Represented Artists

  
 

Gabe Leonard

Gabe Leonard spent his early years in rural Wyoming, sketching wildlife and selling his drawings for one dollar. After earning his BFA from Columbus College in Ohio, Leonard honed his talents on the ultra-competitive Venice Beach boardwalk.

Described as "Johnny Cash meets Quentin Tarantino," Gabe Leonard's original art and prints possess an intense cinematic quality combining the gestural brushwork of expressionism with the expert lighting and framing of a Hollywood cinematographer. His oils are cinematic, atmospheric and moody, revolving around outlaws, rugged noir characters to create narratives full of dramatic possibility.

While his subjects and compositions belie a heavy influence of modern and contemporary cinema, Leonard's artistic style is rooted firmly in a European tradition. While he often breaks from academic restrictions with his loose brushwork and characteristic drips, he counts Rembrandt, Mucha, Klimt and Schiele as amongst his influences.

Following a string of sell-out shows and acquisitions by high-profile collectors, Leonard has quickly become one of the most sought-after artists in the world. Whenever his work is up for sale, galleries, art enthusiasts and high-profile celebrities rush to buy his admirable art and paintings. Recent celebrity collectors include Quentin Tarantino, Charlie Sheen, and Rueben Fleischer. Leonard currently resides in Los Angeles.

 

 

 
   
 

Jon Jaylo

Jon Jaylo's artworks explore a parallel dream world in which everything is ingeniously floating and dancing in a contained universe inspired by dreams and poetry. His pictorial depictions vary in style, technique, and configuration as if he himself is never content with every oeuvre that he has created. They are constantly evolving in both idea and form, gradually ripening together with the artist himself in space and time.

Scaling the aesthetic balance, he narrates deep philosophical thoughts through an imaginative theatrical play of elements, intensely opulent colors that indulge the audience?s sophisticated palate, and presents an artistic challenge for intellectual curiosity and gratification in his compositions. Like dreams that reflect man's desires and fantasies, his works are manifestations of profound knowledge, empirical and metaphysical experience, and ruminative visions here and beyond this world.

In a panoptic perspective, his works are gentle provocations masked and laced with a dream-like spectacle, seductively charming, and mystically inviting as if a puzzle to be solved once the viewer goes inside them. They are not just mere depictions of surreal elements, they are inspired by dreams, subconscious thoughts, direct experiences, and, at times, poignant stories about his family and close friends.

Well-researched and constructed, the general appeal of his works is dashed with enigmatic relations between forms and spatial contexts, penetrating the audience?s psyche with mystical allure and reflective visual impressions, and that, perhaps, is the wonder and beauty of Jon Jaylo?s art. And, like any good story, he allows everyone to soak up and bring out his or her own interpretation of his creation, establishing an intimate rapport between the artist and his audience.

His works have been displayed at Strychnin Gallery Berlin, Primo Marella in Italy, Primae Noctis Switzerland, Sothebys and Christies Auctions in HongKong and Taiwan, Artesan Gallery Singapore, West Gallery & Ayala Museum Philippines, Beinart Gallery Australia, Stephen Romano Gallery New York, Copro Gallery, Distinction Gallery and California Center for the Arts, USA.

 

 

 
   
 

Ross Jaylo

Ross Jaylo, a New York based Filipino Painter and Multi-Media Artist renders onto canvas his conception of an Ideal love. A symbolic and passionate visualization of love that transcends beyond social norms and breaks the illusion that love must heed society's expectation of belief, social status, age, creed, race, gender and stereotypes. Love in its purest form.


At the young age of only 21 Ross has a promising career ahead of him. He has had several solo and group exhibitions throughout the Philippines and has participated in several group shows in the United States. Ross has received several awards including Cocolife "Colors of Life" National Painting Competition Grand Prize in 2006, University of Santo Tomas Benavides Outstanding Achievement Award in 2006, and Maningning Miclat National Painting Competition People's Choice Award in 2007.


Distinction Gallery was honored to host Ross's first United States solo exhibition which sold out in September 2016. His next exhibition is scheduled for September of 2017.

 

 

 
   
 

Scott Rohlfs

The women who populate Scott Rohlfs' art and acrylic paintings are a fusion of the artist's personal experiences and influences. His women exist in a realm of moody atmospheres, tattoo-inspired couture and pop cultural elements. Rohlfs' art combines classic realism with an element of distortion when painting, resulting in surreal imagery. The eyes of his subjects are often the focal points of his work, imbued with an arresting quality. Rohlfs describes his figures as, "a reflection of myself and whatever mood I am in at the time."

