March 7 - March 28, 2014

This March, Loakal Art Gallery presents “Double Vision,” an exhibition of two distinct bodies of work by Bay Area artist Sam W. Grant. Though Grant considers his painting and photography practices to be separate endeavors, they are two sides of the same coin. Imbued with mid-century vintage imagery – from cat eye glasses and a-line skirts to dusty shades of green and mustard yellow — Grant’s paintings and photographs convey a sense of optimistic, even utopian, nostalgia.

A skilled painter from a young age, the artist describes his painting practice as second nature. Photography, on the other hand, was an acquired skill. While drawing and painting came to him easily, his desire for technical mastery of photography became an obsession in his post-college years. As his painting and photography practices developed as separate entities over time, Sam Grant the painter and Sam Grant the photographer became two distinct identities. Many who know him for one body of work are unfamiliar with the other.

One year ago, however, Grant began hand-coloring his photographs and making connections between his two preferred media. While Grant’s paintings border on surreal with their geometric compositions, his photographs are styled with a similar retro-inspired aesthetic reminiscent of the pop culture visuals of the 1960s. “Double Vision” will be the first time Grant shows his paintings and photographs together, demonstrating the ways his creative practices converge through a single aesthetic lens.

About Sam W. Grant:

Sam W. Grant was born in Augusta, Maine in 1978. His interest for art began as a child when he discovered his passion for drawing.  Grant attended college in New York where he studied music and literature. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree (with a major in Music Production and a double minor in Literature and Music) from Manhattanville College, he moved to Spain where he remained for five years. It was there he developed his skill as a painter, and then later as a photographer.

Though Grant paints with a realist sensibility, he presents his figurative subject matter with an imaginative, pop-inspired aesthetic that invokes design and illustration elements. His vibrantly-colored works pulse with intensity, creating a visual interplay between surreal elements and the pulp imagery of the mid-20th century. This retro-inspired aesthetic and intensity of color carry over to Grant’s photographic work. However, unlike much of his painted subject matter, Grant’s photos often aim to document everyday life, bringing out the quiet stillness that lives in those photographic moments we all pass along the way.  

View available artwork.