Who needs New York City when you have events like Ten Years of Dark Vomit in San Diego

The great thing about traveling to San Diego for work is not the part about working but catching up with what is going on and taking off in the San Diego art scene. Who needs New York City when you have events like Ten Years of Dark Vomit at the At Art of Framing. The show is down by now but the address is 3333 Adams Ave. Check them out for the sake of checking them out because they are bound to bring on the art for the sake of bringing on art.

The Art of Framing frame shop has an excellent show space. It is owned and run by Blythe Goodwin and Ryan Campbell who apparently do high quality framing and attract some of San Diego's most interesting artists. This is a place that generates excitement about art and follows through with the goods every time.

For the opening, fog flowed from the door as I approached the gallery. It was a cool effect and cleared the mental palate in a way as I passed through the door. Although I was interested in catching this show, I was not prepared for what hit me when I walked into the gallery space. The incredible amount of work packed on the wall made the show feel like a full sized installation. There had to be 75 or 80 original works on two walls and in a window. A disco ball threw motion on the starkly lit walls and video galleries on a large monitor led viewers into inter-dimensional participants.

Kelly Hutchison's work feels like it crept up out of the puke and graffiti filled punk shack and onto the gallery wall. Dark Vomit indeed. The volume of his painting through the last ten years is the living growth of passion and vision. A Van Gogh-like progression from the low to the high brow. His expansive imagery and luscious color, does exactly what surrealism is but it's ever so much more. A complete yet eerily familiar alternate reality. Subtle psychological layers. DiChirico and Magritte-like mind spaces with contemporary icons.
The San Diego City Beat Art writer Kinsee Morlan coined it perfectly with "pop disturbism". His vision is truly unique to himself but the timelessness and popularity of the forms everyone can relate to. Kelly's painting style is direct and references 19th century European painting (partly from his use of elaborate framing) and 1950's commercial illustration. Many scenes are consciously the moment before, during or after action or mishap. Lots of eyes. Eyes on pies, too many eyes on cats, chickens and people. An eye floating in my morning coffee.
Among the many eyed portraits on the walls, which he is famous for, some of the eyes on the portraits seemed to be following me, especially "Mr A. Fish". I thought it was just another visual trick, but lo and behold! The eyes have eyes. It seems Mr. Hutchison has recently been working with Mr. Bret Barrett, a kinetic artist I have been following for some time. The "Toxic Avenger", with one regular moving eye and one super-random moving eye courtesy of Mr. Barrett was mesmerizing for its modeled toxic skin as well as not being able to figure out how that googly eye motion is so random.
A picture of this show could be the pure and true definition of eye candy. Visually and psychologically exciting. Disturbing in only a fun-weird way, unless you are of weak constitution. This show is past tense as in ed, d, or t, but if Kelly Hutchison is showing anywhere you might be, it will be a must see. When I checked the works before leaving there were more red dots. My advice, buy low, sell high for art’s sake.