THE QUIET STORM EXHIBITION
Brisbane artist Sam Hillcoat refines his love of urban culture into a fine art.

The Quiet Storm exhibition is a powerful new body of work by Brisbane tattoo and street artist, Sam Hillcoat. The two day exhibition opens at Jugglers Art Space on Friday 22 June from 6pm, until Saturday 23 June, 5pm.

The exhibition, Sam’s first solo show, features striking new works on canvas using oil, acrylics and aerosol. With several successful group shows under his belt and nonstop tattoo and canvas commissions, Sam has had to lock himself away and surrender much of this precious income to prepare his prolific new body of work.

Sam says he has adopted a fresh stylistic approach for this exhibition, “my new work is a hybrid of different styles. I like to take the raw expression of street art and the clandestine styles of modern and traditional tattoo design out of their natural environments. For the first time in years I have been able to flesh out all these ideas I have been developing, without having to meet anyone else’s expectations or specifications. I am excited to unveil this new style, which I feel is totally my own.”

In the last 10 years street art and tattooing has seen a surge in interest from the public and broader art world. While Sam has benefited professionally from this trend, this exhibition sees him moving away from the machine and spray can, and transforming his love of urban cultures into a fine art. Much of Sam’s new work is reminiscent of traditional Japanese art and tattoo (irezumi) with bold, colourful graffiti aesthetics. His duel occupations as a tattoo and aerosol artist have led him to developing this unique crossover style that is hugely appealing to fans of tattoo, street and contemporary fine art.

The Quiet Storm exhibition offers the pleasures of permanent ink, without the pain, the vibrancy of street art, without the legalities. It is an exhibition of exceptional artistry from a young, highly sought after tattoo and street artist with fresh, distinctive brushwork. The Quiet Storm exhibition opens at Jugglers Art Space in Fortitude Valley on 22 June from 6pm.

What: The Quiet Storm Exhibition – a solo exhibition by Sam Hillcoat
When: Friday 22 June 2012 from 6pm and Saturday 23 June 2012 1pm-5pm.
Where: Jugglers Art Space, 103 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley