My current exhibition, “Living In The Past”, is a selection of drawings, screen prints, and photographs (by Jon Dragonette) from my recent Haight Street Artist in Residency project with SF Heritage and Grants For The Arts. The show will open on 4/17/21 at The Haight Street Art Center, 215 Haight St. here in San Francisco. The day of the exhibition I will release a very special limited shirt collaboration with FTC skate shop, Love On Haight and Ben Davis. Also that day I will release a special jacket collaboration with Derby Jackets that is a tribute to vintage SF Muni, and the old Haight Streetcar. Please follow up on social media for more information on the show, the shirt, and the jacket releases.
My next solo show of drawings opens at BlackBook Gallery in Denver Colorado on October 24th, and is appropriately titled “These Covidian Times”
I drew these 24 blue and black ink drawings during the first six months of this Covid-19 pandemic. I was fortunate to have my health, my cat, good people to shelter with, and in great spaces to live and draw. It was tough times to watch my neighborhood, my city, and the whole world struggle to understand and endure these crazy times spent inside the house, and inside our minds. I tried to use my time drawing, and this extensive time alone, to explore new ways to stay as positive as possible during such a turbulent time in human history.
These 24 original ink drawings are available for sale from The BlackBook Gallery in Denver Colorado: info@blackbookgallery.com
Each drawing is 11″ x 14″, Sakura ink on Strathmore Bristol board, comes framed, and were drawn during These Covidian Times 2/2020-8/2020.
From September to December I will be living and working on my 3rd civic Artist in Residency project here in San Francisco. In cooperation with SF Heritage, The Haight Street Art Center, and Grants For The Arts I will be the first “Haight Ashbury Counterculture Artist In Residence”. On the corner of Haight Ashbury, one of the most famous intersections in the world, I will be living and working in this magnificent three story mansion above the storefronts for the next three months. Built in 1903, The Doolan-Larson building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated San Francisco Landmark No. 253. The building’s longtime owner and resident, Norman Larson (1938-2018), completed his incredible restoration of the property in 2007. It is an honor and a pleasure to move across town with my cat Mrs Brown, to draw some pictures in this giant historic property in the Upper Haight. If you have any suggestions, requests, or connections to the Haight Ashbury, the Summer Of Love, the music of that era, or the 1960’s Counterculture movement that could help inspire or inform this residency project please get in touch: mrjfish@gmail.com. Thanks again to everyone involved in this wonderful opportunity
“Peace, Love and Haight” Sakura ink pens, or Strathmore bristol board / Summer 2020 / San Francisco, California
I drew this version of the San Francisco flag during these Covidian times to remind my fellow citizens that our city’s motto describes our resilient past. With the help of the local homies at Anchor Brewing Company I made some posters of this image in support all of the boarded up bars and out of work bartenders across our city. There is scan code in the bottom right corner which directs you to donate to the USBG Bartenders Guild.
I made 1,000 screen prints of this image to be given away for people to display in their windows. My intention was to build unity and comradery with my fellow San Franciscans during this difficult time. I also made some 36″ versions of this image and with Anchor Brewing’s help, and permission from some of our city’s greatest drinking establishments, we pasted the image over the boarded up doors and windows of these closed bars. My intent was to show support to these bars and bartenders that we all love so much here in San Francisco.
This screen print was created as a fundraiser for my out of work bartender and server friends here in North Beach, San Francisco, California. 100 prints sold for $100. each, and raised 10k, which I donated 100% of the profits to the closed establishments in my neighborhood featured in the artwork. Sadly, this will only barely scratch the surface of the financial disaster faced by my neighborhood service industry homies. I drew this image with those friends, and their struggle in mind. The prints sold out in 3.5 minutes, and was a successful fundraiser. I plan to make more this summer, perhaps in a new colorway. Stay tuned.
Massive thank you to Nat Swope of Bloom Press in Oakland for the rush printing job, and my homeboy Ken Harman from the Hashimoto gallery for donating the fulfillment and packaging for this fundraiser
