David Choe began his career in Los Angeles and is currently one of the most prolific artists today. His inspiration ranges from graffiti, comic books, to the masters of fine art. One of his first accolades was his Xeric-grant-funded Slow Jams comic which mixed his story-telling and art styles and brought together a fan base overnight. His subsequent publications include Bruised Fruit and Cursiv. A documentary film about his art, Dirty Hands: The Art and Life of David Choe, is available on view at www.dirtyhandsmovie.com.

Theo Ellsworth makes detailed drawings and self-publishes comics, mini comics, and zines about imaginary people and places. Taking part in art shows affords the Portland, OR-based artist opportunities to experiment with color, explore larger frames, and let his imagination fly. Recently, he has been cutting characters out of wood with a scroll saw and drawing sea creatures.

James Jean is a Taiwanese American award-winning artist and illustrator living in Los Angeles. In 2001, he graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. An acclaimed cover artist for DC Comics, he has also contributed to many national and international publications including Time Magazine, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Spin. Past clients include ESPN, Atlantic Records, Target, Playboy, Knopf, and Prada. He has also illustrated covers for the comic book series Fables and The Umbrella Academy.

Kozyndan is the joint pseudonym of Los Angeles-based husband-and-wife illustrator team Kozue and Dan Kitchens. Known for their whimsical illustrations of modern cityscapes, their projects have included CD covers for bands such as Weezer and The Postal Service, clothing, and posters for companies such as Nike, Inc. They have also created designs for video games including conceptual designs for American McGee’s Bad Day L.A., cover art for The Urbz: Sims in the City, and artwork using characters from Katamari Damacy.

Stella Lai grew up on a small, car-less island southwest of Hong Kong Island called Cheung Chau. Shortly after receiving her BFA from California College of the Arts in 1998, she and Krister co-founded her design practice, Tree-Axis. Over the past 10 years she has won design awards from Communication Arts and ID magazine and her work has been featured in magazines such as The Face, IdN, Beautiful Decay, Giant Robot, and Vogue China. In 2007 Stella was selected as one of ten artists from around the world to design a can for Pepsi. While not working on commercial projects, Stella is busy working on new paintings for her next exhibition, having already shown in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Miami, New York, Manchester, Shanghai and Beijing. Stella currently lives in Los Angeles.

Jack Long grew up in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2002. Painting in oils on wood, his work draws heavily upon the tradition of storytelling, utilizing motifs and imagery found in mythology and fairytales. His paintings reflect the modern world through a mystical mirror. Themes of community, sustainabillity, conflict, and love are all explored. In these fantastic and mythological images, nature, society, and our own habitats are transformed and presented back to the viewer, a process that the artist sees as inherent in our view of the world. Jack currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

Albert Reyes has a distinctive artistic approach inspired not only by street art, comic books, and American pop culture; but also by contemporary and classical “high art.” Many of his drawings and illustrations incorporate everything from icons of corporate America to Hollywood stars to mass media to politics to consumerism. Reyes has exhibited at the Tree House Gallery, JUNC Gallery, Bent Gallery, Giant Robot LA SF NY, New Image Art Gallery LA, Black Market Gallery LA, Upper Playground SF, Low, Balazo, Ampersand, Stay Gold Gallery NYC, White Walls, Studio Number One, and in Paris, France. He has done album cover artwork for the band Le Rev and singer/songwriter Simone White. He has also appeared in the New York Times: Year In Ideas, Swindle, Chicano Art Magazine, and appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, CW’s Online Nation, and CNN.

Souther Salazar’s work first began to circulate in the early ’90s, in the form of photocopied cut-and-paste microcomics and ’zines made in his bedroom as a young teenager in rural Oakdale, California. After graduating from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, he moved to Los Angeles. Salazar exhibits his collages, paintings, drawings and sculptures in dense and frenzied installations that encourage exploration and participation by the viewer. His work has appeared in galleries in New York, Los Angeles, Portland, and Tokyo, and in publications such as Kramers Ergot, Swindle, The Drama, Juxtapoz, and Giant Robot.

Rob Sato is a Los Angeles based painter and graphic artist. With the aid of a Xeric Grant, he self-published the graphic novel Burying Sandwiches in 2005. He continues to work and exhibit, recent shows include a 2009 solo outing at Giant Robot’s GR2 gallery in Los Angeles. His work is characterized by intense detail and rich, layered imagery which delves into an astonishingly wide range of subjects. He mixes scenes of stark horror, quiet beauty, and humor into works fraught with thought. Long, hard looks will be rewarded.

Through striking visual imagery, Jeff Soto communicates profound visions and fears, nostalgia of his youth, and themes of love, lust, and hope. Soto’s distinct color palette, subject matter, technique and bold themes resonate with a growing audience. Inspired by childhood toys, the colorful lifestyle of skateboarding and graffiti, hip-hop and popular culture, Soto’s representational work is simultaneously accessible and stimulating. Environmental issues also take precedent for Soto, who is concerned with conflict of humans trying to harness, or take advantage of nature. His paintings exude this tension, as robotic creatures duel, organic tentacles and flower bouquets thrive, and black smog looms amidst floating, ominous skulls. In 2002, Soto graduated with Distinction from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He currently lives in Southern California, with his wife Jennifer and daughter Shannon.

Deth P. Sun is a painter/illustrator currently residing in Oakland, California. He received his BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 2002 in Painting and Drawing. His work has shown throughout the U.S. and abroad (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, Detroit, Portland, New York). He has also done illustrations or have contributed to Chronicle Books, Giant Robot, Tiny Showcase, Urban Outfitters, Fantagraphics, 826, Poketo, and Nylon Magazine.