He Adds a Little Something Extra to Glama-Rama

Another member of the consistently talented Visual Aid artist group has a one-man show at the Glama-Rama “beauty studio” on 15th and South Van Ness until July 30, 2005. Glama-Rama is a studio that manifests complementary types of artistic visions. Primarily the space is a hair salon whose mission is to provide a “happy environment” that the “diverse clientele would feel comfortable in,” and “a space where other amazing hairdressers could come and feel free, both artistically and financially.” The salon exudes this vibe; it has a prevalent welcoming and artistic ambience. In terms of a gallery space, it’s necessary to finding an artist who also encompasses this sentiment, and curator Johnny Kat did a great job selecting Winters as one the space’s six shows of the year.

Winter’s expertise is multi-faceted; he incorporates screenprinting, stencil and portraiture. This show conveys each of these skill sets with paintings and replicated images on the walls throughout the room. He has a clearly evident background in graphic design in terms of how he spatially concurs the studio’s wall space. This is where he really succeeds—accentuating the fun and color of such a dynamic place.

The theme of his show is based in his travels to Berlin, Paris, London and Pigeon Forge; on display are the portraits of people he met in these various places spliced with memorable symbols he encountered, like graffiti and street signs. The result is energetic and engaging, riveting yet blithe.

Winters adds a lot of personality and life to his paintings by using bright colors and overlapping portraits with various stenciled figures and shapes. Likewise he is very talented at capturing the personality and life within the subjects themselves. I especially like what he translates through his subject’s eyes. Each portrait’s gaze portrays a glimmer of humor--its’ as if they’re letting you in on an inside joke--regardless of how dire a predicament in which the subject may be engaged.

A glaring example of this is his replica of a National Enquire article entitled “Dolly in Battered Woman Drama.” Clearly the subject of battered women is not funny; but somehow the inherently droll Dolly Parton cast as this tragic character on the cover of National Enquirer is. Dolly is the pure embodiment of pop culture; the fact that her dark role is newsworthy to a pop-oriented farce newspaper is both obscene and hilarious. Also on display are paintings of stills from various movies that Winters’ finds interesting and enigmatic.

Some of Winters’ biggest influences are Pop Art and Surrealism. As a youth he saw Andy Warhol’s “Marilyn Monroe’s lips,” and it really inspired him to become an artist. He especially likes to display portraits of his friends juxtaposed with portraits of famous people, because he considers portraits to be the “great equalizer.” Winters is primarily a portrait artist because the face “is something people can really connect with directly.” The audience’s ability to connect with the art and therefore the artist is something most artists strive to achieve, and Winters' unassuming and inviting tone to his paintings accomplishes this.

The Glama-Rama Studio is located at 417 South Van Ness at 15th Street, and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm. Jim Winters' show will be up through July 30, and he also has a mural on display in the Sweet Sixteen Show at the Yerba Buena Gallery Space. You can hear about his upcoming projects at his website, www.jimwinters.com.