Slade show at San Francisco’s Shooting Gallery, I was reminded of a quote from Wooster Collective’s Marc Schiller: “We’re really starting to look at artists that are mixing media…they pull in elements of traditional painting, portraiture and illustration, and mix it all together so there’s drips and spray, but then there’s also fine brush strokes.”

For Company of Killers:

Morgan Slade alters his digital photographs of scantily clad women wearing high school mascot heads with paint, pen and pencil. He transforms straightforward images to chaotic madness. His pieces prey on primitive natural instincts with a youthful aesthetic appeal and bright, vibrant colors. By defacing exceptionally striking people, Slade aesthetically changes his figures to appear flawed in some manner. He creates visual critiques of consumerism, advertising and technology by inventing his own symbols or by reusing familiar icons and assigning them a different purpose.

Slade really mixes up both media and iconography in these images for a strikingly flawless final product. Prices for the pieces are $1,800 and $2,400. The show runs through February 5th. Stop by the gallery and check it out if you’re in San Francisco, or click through for a few more photos.