ARTIST SHOES INTO PHOENIX MARKET

Converse All-stars: exhibition of new art work by Ralph Michael Brekan opens January 2, 2003.

PHOENIX- Ralph Michael Brekan's latest masterworks, Converse All-stars, is the focal point of Artlink Phoenix's mystery gallery installation that brings together several local artists living in the metro Phoenix area.

The breathtaking exhibition, hosted at One Renaissance Center located at 111 West Monroe, in downtown Phoenix, and will run through January 31, 2003. On temporary loan from his touring collection, Brekan's still life high detail paintings of basketball sneakers are rich in colors that compliment the mechanical nature of our consumer lifestyle; particularly in how they were fabricated and executed. Brekan, renowned as a leading new media artist, chose acetate and epoxy resin on canvas for his materials. His experimental and unorthodox approach to composition and technique, are highly sought after by his many patrons.

Brekan, who's works in the past year won praise at auctions in San Francisco and Chicago, features his lighter side in this exhibition with these near comical depictions of Converse Sneakers that recently exhibited in London, England, can thus be regarded as an opportunity to explore the painter's creative spirit.

Location: 111 West Monroe, Phoenix, Arizona

Exhibition Hours: Tuesday- Friday: 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Viewable from street.

Artist Reception: Friday, January 2nd 2003

Admission: FREE