Vines twirling around the shoes onto the wall and rose petals going to the ground as they fall. As part of a transition from regular canvas artist Jason Bryant added painting skate decks to his arsenal. Looking to use another unconventional canvas Bryant decided to use a high top Nike Dunk which was a natural choice considering the his long interest in Nike and skateboarding since the 1980s. The pair titled Mirror Mirror is part of his full exhibition Smoke and Mirrors at the Porter Contemporary Art Gallery in New York that explores moments of human weakness and deception in photo-realistic oil paintings of vintage film still shots combined with vintage skateboard inspired graphics.
Specifically for these Mirror Mirror Nike Dunks Bryant first primed the entire upper white prepping for a mirrored design on each shoe. The first graphics made were a hand painted image of 1940s and 50s actress June Allyson looking into her reflection, though with some obstruction. In the way of her view are bold painted roses, twisting vines, petals, and bones breaking through the surface of the shoes inspired from a 1990 Powell Peralta skate graphic. If viewed from the correct angle it appears the vines are reaching to the ceiling and petals flowing towards the floor on the blank gallery walls. A pair like this makes sneakers even more so PaintOrThread’s vote for the best choice to when trying to find a canvas to paint.
More information about the Smoke and Mirrors exhibition can be found at http://portercontemporary.com/. Follow more work from Jason Bryant at http://inflightseries.tumblr.com/ and on Twitter: @BryantPaintings
