ToyCyte: Toy Culture Collected

I drove up to Sacto to check out the Annie & Amos “April Showers in May’s Flowers” show at SaraJane & Co. Located at 908 21^st Street, SaraJane & Co. sells paint cans, Dickies, jewelry and toys. They differ from your average stop on the 2nd Saturday Art Walk by donating all profits to an organization which provides art and music education to underprivileged schools.

Annie Owens, who grew up in the Bay Area, is the co-founder of Hi-Fructose Magazine and counts among her influences Edward Gorey and Roald Dahl. In a Vinyl Requiem interview, Annie said: “The idea of ‘home’ has always been a recurring thing with me. In my pictures, home is usually represented by houses which are bent or half submerged underwater.” I’m perpetually curious about what music artists are listening to and Annie drops a great list of influential bands in the interview, including The Tiger Lillies, which, when you see her work, makes so much sense.

Annie is a prolific illustrator who has drawn for newspapers, books and comics. She had her first solo show at Rivet this year and sold a 10-inch custom Labbit this month at the Down the Bunny Hole show. Annie’s art (about a dozen pieces) hung on one side of SaraJane. Her art, which included watercolors, acrylics on wood and skate decks, ranged from $200-$600. To view more of her work or inquire about purchasing a piece, call SaraJane & Co. (916-446-8985) or check Annie’s website, Ouchclub.

On the other side of the gallery were pieces by Amos Oaks. His watercolor, spraypaint and pencil images were informed by growing up in the south, statistics on child abuse, his own worries about being a good father and a recent accident that shattered the wrist on his drawing arm. Of his pieces in the show, Amos says: “These particular storyboards explore a child’s way of compensating, or finding ways to escape a given situation.” For more information, or to buy some art, check with SaraJane or go to Amos’s website, Chocolate Shores.

After checking out Annie & Amos, I started to wander along the Art Walk. One of my favorite visuals of the night was this DJ (above) rocking out in front of HER: A Boutique For Shapely Women. If you want true ‘outsider’ art, you have to step outside the galleries. That’s where I found Tito Reyes.

I really dug this guy’s work. Priced to sell, get them now. He handed me the most artfully-designed business card for his family’s lawn and garden maintenance business. Most of us need to have a day job, but if you want to see Tito get out from behind a mower and get in front of an easel, invest in local, up-and-coming art. Email me and I’ll give you his cell phone.

For more local art from 2nd Saturday in Sacramento, click below to continue on…