News

Take it Acid Is by Mark McCloud

FIFTY24SF GALLERY in association with Upper Playground is proud to announce Mark Mc Cloud's "Take It Acid Is" exhibition featuring key examples of actual blotter paper from "The Institute of Illegal Images", the largest private collection of blotter art in the world and a selection of forensic photographic prints from BlotterBarn.com . Opening Friday June 26th at 7pm.  

"They are a wonderful testament to the age of acid"  -Terence McKenna

"This show focuses on the blotter art that I obtained or created through my 50 years of love for The Grateful Dead ." - Mark McCloud 

Recognized worldwide as the preeminent collector of LSD art and holding a Masters of Fine Art from UC Davis and two-time National Endowment for the Arts recipient, Mc Cloud has been celebrated, vilified, indicted, acquitted and ultimately conscripted to the annals of psychedelic art history. Mark and his collection have been featured in Vice, National Geographic, Juxtapoz, Beautiful Decay, Cabinet, Salon, SF Weekly, SFAQ and The Bold Italic among others. He continues to acquire and preserve pristine examples of this, both global and Bay Area-centric cultural history to this day from his home in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco. The Golden Road Gallery will also be on hand the night of the opening with an extensive collection of Vanity Blotter for collectors to purchase.

This Is Not A Poster by Bicicleta Sem Freio at Fifty24SF Gallery, Opening May 1st 2015

Fifty24SF Gallery in association with Upper Playground and JUSTKIDS is proud to present “This Is Not A Poster” by Brazilian duo, Bicicleta Sem Freio, opening May 1st 2015.  The exhibition at Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco will be their first solo show in the United States.

Recognized worldwide for their expressive line work and warm, vibrant color schemes, the multi talented Brazilian illustrators and muralists, Douglas de Castro and Renato Perreira will showcase original work inspired by their love of Poster Art.

Over the past decade, Bicicleta Sem Freio has been pursued to realize posters for Vampire Weekend, Jurassic 5, Kings of Leon and Beck among many others, and have produced custom work for some of the best musical talents in the industry.  In continuation of their creative output inspired by music, the artists aim to playfully pay visual homage to the Art of music posters by presenting a body of work for fictitious bands and themes.

“The essential idea is that we love posters and we past almost 10 years doing it for local bands and festivals and we wanted to do a show with fake posters with no info, the letterings are only ornamental and don’t mean anything” -BSF

Bicicleta Sem Freio’s signature style, which draws references from their roots in music, Brazilian culture, their love for 80s and pop culture iconography, have been emerging on large-scale public installations all over the world, including one of the largest artist mural in Downtown, Los Angeles just painted last year.

In conjunction to their first ever show in the United States, a second mural is planned for Bicicleta Sem Freio in San Francisco, with more information to be announced soon via Upper Playground.

Exhibition: May 1st – June 15th, 2015

Opening: May 1st, 2015 – 7pm, Artists in Attendance

Fifty24SF Gallery 218 Fillmore St. San Francisco, CA 94117

For art inquires please contact: gallery@fifty24SF.com

For upcoming details about the show please follow: @fifty24SFgallery, @justkidsofficial, @upperplayground, @bicicletasemfreio

Brazilian Duo, Bicicleta Sem Freio's First US Solo Show at Fifty24SF Gallery, San Francisco

Fifty24SF Gallery in association with Upper Playground and JUSTKIDS is proud to present “This Is Not A Poster” by Brazilian duo, Bicicleta Sem Freio, opening May 1st 2015.  The exhibition at Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco will be their first solo show in the United States.

Recognized worldwide for their expressive line work and warm, vibrant color schemes, the multi talented Brazilian illustrators and muralists, Douglas de Castro and Renato Perreira will showcase original work inspired by their love of Poster Art.

Over the past decade, Bicicleta Sem Freio has been pursued to realize posters for Vampire Weekend, Jurassic 5, Kings of Leon and Beck among many others, and have produced custom work for some of the best musical talents in the industry.  In continuation of their creative output inspired by music, the artists aim to playfully pay visual homage to the Art of music posters by presenting a body of work for fictitious bands and themes.

“The essential idea is that we love posters and we past almost 10 years doing it for local bands and festivals and we wanted to do a show with fake posters with no info, the letterings are only ornamental and don’t mean anything” -BSF

Bicicleta Sem Freio’s signature style, which draws references from their roots in music, Brazilian culture, their love for 80s and pop culture iconography, have been emerging on large-scale public installations all over the world, including one of the largest artist mural in Downtown, Los Angeles just painted last year.

In conjunction to their first ever show in the United States, a second mural is planned for Bicicleta Sem Freio in San Francisco, with more information to be announced soon via Upper Playground.

Exhibition: May 1st – June 15th, 2015

Opening: May 1st, 2015 – 7pm, Artists in Attendance

Fifty24SF Gallery
218 Fillmore St.
San Francisco, CA 94117

For art inquires please contact: gallery@fifty24SF.com

For upcoming details about the show please follow: @fifty24SFgallery@justkidsofficial@upperplayground@bicicletasemfreio

PREVIEW FOR HAJIME SORAYAMA PRINT SHOW – OPENING APRIL 4TH 2015

This Saturday April 4th at 7pm, Fifty24SF Gallery in association with Upper Playground presents a print show by renowned artist Hajime Sorayama. The influential pin-up artist, recognized for his “sexy robot” paintings, gives fans and collectors a rare opportunity to see his art in person, as this is the Vargas Award winner’s first time showing his work in San Francisco.  A selected collection of new and old prints will be available for purchase at Fifty24SF in Lower Haight, San Francisco. Below is a preview of some of the selected prints by Sorayama.

