This image comes from one of my favorite stores in San Francisco: Upper Playground. They sell shirts and other clothes from local designers, many of which interpret images in a new way. Since most of the patters are from local artists, in my mind there is very little dispute that their shirts are, if not pieces of art in themselves, representations of artistic works. I really like this tee shirt. It shows two bridges coming out of san francisco, one is the golden gate bridge, and the other the bay bridge. The person holding up the golden gate bridge is white, while the person holding up the bay bridge is not. I think this shirt cleverly addresses the issue of race in san francisco, since the Marin is made up mostly of whites, and the east bay is more people of color, yet everyone comes together, like the bridges, in San Francisco.
The artist is Sam Flores, a local artist originally from New Mexico. Here is the artist information from Upper Playground:
Sam Flores was born in 1975, immersed in the stark beauty of the New Mexico desert. In 1995, he migrated to San Francisco seeking the bohemian lifestyle of the Bay Area. Like most teens of the late 80's and early 90's, Sam was involved in the street cultures of skateboarding and graffiti writing. From 1995-1998, these roots in urban expression helped him land freelance gigs doing graphics for skateboard and clothing companies. His focus medium is paint on canvas and wood. These paintings touch classic themes of "natural beauty," which is in obivious contrast to his life in the urban landscape. He credits Michael Parkes and Derek Hess as influences. The rich flora of his recent work can be compared to the nouveau stylings of Alphonse Mucha.
His figures tend to be somewhat anonymous, even masked in some instances, yet still full of personality and emotion. He effortlessly combines broad fields of color and finely rendered detail, creating paintings that are engaged on many levels. This palette tends to lean toward earth tones, perhaps an homage to the colors of his youth in New Mexico.
Sam has exhibited his artwork in galleries internationally
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