Chaz Guest - 'Hybrid' : New Works, Opening January

____________________________________________

LEFT COAST GALLERIES

PRESENTS

HYBRID : NEW PAINTINGS BY CHAZ GUEST

January 14 - February 9, 2010

Opening Reception : Thursday, January 14th, 6 - 9 p.m.
____________________________________________

Left Coast Galleries will feature artist Chaz Guest's new paintings in an exhibit titled, "Hybrid." The works were inspired by Guest's recent trips to Asia, as well as his newfound inspiration in African culture, namely the Ethiopian culture of the Omo Valley. In Asia, Guest traveled to Nagoya, Kyoto, Tokyo, Obama-Shi and Aizu, and he spent time in Hangzhou. "These travels were a strong key to the creative process," says Guest. "My work is about one individual using his imagination to create a hybrid of the two cultures." Three of his African Geisha paintings were exhibited at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco in an exhibit titled "Decoding Identity-I Do It For My People," featuring 20 artists works that challenge cultural and ethnic prejudices and question issues of religion, sexuality, race, and gender.

Other work

s will feature paintings rendered directly on 100% cotton American Flags that Guest purchased from the South. The platform for Guest's form of artistic expression can be traced to pivotal influences in his background. Born May 2, 1961 in Niagara Falls, NY, he was raised to revere the spiritual by his father, a gospel minister, whose bold sermons resonate as an inner voice in Guest's work. His first passion in school was gymnastics, which brought him to Southern Connecticut State University to study kinesiology and pursue a degree in graphic arts. He subsequently competed successfully in the U.S. Olympic program.

Guest's loves of movement, and his ability to synchronize that flow from the spiritual to the visual, conveys an athlete's innate strength of motion and emotion. After graduating from S.C.S.U., Guest moved to New York City, where he enrolled in a fashion design curriculum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. It was during this period that he honed his formal skills in drawing.
He later moved to Paris where he worked for Dior, Lacroix and Yves St. Laurent. It was while in Europe Guest's eye for physical poetry turned his focus to painting.

For most of this decade, Guest's work has received rave reviews across various segments of society, whether established members of the art community or political figures, notably including President Barack Obama, who has chosen a particularly powerful Guest portrait of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall which graced his office when he was a Senator and now hangs in The White House in his study.

In recent years, Guest has established a large and dedicated following of collectors. The impressive roster of cultural and business luminaries who have supported his work includes: Hugh Quigley, Marcus Miller, Kenny Garrett, Victoria Rowell, Dennis Haysbert, Denzel and Pauletta Washington, Mattie and Michael Lawson, Faye and Robert Davidson, Stacia and Michael Washington, Bill and Brenda Galloway,

Josh Lucas, Dr. Tod and Shelly Turner, Dr. Deborrah Hyde, Steve McKeever, Ron Sweeny, Naomi Campbell, and the renowned Bebe Winans, just to name a few.

Chaz Guest's Exhibit, "Hybrid," will be on display from January 14th through February 9, 2010 at Left Coast Galleries. . An opening reception for Chaz Guest will take place Thursday, January 14th from 6 to 9 p.m. The gallery is located at 12324 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City and is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. with other hours available by appointment.