SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS is pleased to present IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY, I GUESS, a group exhibition featuring new work by Gregory Bojorquez, Tim Diet, Mark Drew, Michelle Guintu, Jeramee Haynie, Patrick Martinez, and Kevin Woodruff. The title is a direct reference to a lyric from The Recipe by Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre. The show also touches on indirect references, such as the intangible essence of summer in Southern California, the individual experiences each exhibiting artist has had with music, and the disparate communities music can bring together.

The work in IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY, I GUESS ranges in form and style but all retain the general playfulness that permeates throughout Los Angeles. Bojorquez highlights a sunnier side of the music industry with photography showcasing the smiles and swagger of some of hip-hop's biggest names. Diet's paintings are a mash-up of pop references, cartoon characters, and thug life. Drew paints musical genres in the form of stacked cassettes with an old school rhetoric that echoes current cool. Guintu paints, draws, and imagines a neon-toned life sprinkled with her favorite stars and musicians. Martinez visually recreates Los Angeles life as he sees it, breathes it, endures it, thinks it, observes it, and loves it… ultimately paying homage to it in the form of neon word plays, paintings of flowery gun stashes, still life casts of fruit, soda pop, and Cheetos, and birthday cakes dedicated to rap royalty. Haynie is a performance artist with literal and figurative interest in the ways music can move a person, while Woodruff's sound installation brings the viewer back to the exhibition's origin: music and it's oh-so-colorful culture.

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY, I GUESS is presented in collaboration with Andres Guerrero, owner of Guerrero Gallery in San Francisco, Calif. Guerrero, a talented artist in his own right, has a history with Subliminal Projects and Shepard Fairey. He showed with Subliminal in 2010 and has since exhibited work by Fairey in his SF gallery. This is the first show he has organized at Subliminal Projects but he continues to curate exhibitions and special projects in San Francisco and Oakland.

The opening reception at SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS will take place on Saturday, July 18 from 8 to 11 pm and will feature a special performance by Kevin Woodruff and Jeramee Haynie. A number of the artists will be in attendance and an RSVP is required to rsvp@subliminalprojects.com. The show will be on view through August 15th.

Gregory Bojorquez
(b. 1972) grew up in East Los Angeles and began his career photographing his friends and neighbors. He gained the confidence of some of LA's notorious street gangs and was able to document their activities. His photos have been published in LA Weekly, Rolling Stone, and FHM magazines. He continues to photograph events, riots, and figures of the Los Angeles landscape.

Tim Diet was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He first began painting in the 80s, sneaking out of his parents' house at night to "tag" alongside his older brother. The graffiti lifestyle immediately drew him in and influenced both his craft and persona. Diet has traveled across the US, Europe, and Japan just to paint. His work can be found in the streets, in publications, and now in galleries.

Mark Drew (b. 1978) was born in Australia and currently lives and works in Tokyo. He is Co-Founder of China Heights Gallery (Sydney, AUS). His artwork revolves around pop culture references, 90s rap samples, and the visual side of music.

Michelle Guintu lives and works in San Francisco and graduated with a BFA in 2006. She works in a variety of media including tempera paints, paper mache, and thread. Her subject matter includes rosy-cheeked caricatures of pop icons depicted in bright hues.

Jeramee Haynie graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2010 with a BFA in New Genres. He is a performance artist whose work focuses on the themes of movement, physical exertion of the body, shame and embarrassment, and the pushing and pulling of personal limits. Through his work he strives to inspire introspective thought and create opportunities for healthy, open discussions. Haynie lives and works in Los Angeles.

Patrick Martinez is from Los Angeles and was introduced to Hip Hop culture and graffiti as a teenager in the early 90s. Both movements influenced his art ever since he understood what they were about. Martinez attended Pasadena City College and later moved onto Art Center College of Design in 2001, where he received a BFA.

Kevin Woodruff lives and works in San Francisco. He is the drummer in Breakarts, EYE O, Murder Murder, and Tussle. Playing acoustic drum kit and Roland sample pad, he blends elements of various genres into every instrumental abstraction or "song". The results are what he describes as a smattering of this and a smattering of that, with a focus on engagement.