Interview with Brian M. Viveros for his upcoming exhibition ‘Mania’ opening Saturday, October 29 at Thinkspace Projects

Thinkspace Projects is thrilled to present Brian Viveros’s ‘MANIA‘. The CA-based artist best known for his highly detailed paintings of anti-pin-up doe-eyed ‘Woman of Power’ and his Dirtyland universe brings an entirely new body of work to the gallery.

MANIA is a tribute show, it’s a personal show, and it’s a bit of a journey taking viewers back in time to the things Viveros obsessed over as a kid, the things that ultimately drove the MANIA inside of him.

Our interview with Brian M. Viveros reveals stories behind the work, covers reflections on his artistic career, and provides a recommendation for the perfect spot to kick off a taco tour in San Diego.

MANIA pays tribute to the cultural influences that you obsessed over and inspired you in your youth, pulling references from various objects within your life – can you share any memories or anecdotes that directly tie to one of the pieces? 

Shhhure. One story that comes to mind is with the Conan the Barbarian tribute piece I did for this show entitled ‘Barbarian.’ It’s kind of a messed up story, but funny – here it goes. I was 8 years old, and Conan comics were a big part of my life and my dad was a collector of Conan and everything  Frazetta.  I remember being in class & being called to the office, which at that time was a scary thing (push play on scary music theme now HA!) but back then, when you got called to the principal’s office, it was not good. They had told me a family member had passed away and that my father was outside waiting for me in the car. When I got to the car, I was kind of sad and confused and asked my Dad, who passed away, and he said, ‘nobody,’ we’re going to see Conan the Barbarian it opened today, and I was like…. hell Yeahh!!!

This show was an exercise in pushing yourself out of your comfort zone; what did that look like for you when developing this body of work? What new techniques did you develop? Were there any valuable failure moments? 

Good question my friend; it actually had a lot to do with the size of the new location of your gallery. I felt this need and urge to go big and try new things. Sometimes space will do that to you. For me, I tend to plot things out in my mind and hold onto ideas for shows and hopefully, they’ll come to fruition. I’ve had this idea for a while about doing a MANIA show that would be a bit of a tribute show, and throwback to things that really moved me or I obsessed on as a kid. I even went back to using and incorporating some older mediums like spray paint for backgrounds and doing a set of pieces in gouache and watercolors. A lot of your readers may not know this but straight out of high school I opened the first graffiti hip-hop shop in the IE (Inland Empire) I was into spray painting and selling all the gear at that time in 93’. Anyhow, I brought back the can and cutting stencils for patterns, and things I use to do is now full circle with this set. As an artist, you grow and make mistakes in creating, its a good fuck up, and try something different & see what happens. Sometimes its a happy accident and sometimes it’s not, but you learn from it and move on

People feel extremely connected to your work, getting tattoos and dressing up as the women you paint for opening exhibitions. Has there been a fan experience or collector encounter that has really stuck with you? 

I think it was the last show we did, ‘Tougher Than Leather’ a friend of mine, Christina Preiss, showed up in a  full-on detailed head-to-toe Dia de Los Muertos Day of the Dead costume, and it just looked so RAD in the gallery. It created this awesome energy that night in the room. Something I’ll never forget and the people loved it

MANIA is your 7th solo exhibition with Thinkspace. Does this exhibition feel different, or do you have a similar emotional experience ahead of any show? 

Feels a little different for me this time around just because the work is on a different level now. Thus far, with my  DirtyLand ‘Woman of Power’ pieces, all the ones I’ve done throughout the years, it’s been about letting the viewer tell the story about these characters I’ve created. With MANIA, I’ve taken the narrator role, steering the Dirty-ship and taking you, the viewer, on a very personal journey.

When first developing your artistic voice, you wanted to ensure you had a distinct style that made it so if anyone saw one of your pieces; they immediately would know it was a Viveros – over your career, have you found the choices you made in the initial development to have been limiting or liberating? 

In the initial development, I was focused on just the smoking thing, and the red rose thing and giving my girls a certain signature look with the eyes and teardrop tattoo and this anti-pinup Dirty world I was creating where all the girls would be tough warriors, survivors sporting helmets & headgear.  I feel liberated in the sense that it’s no longer just about that. You still know it’s a Viveros without those specific elements. I’ve been doing it so long, and early on it was all about just the smoking with helmets, but it’s progressed –  I’ve progressed. The DirtyLand no longer needs cigarettes and red roses for you to know it’s a Viveros. It’s like my audience has grown with me and I’m always thankful for them and their support and growing with my art.

If you could have any skill or topic downloaded into your brain, what would you want to be able to do/ be an expert at?

