The Shooting Gallery is pleased to present Just For One Day, a solo exhibition by San
Francisco-based artist, Ferris Plock. This new collection expands upon the artist’s
captivating use of ukiyo-e inspired design and vibrantly unique characters while
exploring the images that shaped his chi... Read more
The Shooting Gallery is pleased to present Just For One Day, a solo exhibition by San
Francisco-based artist, Ferris Plock. This new collection expands upon the artist’s
captivating use of ukiyo-e inspired design and vibrantly unique characters while
exploring the images that shaped his childhood. The exhibit is the artist’s second solo
show with The Shooting Gallery and will include over twenty pieces utilizing a mix of
acrylic, gouache, gold leaf, and spray paint on wood panel. The opening reception for
Just For One Day will be held at The Shooting Gallery on Saturday, October 1, 2011
from 7-11pm. The exhibit will be on display through October 29, 2011 and is free and
open to the public.Just For One Day brings the brightly colored and inimitable world of Ferris Plock’s
imagination into the public eye. The artist’s education in creative writing and literature
reveals itself in the continuous creation of new characters populating Plock’s work, fully
developed through a layering of unexpected details. The serene and structured
aesthetics of traditional Japanese styles are fused with a rebel sensibility and feature
appearances by Plock’s childhood heroes, drawn from an assortment of cartoons,
comics and commercials. Both the recognizable characters and the expressive-eyed,
long-toothed creatures from Plock’s own mind are infused with unmistakable
personality. A mischievous glint in the eye or a hint of a smile belies the true nature of
the figures Plock crafts with a visible sense of humor, bringing new life to familiar faces
of pop culture.
Sharply drawn lines and sparse, wood-stained backgrounds are a modernized
recreation of Japanese ukiyo-e wood block prints. ‘Ukiyo-e’ refers to the primary genre
of woodblock prints produced in Japan between the 17th and 20th century, featuring
scenes of the floating world, scenes removed from the reality of daily life and focused
on the excitement of performance and entertainment. The commonly depicted Sumo
wrestlers and Kabuki stars allowed viewers to gaze into a world not tethered to
pedestrian routine. Hundreds of year later, Plock’s work does the same thing for
contemporary audiences, allowing us to live for a moment among the inhabitants of an
invented world, revisiting that feeling of possibility we all knew in childhood- where
anything could happen and all things could exist
