History's Most Infamous Criminals "Hang" at Modern Eden's "Notorious"

By Matt Saincome Mon., Jun. 18 2012 at 3:41 PM

Categories: Art, Over the Weekend, Visual Art

H.H. Holmes: hhh by Lee Harvey Roswell

It isn't too often that you find Sid Vicious, Napoleon, and Joan of Arc "hanging" in the same room, unless of course, you are at Modern Eden's latest exhibit: "Notorious: Portraits of History's Most Infamous "

Marie Antoinette: The Red Necklace by Bradley Platz

The North Beach gallery was crowded with visitors Saturday night, anxious to see what Bradley Pratz, co-owner of the gallery and a featured artist, called a "cohesive" exhibit.

"All the artists worked on these pieces for months and months. Sometimes with group shows, it's just kind of what everyone has at the time. But for this, everyone made a unique piece," Pratz, who painted Marie Antoinette, said.

People walked around the gallery eagerly flipping through the price list that gave a brief history of each person portrayed -- and it was quite the cast of characters -- from bank robbers to poets, and journalists to mad scientists. Like the criminals themselves, the techniques used to create them were vast, including spray paint on street signs and oil on board.

Sid Vicious: VICIOUS by Laura Buss

But the crown jewel of the exhibit wasn't a top of King Philip IV's head, it was Laura Buss's oil painting portrait of Sid Vicious. How did she choose to paint Sid? "I used to be a crusty little punk rocker, so I have a deep love in my heart for Sid Vicious and he definitely fit the bill," said Buss, the San Francisco tattoo artist also known as "Tex."

"Notorious" runs through July 8 at Modern Eden gallery, 403 Francisco (at Powell), S.F.

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