The crowd for CRAOLA’s latest show, Stop Haunting Me, at Merry Karnowski Gallery was huge and deservedly so. The large space on LaBrea was packed all night with gallery-goers standing shoulder to shoulder and gathered in groups around the art work, bugging out and expressing admiration for the artist’s imagination. As is the usual, fans snapped digital flicks with their smartphones as momentos of the occasion, this one celebrating 20 years of CRAOLA’s sublime surrealism. The eclectic crowd is proof of the reach of his artwork, crossing boundaries and blurring lines between hi-low genre definitions. The range of artwork presented in the exhibit shows his growth both in technique and subject matter, and one can imagine where the next phase of his career will take him, as he expands the complexity and richness of his compositions.
