THIEVES LIKE US

Art Prostitute Presents...
Thieves Like Us: An exhibition of new work by Vanessa Michel and April Pierce
Left image: Vanessa Michel :: The Revelation: La Revolución (detail) :: 57"x29" :: oil on canvas
Right image: April Pierce :: And Then She Woke Up (detail) :: 30"x40" :: mixed media on canvas

November 4 - December 4, 2006 // Artist reception: Sat. November 4 (7-10PM)
Shiny Around the Edges will perform live in the gallery at 8pm
Dj Select of The Party will be on the turntables throughout the night

Art Prostitute Gallery
2919-C Commerce St. // Dallas, TX 75226
http://www.artprostitute.com // 214.760.7170

Vanessa Michel Bio
Exhibiting two bodies of work, Vanessa Michel's paintings depict a single character posited in an oppressive space emptied of dimension - addressing our experience of the physical world. The large contour drawings are made with cochineal, a crimson pigment derived of a cactus beetle native to Central America. The bright red pigment, first cultivated by the Aztec and Mayan empire, was put into large scale production by the colonial Spanish Empire in the seventeenth century. Now only harvested by indigenous people in Mexico, cochineal becomes the modus operandi in which the historical reoccurrence of labor exploitation is linked to the present backlash toward immigration labor in the United States. The drawings are based on photographs taken by the artist while participating in Immigration Reform demonstrations in New York City.

Vanessa Michel is an artist and writer based in Brooklyn, New York. She is from El Paso, Texas and received a Bachelors of Fine Art cum laude from The University of North Texas. She will be participating in Painting: The Semi-Sublime curated by Diana Block at The UNT Artspace FW this spring, 2007.

April Pierce Bio
April Pierce's paintings and drawings are vignettes seized from the everyday. Snapshots of the near and dear, magazine images, and video stills often provide the basis for her work. Since the completion of her BFA, from the University of North Texas, Pierce has spent her time developing a unique style of mark making easily described by a level of detail that borders on obsessive. Written words, buried within the drawings, reveal the vulnerability of her subjects as her pencil explores and defines every facet of their expression. Her illustration work has appeared in the pages of Art Prostitute, where she be a featurette in their upcoming issue. She has exhibited with the gallery in several group shows. Thieves Like Us, will be her first exhibition of note with Art Prostitute. Be sure and support all this home town heat...Dallas on the rise! -SOBER