White Walls is pleased to present New Works by ROA, a collection of highly detailed hand-painted works by acclaimed Belgian street artist ROA. This will be ROA’s very first project with White Walls, and his first solo gallery exhibition in the Bay Area. The opening reception will be Saturday, April 9, from 7-11 pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through May 7.

The work for the show is shrouded in secrecy, as the notoriously elusive street artist has decided to wait until opening night to reveal the work he’s been busily constructing. Viewers can expect ROA’s signature stunning, yet totally disquieting depictions of animals, with some interesting surprises thrown in for these smaller works. He has been given the entirety of White Walls to create a massive installation for the exhibition, and the project will be something not to be missed. From the artist himself:

“For me painting murals means free expression, and creatively, it liberates me from a lot of restrictions. As an urban painter you get the privilege to interact with the environment and to intervene within the local situation. For me, painting became a lifestyle, traveling trough towns and villages, looking for walls and being a part of a larger international movement of creative people from North and South America, Europe, Russia – who are simply are connected through the pleasure of painting. These people inspire me every day. The texture of the wall, the challenge of painting, the environment – everything inspires my ideas of that particular moment, and the whole process of public painting involves working with an unpredictable situation. This ephemeral act change a place for maybe a few days or sometimes even for many years. This is the beautiful part of painting outside, the fact that nothing is defined. The motivation to paint animals instead of so many other things is because I am completely fascinated by them. For me, represent so much more symbolically than humans do. I prefer to paint the ordinary animals from a certain town or country; the rodents, the domestic animals, the birds, all kinds of animals that are forced to adapt to their situation because humans altered their natural habitat, for the sake of infrastructure. I have such a deep admiration for these displaced species, and I find their situation so tragic, and moving.“

Street artist ROA got his start by painting intriguing murals of animals in hidden places – underneath bridges and on walls that strayed from the beaten path. A darling of the underground street art scene, photos of his work regularly appear on Vandalog, Wooster Collective, Unurth, and a fury of London newspapers and blogs running to his defense when a street piece he did in Hackney faced removal late last year.

ROA is earnestly repopulating the cityscape with animals, as a way to have them re-enter the contemporary landscape that was once theirs. With a style all his own.

White Walls Gallery has worked for nearly a decade to exist as the premiere destination for urban art in the Bay Area. Combined with the Shooting Gallery just next door, this 4,000 sq ft space is one of the largest galleries on the west coast. Justin Giarla founded the gallery in 2005 with a commitment to furthering the urban art movement, drawing directly from street art and graffiti culture. Named for its plain white walls, the gallery takes a backseat to the real focus: the work of our artists.

Media Opportunities:
Interview with owner/founder/curator Justin Giarla

Event Information:
New Works by ROA

Opening Reception – April 9, 2011, 7-11 pm On View Through May 7, 2011, @ White Walls
(www.whitewallssf.com)

835 Larkin St,
San Francisco, CA