That’s an easy one for me – filmmaking, and that’s where I’m headed

If you could collaborate with any artists in any medium (i.e. movies, music, fashion), who would you collaborate with, and what would you be making?

I’d love to collaborate with Guillermo Del Toro or Alejandro Jodorowsky on a film. We would be making a surreal revenge film with a twist of sci-fi and horror. The main character would be a kick-ass chick, of course>;-)

Who are some women from cinema, pop culture, or literature who you think embody the qualities of the women in your work? 

Some kick-ass women that come to mind that embody the qualities of my women would be Ripley from Alien, Sarah Connor from Terminator and Furiosa from Mad Max Fury Road, Spanish Flamenco Dancer Carmen Amaya, Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Blondie

What are qualities of significant women in your life that you admire and wish came more naturally to you?

Being a little more grounded for sure. I tend to be off in DirtyLandia land all the time. My mind is always racing and thinking, and now in my forties, I’m trying not to overthink shit so much and care so much. I think that happens in your forties HA!

You’re a big fan of tacos. If you could take 5 people, dead or alive, on a taco tour, who would be on the guest list, where would you go, and what would be ordered?

TACOMANIA!!!!! The five people I would take out for tacos in a taco van with a painted taco mural would be H.R. GIGER, The Beastie Boys – does that count as three ha!, Mike Dirnt he loves tacos like I love tacos, Picasso, and Bjork maybe that’s more than five we would drive to SALUD! in San Diego & few other hole in the wall spots in SD and sample all the tacos they offer. Always gotta try every places’ carnitas taco because they’re all so different. Then we’d all get drunk and have a break dancing contest on the street with LC DJing in the van Ha!

Opening on Saturday, October 29, from 6 – 11 pm with DJ’s Venice Beats, open bar + free drinks from Liquid Death, video projections from Digital Debris, installations from Balloonski, a vape bar from our friends at Timeless, live painting from Allison Bamcat, photo op props from GoopMassta, Day of the Dead stilt walkers, grub from The Roll N’ Bun + a Halloween costume contest with $500 top cash prize + loads of runner up prizes!!!

FREE poster commemorating ‘MANIA‘ given away to the first 200 patrons through the doors!

Exhibitions on view October 29 – November 19, 2022

NEW EDITIONS FROM BRIAN VIVEROS AVAILABLE NEXT FRIDAY – 8/24/18

Excited to share that we are publishing a new edition from Brian Viveros that will be available next week. ‘Queen of the Land’ is taken from his recent sold-out UK exhibition we held for him at the MONIKER International Art Fair in London, England this past October.

Photographed and printed by Static Medium and framed with Sherman Framing, from start to finish, the detail and care given to this amazing edition is second to none. Viveros’s largest scale special edition to date, complete with custom aqua blue core matte chosen by the artist that perfectly captures the hues in the Queen’s flower and mascara. First-time use of a new custom ‘V’ embossed stamp, with each receiving hand touching from Viveros. All housed in a beautiful custom red accented wood molding hand-picked by Brian.

This is Brian’s most limited, large-scale framed edition to date. Don’t miss out.

BRIAN VIVEROS
Queen of the Land (Deluxe Framed Edition)
Edition of 12
Includes a unique graphite sketch in the bottom border
Multiple hand touches via airbrush, ink, and pastel throughout the piece
Embossed with Viveros’s ‘V’ emblem
Professionally Custom Framed and Matted
Hand signed and numbered by the artist
Comes with a signed Certificate of Authenticity
20×29 (25.5×35 frame size)
$800
“For all my DirtyLAnd collectors out there, this special edition  ‘Queen of the Land’ will definitely be the print to get! For this print, I wanted to go BIG and give you guys something truly special and on a larger scale putting a lot of time and energy into each one of these prints. Along with the hand embellishing throughout the print, I wanted to include an original drawing around my first time embossed signature ‘V’ at the bottom of the print. My idea was to do a rendering that could work around the ‘V’ and compliment the print as a whole. The end result is AWESOME and I’m really happy and excited to offer this print to you guys! The added drawing on each makes it that much more specal from me to you. There’s only a dozen of these bad girls so BE READY!!!” – Viveros

Viveros adding hand touches with acrylic, adding a unique add’l blood drip to each

Viveros adding some hand touches to the Queen’s hair with pastels

Viveros adding some highlights to the hair via airbrush

Hand touching details with acrylic, including a bloody heart on each skull

Deluxe Framed Edition getting added love from Viveros, each slightly unique

The Deluxe Edition will be available NEXT FRIDAY, August 24 at 10AM Pacific at:
SPECIAL EDITION OF 40 WITH SKETCH AND EMBOSSED ‘V’ ON EACH

Special Edition prior to receiving the embossed ‘V’ and signature / sketch

Viveros signing his new Special Edition of ‘Queen of the Land’

