This past weekend, we stopped by Hashimoto Gallery in San Francisco and checked out the opening of GATS’ new show, “Drifting Forest”. With a line that wrapped around the block, the show was a total success and saw one of the Bay Area’s top graffiti artist’s absolutely killing it!
The iconography of GATS can also be encountered around the world as far as Palestine, Rome and the Philippines. Predominately known for the intricately designed mask found prevalent throughout his work, the artist’s symbology cultivates from his own personal reflections of society and ideas of duality, both as an anonymous graffiti artist and everyday city-inhabitant. The cryptic names and symbols that adorn his enigmatic character morph over time in reaction to the events that influence and shape the local community.
“Drifting Forest” is a continuation of these urban totems, as well as an exploration of the artist’s reconnection to the natural world. With a practice primarily rooted in concrete and man-made structures, GATS’ new body of work examine’s the dichotomy between nature and the urban space through the eyes of a graffiti writer. The show is comprised of paintings and wood-burnings applied to various reclaimed panels constructed out of drift wood and other found materials GATS found in the San Francisco Bay.
