Artist brings the beach to Saddleback College
Saddleback Gallery will host Damian Fulton retrospective. (Anibal Santos-Maldonado)
Damian Fulton‘s retrospective Liquid Chapter will have it’s Artist Reception this Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Saddleback College Gallery. Fulton’s original artwork is inspired by his experiences growing up in Orange County’s coastal beaches.
Liquid Chapter is Fulton’s first retrospective. His vibrant artwork reflects the vast surfer culture that exists in Southern California. Fulton attended California State Fullerton where he studied art and design. After college he worked for BMX Pus! Magazine and Snowboarder Magazine where he created comic strips for both publications. His posters for various surf events gained him a reputation as a rising artist in the industry. Fulton has also worked for companies such as Marvel Comics and Disney.
His paintings are influenced by the comics and cartoons he grew up admiring, his work experience as an illustrator and the Californian surf culture.
Fulton’s latest body of work is a bridge between Commercial Art and the Fine Arts.
Many people may not be familiar with the artist’s work, but the personalities which inhabit his seascapes will be familiar to those who grew up watching cartoons and horror movies. Damian described his work in a more simplified statement: “It’s when Man meets the Ocean and what happens afterwards.”
The work will be presented as explained by Fulton in Chapters. “The idea is the different time periods that reflected growth in my career,” says Fulton. In The Final Chapter there will be a “Work in Progress” which will have Damian Fulton himself working inside the gallery space on his most recent painting during certain operating hours of the gallery.
“This is something that the readers might find interesting,” he says. This will provide the opportunity for students to view the artist at work.
Liquid Chapters is curated by Bob Rickerson and will have it’s Artist Reception on Thursday at 5:00 p.m – 8:00 p.m. The exhibition will run from September 4th until September 27th in the Saddleback Gallery. Admission is free to the general audience.