 

 

 
   
 

Kelly Vivanco

Kelly Vivanco, a native to Southern California, earned her BFA from Laguna College of Art and Design. She works with a variety of media to create art with whimsy, nostalgia and a sense of child-like wonder.

Vivanco draws from the real and imagined world to populate her works with a host of playful and curious characters. She takes inspiration from vintage photographs, children's literature and the oddness of her dreams. Shehas exhibited in solo and group shows across the U.S. including California Center for the Arts Museum, The Portsmouth Museum of Art, Thinkspace, SURU, Gallery 1988, Subtext, Rotofugi, Flatcolor, 323 East, London Miles, Art Basel and Orange County Center for Contemporary Arts. Kelly Vivanco's art is available for sale and is collected in the U.S. and abroad; and her daily comic, Patches, has a world-wide following. She currently resides in Escondido, California.

 

 

 
   
 

Victor Roman

Victor Roman's passion for expressing himself through art motivates him to sketch and paint whenever he can. Sometimes, you can find him sketching people on the train or in a casino but on most days, you will find him painting in his studio until the early hours of the morning. Painting in the night after work, shows dedication and after 3 years of study at Palomar College, Victor's talent has grown exponentially.

The emotions that his art evoke have developed in complexity and because of this, the viewer must think twice about what they are looking at to figure out their own interpretation of his art. Art pieces include depictions of artillery, child soldiers and portraits of mankind in various states of mind.

The art is masterfully painted on wood, a feat accomplished by few artists. As this artist's girlfriend and in my experiences as his peer in art classes, I've witnessed Victor draw from life with swift and graceful movements. I have also seen him make a gun drawn on a piece of paper exciting and to witness this phenomenon for yourself just stop by Studio #5. He will be happy to turn up the bass for you on his sound system or play a timeless record on our record player.
Victor has had quite a busy year including producing a label for Blue Moon Beer as one of 20 artists from around the country, creating a mural to be featured at Kaaboo Music and Art Festival, and a feature in Australia based Beautiful Bizarre's On the Rize section.

 

 

 
   
 

Michael Aaron Williams



My art is a narrative, visual poetry, making a social statement to move the viewer to action or realization. An important part of my work focuses on the street, the place where people live their daily lives. This allows me to interact with an audience on their own turf and observe how they react to the art; it is a social experiment. These open-air installations focus on the ephemeral state of street people and enable the viewer to participate in the outcome of the pieces, whether the viewer leaves or saves them from the street. My goal in depicting street people is to show their beauty and fragility, while bringing their situation into the eyes of the viewer, refusing to let them be forgotten or ignored.

Similar to the outdoor installations, my gallery artwork also focuses on the ephemeral nature of people. Through my paintings and drawings, I attempt to represent the fragile nature of life, purity, and culture. Paint and ink are the vehicles by which movement and conflict are expressed. The beauty and pain of human nature are represented by the creation and deconstruction of the artwork. Rather than wholeness necessitating beauty, I portray the human soul as complete despite the fractures. As such, the artwork becomes more relatable to the viewer and consequently more impacting.

 

 

 
   
 

Heather McKey



Heather McKey is a traditional acrylic painter, depicting imaginary birdlife and sea creatures with unexpected and striking features.

These fanciful individuals are embellished with a variety of shells and botanicals often intermingled with feathers and patterns borrowed from nature. Strange and familiar at the same time, they are playful and exotic as they strike a pose in their world of dreamy landscapes and seascapes, peering back at their viewers with large, expressive eyes.

In each painting, there is homage to the beauty and design displayed in nature but shared through the artist's eye, giving viewers a chance to let their imaginations run wild with the unique personalities, expressions and stories layered in. Thoughtfully planned and painted with sensitive detail, Heather's hope is to connect her artworks with those who can personally identify with the soulful and realistic intrigue of her friendly creations and feel a sense of warmth and wonder.

From the onset of her debut solo gallery show with Distinction Gallery, collectors now enjoy her paintings in their homes across the world. Heather's own home is San Diego, California where she paints and raises her family with her husband, Nick.

