This past weekend saw the opening of Mike Giant’s solo exhibition, “Modern Hieroglyphics,” at the Fecal Face Gallery (FFDG) in San Francisco.  Coming off his cancelled November show at Known Gallery, all of that work from the past year accumulated to this performance –  drawings, fairly affordable ($300 for most), in vintage Giant style.

Giant tells me that this round of work stems from his interest in ancient hieroglyphics, and in pondering how our civilization will be received and understood millennia from now.  He takes corporate icons, band logos, and other pop cultural likenesses and situates them out-of-context as a flash sheet.  The results push the viewer to consider the designs differently, as they’re juxtaposed in strange formats and associated with foreign connotations: the Ninja Turtles and the confederate flag, the Apple mark with a triquetra and Minor Threat…

Mike also says that this presentation harks back to original Sailor Jerry tattoo flash, where the girls were directly lifted from commercial art.  The artist is happy and satisfied with this body of work.  At 40, he no longer has to try so hard to get “Mike Giant” up.  The world already knows; his brand will forever be in motion. So he can get back to doing what he loves and enjoys, which is simply drawing in his studio, outside of the fine art world.  I don’t know about you, but this is the Mike Giant that I want to see more of as well.

Modern Hieroglyphics is showing now at 2277 Mission Street.