Opening Reception: April 1, 6 - 8 pm

Octavia Art Gallery is pleased to present Gentleman’s Game, a collaboration of New York City artists Brandon Friend and Jason Douglas Griffin.

In this striking and brutal world imagined by Gentleman’s Game, mankind struggles to hold on to the last vestiges of terrain, both manmade and natural. Man’s tenacious survival instinct and ingenuity give rise to incredible, towering cities built upon the skeletons of long decaying oil rigs and the very few mountaintops able to break the surface of the great, never-ending ocean. The constant struggle for resources and land lead to a proliferation of fantastical modes of transport. Alchemists, utilizing technologies and magics both old and new, create vessels to fill the sea and air, allowing their clans to fight and maybe survive as new Gods watch over their subjects with cool disregard. Among the chaos and despair, the artists still manage to create images of hope. Glimmers of this world’s fragile beauty can be spotted throughout the relentless turmoil. Friend and Griffin, collectively working as Gentleman’s Game since 2011, have explored the themes of mythology, technology, history and mortality viewed through the murky waters of the Atlantic, the vast ocean that covers nearly the entire surface of their world. [1]

Their partnership is considered unique, but it is their signature technique for bridging the gap between the digital and the handmade that is unlike any other. Both artists work together to create works by combining mixed media in a process that employs various methodologies rooted in painting, printmaking, collage, drawing and image transfer. Images, textures and handmade marks are often scanned, printed and then transferred to the canvas or paper surface using a fixative. The transfer process is facilitated through the application and removal of numerous layers of paper medium allowing different effects begin to develop and variations are created within the moment. Though technology is integral to their process, it is ultimately the artist’s hand that is responsible for the final creative decisions.[2]

Gentleman’s Game last exhibited in New Orleans during the fall of 2016 at the Reynolds Ryan Art Gallery. This was a residency and partnership program with Isidore Newman School and the Breakthrough New Orleans students made possible through the Harry T. Howard Foundation and the Elizabeth Oudt Fund. The students collaborated with the artists through a series of workshops, to create a work of art utilizing the artist’s unique process and techniques. For their exhibition at Octavia, Gentleman’s Game has created a limited edition print of this collaborative piece, which will be sold with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Isidore Newman School Arts Program.

Gentleman’s Game has works in private collections around the nation and their work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and art fairs including: Project Gallery, CA; Vered Gallery, NY; 19 Karen Gallery, AU; Scope Basel, FL; Scope NY, NY; Texas Contemporary, TX and Fountain Art Fair, NY and IL.