MUST RUN 5/18

TROMPE L’OEIL PAINTINGS OPEN MAY 17 AT JOHN PENCE GALLERY

AVV/LSB SET 5/10 #69952

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. — On Thursday, May 17, the John Pence Gallery will open a major invitational exhibition of trompe l’oeil paintings. The exhibition will continue through June 23.

Trompe l’oeil, French for “trick the eye,” has deeply rooted history and has been part of many disciplined artist’s catalogs. Regarded as outside the mainstream art market for many years, this show offers visual appreciation for all of the contemporary painters in America still working in this tradition.

In a society intent on high resolution and high definition, artists are taking note of the public’s love of detail and desire for the accurate as well as the aesthetic. A trompe l’oeil painting teases this fixation, puts art in a different context and bemuses the viewer. Contemporary artists such as Anthony Waichulis and Will Wilson, who both spend meticulous months on a small work, and up to a year on a larger piece, will join 26 other artists in this exhibition that goes far beyond the image of representation art.

A successful trompe l’oeil painting evokes a series of interactions between viewer and surface.

The gallery is at 750 Post Street. For information, www.johnpence.com or 415-441-1138.