Coming Soon to San Francisco: Hajime Sorayama Print Show - April 4th 2015

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This Saturday April 4th at 7pm, Fifty24SF Gallery in association with Upper Playground presents a print show by renowned artist Hajime Sorayama. The influential pip-up artist, recognized for his "sexy robot" paintings, gives fans and collectors a rare opportunity to see his art in person, as this is the Vargas Award winner's first time showing his work in San Francisco.  A selected collection of new and old prints will be available for purchase at Fifty24SF in Lower Haight, San Francisco. Below is a preview of some of the selected prints by Sorayama.

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Prints will be available online starting 7PM PST at upperplayground.com or contact the gallery directly at gallery@fifty24SF.com.

Exhibition dates: April 4th – April 26th 2015 Opening: April 4th 7pm

Fifty24SF Gallery 218 Fillmore St. San Francisco, CA 94117

Print Show by Hajime Sorayama Opens April 4th 2015 at Fifty24SF Gallery - San Francisco

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Fifty24SF Gallery in association with Upper Playground is pleased to present a special print show by renowned Japanese artist, Hajime Sorayama, opening April 4th, 2015. Sorayama is recognized world-wide for his uniquely imaginative, erotic style of paintings. The sleek chrome aesthetic of robotics in a hyper-sexualized feminine form has been a signature style for Sorayama that has spanned over 4 decades. Sorayama is a Vargas Award winner, the highest achievement in air-brush artistry. His art displayed in permanent collections at the MOMA, Smithsonian Institute and the US Library of Congress.

Considered as one of the most influential pin-up artists of our time, Sorayama will be making available for the time in San Francisco, a selected collection of his new and old prints. This will be a rare chance for his fans and collectors to see Sorayama’s work in person.

For more information about the artist and available prints please contact gallery@fifty24SF.com.

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Exhibition dates: April 4th – April 26th 2015 Opening: April 4th 7pm

Fifty24SF Gallery 218 Fillmore St. San Francisco, CA 94117

Usugrow completes new mural in Marrakech, Morocco

With support from Valeie Liais du Rocher of Studio IWA and Upper Playground, Usugrow made his mark on Morocco with a mural in Marrakech's historical spice square, Rahba Kedima. The painting features his signature hand style stretched across the facade of the renown Cafe Des Epices, evoking influences from Kanji (Japanese), Arabic and English calligraphy.

Photos by Ralph Liais for Upper Playground

"A light in the Darkness" by Sam Flores

We're pleased to announce Sam Flores' upcoming solo-exhibition at FIFTY24SF Gallery entitled "A light in the Darkness", opening Saturday December 6th at 6pm, during the Lower Haight Art Walk.

Artist Statement:

The continuous theme in my work is "balance". The balance of good vs. evil, light and dark.

Throughout this new body of work, I'm focusing on light that comes from a dark place. People at one time or another experience negative moments in their lives, situations they feel that they can't outrun, like they are stuck in a shadow. No matter how dark things get, the most important thing, is to be able to hold on to the vision of that light, in order to keep hope and faith alive.

Without darkness you would never be able to notice how bright something can shine. I want to illuminate the human spirit and inspire people to hang on, strive for something better, keep their dreams, passions and love alive by holding onto the light, no matter how dark things seem around them. I have been fortunate enough in my life to have people shine a light on me, help keep me on my path and keep me from getting lost. Having someone there to help us navigate our own darkness, whether it's our subconscious, a thought, idea or even a creature, we all need to have "A Light in the Darkness."

USUGROW

Join us for an in store book signing and limited edition print release with Usugrow at the Upper Playground store in Lower Haight, San Francisco this Sunday, September 28th from 3-6pm. Pick up a copy of the book and print and have them signed by the artist himself.

INKFLOW, a solo-exhibition by Usugrow

FIFTY24SF is pleased to announce INKFLOW, a solo-exhibition by Usugrow, Opening Saturday, October 4th at 7:00pm. Book singing for his highly anticipated book "Works 2007-2013" and limited edition print release will be held Sunday, September 28th at 3:00pm at Upper Playground 220 Fillmore St. San Francisco, CA 94117.

Usugrow began his own artistic activity by creating flyers in underground punk and hard core music scene in early 90's. Since then, he has been involved in various album cover designs for bands and musicians regardless of genre, art directions and merchandises, and also collaborating with lots of skateboarding brands and fashion brands.

Usugrow expanded the range of his activity and done several solo exhibition at art galleries in Japan and overseas since 2005, and published his first monograph. In addition to his solo exhibition, he has been curating the group exhibition and book projects with Japanese artists since 2009.

He currently works on mainly illustration, painting and calligraphy as well as live painting, collaboration project with other artists and three-dimensional artwork.

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