An Immersive Installation by Scott Hove & Baker's Son Tempting All The Vices This Valentine's Day

Think Tank Gallery is proud to announce its collaboration with Bay-to-LA artists Scott Hove and Baker’s Son for BREAK BREAD, a programming series running from February 13 to March 13, 2016, with art inspired by Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity This gallery-wide collaborative installation is made up of a tour through six “chambers” filled with everything from tech-based mirror mazes to an ice cream truck, a lounge area with local vendors, and a stage with bar. The 7,000sq ft walking tour that’s been described as a “Hood Candyland” also contains a secret 1950’s style diner in the back with food served by local chefs that will fill the calendar during its 30-day run.

Scott Hove's installations are at once decadent and repulsive, seductive and vile, playful and grave, immersing the viewer in multilayered and tantalizing worlds. His acrylic frosted works draw our attention to the dualistic nature of every vice - we enjoy them, even find solace in them, but ultimately yield unsavory results. Hove’s animalistic approach to sexuality is replete with dazzling rhinestones, stiletto heels, and sharp fangs integrated into each installation, alongside a special collaboration with Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity.

Baker’s Son found solidarity through food. His pop-style hyper realistic watercolor paintings of tempting consumer goods are simultaneously enticing and repulsive underneath their glossy, sugary exteriors. Growing up, he navigated a world rife with familial and societal conflict by using food as a mediator, using it as a method of forging connections and creating comfort. These objects into which we place so much meaning stimulate every sense, unearthing fond memories of the smell of cookies at grandma’s house alongside the sound of dad’s blues on the record player. By highlighting the beauty and temptation that consumer goods create, we can see in stark contrast the darker undertones that permeate his paintings – speaking to institutionalized phobia, violence in underserved communities, and perhaps most vividly, the overconsumption inherent in our society.

The pair of artists have created bodies of work on a massive scale, taking over all 7,000sq feet of Think Tank Gallery to create a dazzling cake maze that will remain on view during the month of February. In addition to the opening reception on Valentine’s Day Weekend, there will be artist talks, local performance artists, designers, and event producers from Los Angeles’ robust community of creators to fill every night with programming. Specialty coffee will be provided by Stumptown to complement local confectionists, bakers, crafts, and streetwear designers will rounding out the senses for this month-long festival arts, and to shed light on an, at times, dark overview on contemporary urban life and consumerism on a cultural scale.