Queen of Hearts

“Quitting my day job in porn to freelance as an artist full time,” says artist Brian Ewing of the decision that sparked his career watershed. “[I was] working for Hustler on the magazines handling scheduling, prep houses and printers. I swore that’d be my last day job.” Although Ewing has transformed into one of rock music and pop art’s most prolific, iconic image-makers, remaining down-to-earth and staying inspired are key elements to the growth of his rebellious art empire. While he’s become a sought-after household name for record labels and agencies, Ewing has stayed true to the independent spirit of his art, and his style has developed over time. “At first I was just happy to get a chance to draw and work with my favorite bands,” he says of his early punk-rock posters. But with his growth from poster artist to full-blown fine artist, he’s followed in the footsteps of his heroes and mentors--Frank Kozik, Coop, Tara McPherson and many others--building an instantly recognizable stylistic empire. Informed by everything from art nouveau to ukiyo-e woodblock printing, from the full-throttle art of SoCal’s “kustom” car culture to the dynamism and self-assured lines of comics, Ewing’s work fuses his own creative explorations Get Up Gallery’s brick and mortar space has manifested itself via the success of Drymounted.com and Getupgallery.com’s celebration of all things street art and print making. The Gallery resides within the Emergency Arts collective (formally the Fremont medical building) in Downtown Las Vegas. ‘The Royal Couple’ is Get Up Gallery’s inaugural exhibition and will celebrate the aesthetics of the King and Queen associated with playing cards. The five artists listed below will produce their artistic interpretation of the King, Queen, and Joker. Get Up Gallery was opened on December 2nd, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Owner Derek Douglas is a Las Vegas native who graduated from UNLV in 2004 with a Bachelor Of Arts Degree. With many years of enjoying street art in its various forms, and eventually collecting work created by Street Artists around the world, the dream of opening a gallery with an emphasis on street art finally materialized. Based on the foundation of Derek Douglas’s popular online blog Drymounted.com, and the relationships he has built throughout the years with artists from around the world, the goal of bringing the streets from all cites to a gallery in Downtown Las Vegas is now a reality. Get Up Gallery prides itself on displaying the most talented street artists from all over, as well as those located in Las Vegas, under 1 roof. Get Up Gallery not only displays original artwork, but many exclusive limited edition prints, print sets and skateboard decks will be on display, which will appeal to collectors of all types. Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A roller or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink past the threads of the woven mesh in the open areas. Screen printing is also a stencil method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of silk or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance, and ink is forced through the mesh onto the printing surface. It is also known as silkscreen, seriography, and serigraph.