Longtime Supertouch buddy Camille Rose Garcia‘s trademark storybook surrealism has been a dominant force in the world of underground art for years and is now gaining the proper recognition in fine art circles it so rightly deserves. And though that attention has come through the elevation of her artwork at elite, high-end art galleries in recent years, her dedication to the upstart art spaces that built her career remains intact, as evidenced by the opening of her latest body of work, “La Danse Macabre,” at Kirsten Anderson’s landmark Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle last week. Featuring the Disney-meets-Brothers Grimm imagery she’s become known for (via a cult-like following of dedicated fans whose passion is eclipsed only by those of fellow painter Mark Ryden), the new body of work plays like a captivating nightmare version of Snow White under blacklight, which is actually a high complement——something those fans of her would instantly understand…

Showing alongside Garcia at the gallery is nascent Canadian painter Peter Ferguson, whose meticulously painted, darkly humorous narratives in a show titles “Fire in the Map Room!” evoke early 20th century small town Americana (or Canadiana as the case may be). Combining the fantasy of the great ages of exploration with a distinctly paranormal bent, Ferguson’s work hovers along the lines of fantasy without ever fully teetering into full scale camp, and his work retains an air of both wonder and occasional melancholy. The work is powerful and provocative and proves Ferguson is a talent to watch.

CRG mingles with the fanboys…

Riot Girls: Roq la Rue’s Kirsten Anderson & CRG

PETER FERGUSON: Fire in the Map Room