Detail view of the new embossed ‘V’ symbol

Viveros sketching next to his signature, each piece receiving a slightly unique sketch

BRIAN VIVEROS
Queen of the Land (Special Edition)
Fine art print on 290gsm paper
Edition of 40
Embossed with Viveros’s ‘V’ emblem
Sketch of rose with bullets or cigarettes by each signature
Hand signed and numbered
17×24
$275

The Special Edition will be available NEXT FRIDAY, August 24 at 10AM Pacific at:
https://shop.thinkspaceprojects.com

Brian M. Viveros Studio Visit for Moniker Featured on Juxtapoz

Brian M. Viveros’s latest body of work Bulletproof is being shipped off to Moniker International Art Fair, and Juxtapoz has the studio visit with a sneak peek of what’s in the container.  Jump over to Juxtapoz.com for the full story and studio visit.

BRIAN M. VIVEROS SOLO EXHIBITION AT MONIKER INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR

Thinkspace Gallery is taking over the eighth edition of the Moniker Art Fair this coming October with 8 stands including seven mini solo-exhibitions and one group exhibition. We’re honored to be hosting the debut U.K solo shows for some of the biggest names in the New Contemporary/ Urban Contemporary movements. At least 8 new works will be on view from each featured artists in addition to a new print edition for their London fans. Each artist’s print to be released in tandem with the fair.

Brian M. Viveros will be at Stand 32, and our group exhibition at Stand 34 where we will have our free Thinkspace logo parody buttons (in the vein of the classic logos of Slayer and Motorhead). We are really looking forward to meeting as many of our U.K. based patrons as possible during the fair.

Please note, we will be offering the works for sale first to those attending the VIP and Public openings of the Moniker Art Fair. We are committed to helping to build each artist’s patron base in the U.K.  A digital preview for each solo exhibition and our group exhibition will be shared the morning of Friday, October 6th. We will then get back to all interested parties during the day of Saturday, October 7th to discuss purchases. Please do not call the gallery regarding Moniker Art Fair purchases on October 7th.

We can’t wait to debut all these incredible new works in just a few weeks.

Thinkspace x Moniker Art Fair

 

Thinkspace x Moniker Art Fair
Excited to get back over to London for the third time for our biggest event ever! We will be taking over the eighth edition of the MONIKER ART FAIR this coming October with 8 stands including seven mini-solo exhibitions and one group exhibition.
Honored to be hosting the debut U.K. solo shows from some of the biggest names in the New Contemporary / Urban Contemporary movements. At least 8 new works will be on view from each featured artist + a new print edition for their London fans will be issued in tandem with the fair. Be sure to come by our group exhibition at Stand 34 and say hi and grab your free Thinkspace logo parody button (in the vein of the classic logos of Slayer and Motorhead). We are really looking forward to meeting as many of our U.K. based patrons as possible during the fair.
Visit us at stands 27-34 at The Old Truman Brewery at 91 Brick Lane in the Shoreditch area of London, England / E1 6QL
Tickets and full details at: www.monikerartfair.com
Please Note: we will be offering the works for sale first to those attending the VIP and Public openings of the fair. The whole notion of this endeavor was to build each artist’s patron base in the U.K. Once the fair has opened we will do our best to then follow up with everyone that could not attend and get them a choice work. A digital preview for each solo exhibition and our group exhibition will be shared the morning of Friday, October 6 at 8 AM Pacific. We will then get back to all during the day on Saturday, October 7 to discuss purchase. Thank you and we can’t wait to debut all these incredible new works next month.
SOLO BOOTHS FROM:

Audrey Kawasaki + Brian Viveros + Cinta Vidal + David Cooley

Dulk + Kevin Peterson + Telmo Miel
GROUP SHOW WITH WORKS FROM:
Sainer + Zoer + Sebas Velasco + Esao Andrews + James Bullough
Fintan Magee + Carl Cashman + Jaune + Lonac & more
MURALS IN THE SHOREDITCH AREA FROM:
Dulk + Telmo Miel
BOOK SIGNINGS ON SATURDAY FROM:
Brian Viveros + Dulk + Telmo Miel
PRINT RELEASES ON SATURDAY FROM:
Audrey Kawasaki + Brian Viveros + Cinta Vidal + David Cooley
Dulk + Kevin Peterson + Telmo Miel
Full details including times for the print drops and book signings to follow next week along with sneak peeks from each of the participating artists. Prints will be issued to attendees of the fair first. Online sales of any remaining prints will follow late the week of October 9 and we will share full details here, to all on our newsletter list. Thank you.
Be sure to watch our Instagram and Facebook for sneak peaks from each

as we get closer to the fair.