 

 

 
   
 

Virginie Mazureau

After a Baccalaureate in Fine Arts and an Interior Designer Degree from ESAG Penninghen in Paris in 1998, my first contract was with an advertising agency to give Malboro Classics flagship stores a total makeover.

A year later, I joined with a lot of pride and motivation L'Oreal, the worldwide group of cosmetics to create artwork at a very intense pace for stands and stores. I rapidly realized that no place was left for what is the most important to me: creativity, imagination and personal accomplishment.

It suddenly clicked. My daughter inspires me and let me spread my wings: going back to childhood was obvious.

Thus in 2006, I swapped my architectural plans to let my paintbrushes express themselves again and to allow my imagination to have free play.

Pigments, acrylics, pastels and collages are some of the techniques I use to create a sophisticated pictorial board to take us to the heart of a poetic and fantaisist story. For fun, I sometimes include real children's drawings or old posters in my paintings for them to get a second wind. I sometimes tweak the traditional angle of some situations, adopting for instance bird's-eye view to give to the whole an unexpected look and feel!

My paintings are picturing animals in weird situations as well as cheecky kids, bringing back childhood memories that we all carry deeply in ourselves.

 

 

 
   
 

Jana Brike

Jana Brike was born in Latvia in 1980. Growing up under Soviet occupation had a profound effect on everything from Brike's work ethic to her subject matter and aesthetic sensibilities. A self-described "reclusive and dreamy child," Brike showed burgeoning talent at a very young age. At ten she was enrolled in Latvia's most prestigious arts elementary school where she spent at least 5 hours of each day painting. By 15 years old she was participating in international exhibitions.

Brike's surreal and haunting imagery is informed by everything from Russian Realism and Soviet animation to her grandmother's religious postcards featuring biblical works of the European masters. Her subject matter is culled from folklore, fairytales and children's book illustrations. The subjects of her oil paintings embody a fantastical quality, illustrating what Brike viewed as the "forbidden...imagery of Western pop culture" which took on a "mystical, almost religious tone for Soviet children."

Brike has exhibited and sold her work in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Russia, Finland, Belorussia, Switzerland, Australia and several parts of the United States. She currently lives in Riga, Latvia.

 

 

 
   
 

Casey Weldon

Born in Southern California, Casey Weldon spent the majority of his formative years there graduating from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. After operating a studio out of Las Vegas, Weldon relocated to New York, then California, and now Portland where he works as a full time artist. His fine art, imbued with a sumptuous illustrative quality, is indicative of his profession. Weldon mixes iconography of today and the past to evoke a sense of humor, nostalgia, fantasy and even melancholy within the viewer. His pallet and haunting subjects recall the Surrealist masters like Breton and de Chirico.

Weldon has exhibited and sold his work in galleries across the United States and his pieces now reside in collections across the world.

 

 

 
   
 

Valency Genis

Valency Genis is an artist with a head full of never-ending creatures. Her magical ability to bring her vivid imagination to life is evident in her amazing sculptures of fanciful hybrid animals. She originally hailed from the Republic of Cascadia, entering the world as a 12-pound baby, born in Portland, OR. After her father passed away when she was a baby, she then grew up in the heart of Seattle, WA.

She was utterly obsessed with television and video games for most of her life, so it is ironic that a summer spent on Flathead Lake, Montana in an electronics-free log cabin when she was 10 years old would change her life forever. Searching for diversions to alleviate her interminable boredom, she happened upon an old taxidermy shop. A dusty pair of "unborn beavers" caught her eye in the window display, and it forever imprinted on her naive adolescent mind. The stunning array of animals presented in the rustic store drew her in with their beauty, but she was bereaved by their demise.

While later studying for her BFA at the University of New Mexico, Valency discovered that she had the power to create creatures and control their aesthetics, while minimizing the tragedy associated with taxidermied animals. She takes an almost Dr. Frankenstein-like glee in crafting her unique animals, drawing on influences such as Dr. Seuss, Jim Henson and Tim Burton.

Her first solo show, Heterodoxy, was at the John Sommers Gallery (UNM) in November 2011, and it garnered Ms. Genis summa cum laude honors from The UNM Department of Art and Art History (which she proudly added to her summa cum laude baccalaureate honors). Valency recently moved from Albuquerque, NM to Lacey, WA, finally returning to her beloved Pacific Northwest.

 

 

 
   

Exhibiting Artists
   
   
 

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