Dan Lasata @ Kahwa

Dan Lasata drinking water while setting up his show.

Dan Lasata is referred to as a skateboard artist, but his work transcends that. In this show at Kahwa Cafe South, involving new work, the
 range of his oeuvre can be seen.

Dan Lasata, "Anxiety"

Dan Lasata's "Anxiety" was one of a set of paintings dealing with emotional states. Instead of relying on facial gestures, he used abstract spirals and other forms to convey the feelings. Note how well the hair evidences the state of anxiety in this head.

Dan Lasata, "Cat"

Here we see how Dan is so used to the skateboard's elongated format that he paints on wood of nearly the same proportions. On the left we see another set of paintings on this format, and on the right is "Cat", a close-up of one of them. An almost Cubist feline, exaggerated but perfectly recognizable.

On the left is "Now", a faceless bust of a female figure surrounded by the same abstract spirals we saw above, and larger color forms. The feeling I get from this is that the figure is between the past and the future and in need of confronting the present.

In "Live and Let Live", a quadtych of skateboard decks with a criss-cross pattern of color lines forming secondary interference effects, while still retaining their integrity on a panel-by-panel basis. A very contemplative piece.

"Multiple Personalities", on the left, evidences the influence of Street Art on Lasata's work. Many faces clustered lie grapes hang together. They're all very similar, anxious, unhappy, gnashing teeth. Ironically, they're multiple, but almost singular in their personalities. variations on one theme.

Dan Lasata

Congratulations to Dan Lasata on a good one man show, and to Kahwa for continuing to bring the community some of its best artists in a pleasant, casual venue.