NEW WORKS by Charles Munka

While various elements of popular culture have led the human species down a blind alley, there arise moments of personal escape and reflection through the jungles of the mind. Spanning multiple continents and absorbing the raw data of his surroundings, Charles Munka presents his latest series of work in a combination of past influences and current locales. Angry faces, pop references, and ancient symbols connect under the colorful wiring board of each mind map. As each piece seems to encourage a different freedom of association, the patterns of symbols throughout the series reinforce each other into an immediate and colorful experience of the whole.

Opening Night: Saturday May 22nd 7 – 10pm
Music courtesy: Andrew Meza, Brainfeeder and surprise special guests.

Charles Munka (aka Ques) was born and raised in Lyon, France and studied art there before living much of his adult life in Asia. Initially making the move to Japan to work in the video game industry, he later moved to Shanghai and now currently resides in Hong Kong.

A member of the French art collective, LCP United, Munka’s style is strongly influenced by hip-hop and the progressive L.A. beat scene. His gateway to the westside came via Andrew Meza of BTS Radio in LA, who in thoroughly modern fashion met through MySpace in 2005. The two began collaborating on logos and designs for the music being played on the program and subsequently, Munka became the visual voice of the BTS sound and later led to his partnership with Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder collective. Using mixed media, Munka’s work captures a new style of art that blends more traditional aspects of graffiti and his identification with contemporary and historical imagery from film, video games, abstract expressionism and pop art.

He was widely recognized for his ‘Finest Elements’ series of animated representations of artists such as MF DOOM, Madlib, J Dilla, Flying Lotus and RZA, among other notable producers and MCs. Munka has toured extensively throughout Asia, America and Europe creating his art live at Brainfeeder events and most recently, during Samiyam gigs in Korea and Shanghai. Munka is currently coming off of an extremely successful art show in Kanazawa, Japan with Los Angeles based producer/artist, Teebs. The two displayed and collaborated on several pieces for the event, many of which are now in private collections.

For more work by Charles Munka, visit: http://www.lcp-united.com
With support from adidas, the Standard Hotel and LA Record.

HVW8 Art + Design Gallery
661 N. Spaulding Ave.
Los Angeles, Ca90036