Your Vulnerability Makes You Beautiful

This coming First Friday, September 6, join us at Loakal Gallery & Boutique for the opening reception of Max Kauffman’s solo show, “Your Vulnerability Makes You Beautiful.” Complementary refreshments will be served and the artist will be in attendance.

Based in Oakland, Max Kauffman creates vivid mixed-media paintings and murals that reflect the DIY ethos of his generation.

“My work evokes a post apocalyptic DIY culture where structures and life itself are cobbled together out of anything at hand. It’s making the most out of what you have and what’s around you,” said Kauffman. “Showing that our struggles, fears, victories and dreams haven’t changed much since the dawn of humanity. Portraying power and the ways it changes hands — among individuals, imparted to objects, and released from self. ”

The artist takes inspiration from architecture, indigenous South American art, many genres of music and his daily observations. Kauffman relishes the hand-made quality of art. His work has a tactile quality, embracing the inherent imperfections of the marks made by the human hand.

About Max Kauffman:

Max Kauffman was born in Chicago and grew up in South Bend, Indiana, often returning to Chicago for skateboarding and concerts in his teens. In Indiana, Kauffman spent much of his time outdoors, wandering swamps, flipping over logs and exploring the forest in his backyard. He attended Arizona State University to study ceramics and anthropology — his anthropology studies still make their way into the conceptual foundation for his work. He is now based in Oakland, CA. Kauffman has shown in galleries across the United States as well as Italy, Canada and Israel and has been featured in publications like Juxtapoz, Boom, Beautiful Decay, Wallfarmers, Supersonic Electronic and many others.