Art In Bars

 

Chris Gauvain

 

Tshombe

12 Steps Down has been a good place to see drawings on display. Now they’re showing the work of Chris Gauvain whose pencil strokes are very emotive. This hockey fight scene and all the squiggly and crooked lines express just how violent the moment is. I know I wouldn’t want to be punched in the face like that. Every time I’ve been in a fight it’s been some weak bastard grazing my cheek or the top of my head. You can feel the power behind the blow and the rustling of the Jerseys in the forefront of this drawing. But the strange thing that’s happening in this drawing is that the spectators in the background are all monochrome with hardly any detail. The crowds lack of detail gives off a diffrent style of drawing altogether. It’s as if the forefront of the picture is a still from a Guy Ritchie movie and the background a frame from a Bill Plympton cartoon . I like this contrast because the absence of colors enhance the red blood splatter that comes right out of the frame. (more…)