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OX-OP ARTS PRESENTS:
BUFFMONSTER
“DULCES LOCOS”
JAN 8th - FEB 2nd, 2005

Artist Reception: Saturday, January 8th, 7-10PM

Minneapolis, MN – If you had been driving down Wilshire Blvd. in Hollywood this past summer, it would’ve been hard to miss the large placard mounted to a light pole in the median reading “THE BUFFMONSTER SAYS, DON’T DO GRAFFITI!” Since this BuffMonster isn’t a municipal employee or sanctioned by the city of L.A., the sign in and of itself, is graffiti. Doesn't this make it a complete contradiction? Surprisingly, no. The Honolulu-born, 24 year old BuffMonster started doing graffiti 8 years ago, and in his words had “a whole lot of fun with it. But it’s just a big soap opera, and I don’t watch soap operas.” Instead, he used that forum to focus on non-graffiti things. Using his namesake character (and a florescent pink so shocking you’ll recall the mid-1980s heyday of “Poochie”), his goal is working toward total graffiti eradication. One example is his use of spray cans. While an empty can is detritus to most artists, BuffMonster flattens them out to use as his canvas, most often incorporating his trademark X-eyed bubble character. He then nails the finished work to a telephone pole for the public to see, as a warning akin to a Medieval head on a pole. Is it graffiti? Technically yes, but without the cost or expense to cities or property owners for removal, since the cans usually end up being taken by people hoping to own their very own BuffMonster. Since his start 8 years ago, BuffMonster’s paintings, posters and large scale installations have been featured in such heavy hitters as New York’s Asian American Arts Centre and Future is Now Gallery, The Independent Arts Center in Seattle and Culture Cache Gallery in San Francisco as well as galleries in Tokyo, Amsterdam and of course the city he calls home, Los Angeles. Even actress/socialite Paris Hilton has gotten up close and personal with his work! To see the art of BuffMonster, you can check out his site at www.buffmonster.com.

From City Pages A-List recommended events
January 5, 2004
by, Rod Smith

Buffmonster: Dulces Locos

Will "Dulces Locos" spill over onto Ox-Op Gallery's exterior--or the entire city? It seems likely. Like Shepard Fairey's "Obey" commands, Buffmonster's ironic anti-graffiti messages and preternaturally cute critters have a way of getting around. But they're easier to remove and far more pink. The show's namesake image depicts a frolicsome slew of sentient bubbles rendered in the same pupil-searing pastels that the Los Angeles-based street artist uses to enhance municipal utility boxes and the flattened, decorated spray paint cans he sometimes nails to light poles. Chances are, at least a few of the latter will be available at this exhibition of all new work--maybe even indoors. Artist reception 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Saturday. Regular gallery hours 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday. JAN 8-FEB 2, 2005

Art Dealer

Art Attack on the Suburbs-Grumpy’s Art Unveiling Party
Aesthetic Apparatus-"2nd Annual Kindling & Litter-Box-Liner Sale"
"Rome is Burning/The New School"
Aesthetic Apparatus-"The Official Aesthetic Apparatus Kindling & Litter-Box-Liner Sale"
Gary Baseman- "MOD Manifestations Of Desire"
Mark Mothersbaugh-"Postcard Diaries"
Gary Taxali-"Chumpy's Specials"
Nathan Jurevicius-"Tunnel Vision"
Shepard Fairey "Visual Disobedience"
Jaime Hayon: "Mon Cirque"
Derek Hess: "Descent from Grace"
Shag-"Push Your Luck"
Billy Childish-Paintings, Prints, Poetry & Performance
Kii Arens-"The Yard Sale"
Burlesque of North America: First Blood, Part III
"Triangulated Fire" paintings by Naoto Hattori, Ryan Kelly & Chris Ryniak
BuffMonster-"Dulces Locos"
Dalek- "The Return of the Space Monkey"
Yumiko Kayukawa & Oksana Badrak
Glenn Barr-"New Paintings & Prints"
KRK Ryden-"The Atomic Glob Show"
Camille Rose Garcia-"Works on Paper"
"Qeedrophonic"
Frank Kozik-"All Your Base Are Belong to Us"
Bwana Spoons & Martin Ontiveros "Like Sqeezing Juice from a Stone"
"Rated XX"
Aesthetic Apparatus
George Thompson-"Bachelor of Fine Arts"
Mark Mothersbaugh-"Beautiful Mutants"
Charles S. Anderson Design-"Awful Pretty: Original Art"
Jeff Soto-"Complete Domination"
Dave Burke-"New Paintings"
Tim Biskup-"The Phantom Thread"
Shag-"Tell No One: Paintings and Prints"
Niagara-"Paintings,Prints and General Artistic Mayhem
Shepard Fairey -"Prints and the Revolution"
Gary Baseman-"Open Wounds (and other paintings about vulnerability)"
Dalek-"Two Fingers of Milk"
"Big Bang"