The Lone Stranger

Regardless of whether he’s working on traditional painting, digital art or sculpture, Oakland-based artist Chris Blackstock thinks like an illustrator. His debut solo show “The Lone Stranger,” opening at Loakal Art Gallery on July 11, follows the story of its titular character through a hallucinatory, post-apocalyptic desert filled with strange mirages that evoke a haunting past and bleak future. Snapshots of an elaborate backstory invented by the artist, the paintings in the show follow the Lone Stranger as he leaves behind city life to rediscover himself in the desert. Blackstock describes the Stranger as a down-and-out loner
who has experienced his share of tragedy. His tale of redemption and self-discovery coincides with the collapse of the ecosystem as climate change reaches a more advanced stage and renders California completely arid.

Despite the grim narrative on which it is based, the work in the show is filled with colorful visuals that present a stylized, whimsical view of nature through the eyes of a city dweller. “The Lone Stranger” is a culmination of Blackstock’s recent experimentation with different techniques such as etching and lasercutting.
The multi-layered paintings begin as digital drawings, which are turned into custom-shaped panels with laser-cut textures. The artist stacks these panels on top of canvases and paints them by hand using a combination of acrylic and spraypaint. His paintings will be hung amid a site-specific mural and installation taking over the gallery walls, immersing viewers in the Lone Stranger’s bizarre tale.

About Chris Blackstock:
Christopher Lawrence Blackstock was born in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles
County in 1984. His childhood was filled with horror movies, Saturday morning cartoons, Disney films,
anime and an unhealthy amount of video games. He studied fine art at the Pasadena City College where
he was influenced by faculty member Syd Mead, the lead designer of Blade Runner. Blackstock went on
to study at the Academy of Art University and has been in the Bay Area since 2005. During his four years
of illustration and animation studies at the Academy of Art, his paintings and sculptures were selected for
display at the annual Spring Show every year that he attended.
After the Academy he worked as an assistant to the international artists who would come to work and
exhibit at White Walls and Shooting Gallery in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, such as world-famous
street artist ROA. Blackstock went on to pursue a freelance career, creating posters, album covers and
music video concepts for Skrillex and other artists at Skrillex’s electronic music label, OWSLA. Alongside
his album work he has also contributed concept art to Disney Imagineering. He now resides in West
Oakland and is currently focused on his personal work in both digital and traditional media.
Please contact loakal@57-33.com with inquiries.