Current Show: “tae young choi: solo exhibition” march 7 - August 1 2020
We are located upstairs within The LGBTQ Center Orange County in downtown Santa Ana,next to Native Son Alehouse and above Wursthaus.
Due to the novel Corona virus pandemic (Covid-19), we will be closed physically at The LGBTQ Center until further notice. We will also extend the show until further notice when we can reopen, which will be the new closing show date. Our online gallery and store will remain open though. Thanks for understanding!
Current Show: “tae young choi: solo exhibition” march 7 - August 1 2020
We are located upstairs within The LGBTQ Center Orange County in downtown Santa Ana,next to Native Son Alehouse and above Wursthaus.
Due to the novel Corona virus pandemic (Covid-19), we will be closed physically at The LGBTQ Center until further notice. We will also extend the show until further notice when we can reopen, which will be the new closing show date. Our online gallery and store will remain open though. Thanks for understanding!
About Current Exhibition
"Tae Young Choi: Solo Exhibition”
OPENING RECEPTION: MARCH 7 2020, 7-10PM
CLOSED DUE TO COVID19: APRIL 4 2020, 7-10PM
TBA ART WALK OPENING: MAY 2 2020, 7-10PM
NEW CLOSING SHOW: AUGUST 1 2020, 7-10PM
Tae Young Choi ‘Roy’ is a Korean American artist who has worked in the entertainment industry for more than 20 years, currently residing and working in Irvine, California. His most recent studio job was at Blizzard Entertainment working as a concept artist/illustrator on the StarCraft II video game cinematics.
Now, he has focused more of his energy on personal paintings and sculptures dealing with popular culture and his own philosophies. These include paper sculptures inspired by Japanese and Hollywood robots from 80’ and 90’s pop culture which he believes was the golden era. He paired these unique sculptures with oil paintings that depict them on a canvas medium. Throughout his travels, he also created watercolor paintings of simple locations and transforming them into a burst of colors, exuding an aura that seemingly captures the mood of the locale. Tae Young was previously a featured artist at our gallery on December 2015.
We welcome him back for a full solo exhibition at the gallery with exciting new works of art.
Join us for the opening reception with a watercolor art demo by Tae Young. First 10 people in line get a commemorative signed print by Tae Young Choi!
Art raffle giveaways, photo booth, and more TBA! This is a FREE event, and open to all ages. Open during the Downtown Santa Ana first Saturday art walk. Hosted inside the LGBT Center on 4th / LGBTQ Center Orange County.
About Current Exhibition
"Tae Young Choi: Solo Exhibition”
OPENING RECEPTION: MARCH 7 2020, 7-10PM
CLOSED DUE TO COVID19: APRIL 4 2020, 7-10PM
TBA ART WALK OPENING: MAY 2 2020, 7-10PM
NEW CLOSING SHOW: AUGUST 1 2020, 7-10PM
Tae Young Choi ‘Roy’ is a Korean American artist who has worked in the entertainment industry for more than 20 years, currently residing and working in Irvine, California. His most recent studio job was at Blizzard Entertainment working as a concept artist/illustrator on the StarCraft II video game cinematics.
Now, he has focused more of his energy on personal paintings and sculptures dealing with popular culture and his own philosophies. These include paper sculptures inspired by Japanese and Hollywood robots from 80’ and 90’s pop culture which he believes was the golden era. He paired these unique sculptures with oil paintings that depict them on a canvas medium. Throughout his travels, he also created watercolor paintings of simple locations and transforming them into a burst of colors, exuding an aura that seemingly captures the mood of the locale. Tae Young was previously a featured artist at our gallery on December 2015.
We welcome him back for a full solo exhibition at the gallery with exciting new works of art.
Join us for the opening reception with a watercolor art demo by Tae Young. First 10 people in line get a commemorative signed print by Tae Young Choi!
Art raffle giveaways, photo booth, and more TBA! This is a FREE event, and open to all ages. Open during the Downtown Santa Ana first Saturday art walk. Hosted inside the LGBT Center on 4th / LGBTQ Center Orange County.
Show Poster
Due to the novel Corona virus pandemic (Covid-19), we will be closed physically at The LGBTQ Center until further notice. We will also extend the show until June 6th, which will be the new closing show date. Our online gallery and store will remain open though. Thanks for understanding!
A portion of the all art sales proceeds will go towards The LGBTQ Center Orange County charity, a 501(c) non-profit organization, helping empower the LGBTQ community.
The LGBTQ Center OC advocates for individuals’ rights and represent the policy and legislative interests of Orange County’s LGBTQ community.
The Center on 4th offers an array of educational, engaging, and empowering courses, art exhibits, and events that connect LGBTQ individuals with common interests. Experience the themes, lives, and politics of both the LGBTQ and local Santa Ana communities.
About
A little history on our humble art gallery
About
A little history on our humble art gallery
Located in the culturally rich downtown Santa Ana (DTSA) at the LGBTQ Center on 4th
In April of 2014, David and Steven bought a live/work artist loft in DTSA. David wanted to showcase his work as well as the work of other amazing digital artists he has met through out his career as a VFX artist. The artist loft is a unique place where you can have your home high up above, while also have a work space below for projects and creative work. Together, Steven and David chose to turn it into an art gallery to be open once a month in conjunction with the monthly art walk of Santa Ana. The grand opening was on August 2nd, 2014 far surpassing expectations. View the grand opening photos here.
Photonic Playground it was dubbed, a gallery space featuring digital art work manifesting in the physical realm. View the gallery space photos here. The art gallery will be curated by David, and is to feature the finest digital artists in the industry who have shown great skill in digital matte painting, 3D modeling, animation, photography, illustration, and character art. Limited edition large and small prints will be for sale by David and guest artists in the exhibitions.
In November 2017, however, the artist loft was sold David & Steve moved into a new house in the beautiful Park Santiago neighborhood, putting their art gallery business on hiatus indefinitely. Then in February, David was approached by The LGBTQ Center Orange County board member, Phillip Hillenbrand, to strike up a new collaboration with their gallery space and Photonic Playground and have David curate their gallery future exhibitions. A contract was signed, and the first grand opening show with Photonic Playground moving into The Center's gallery space for monthly exhibition shows, opening with the "Women of Art" exhibition.
David Luong is a senior cinematic artist working in the video games and film industry, a co-author of d'Artiste: Matte Painting 3 book and digital matte painting instructor of CGSociety.org. He is currently a senior cinematic artist at Blizzard Entertainment and has worked on AAA game titles such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone. You can check out more of his work at his website http://davidluong.net
Steven Dowling Jr is an avid gamer with strong business sense who also works in the video game industry. He is currently an Executive Admin to the World of Warcraft team at Blizzard Entertainment and was the Executive Admin to former Chief Creative Officer, Rob Pardo at Blizzard.
David Luong: Owner, Artist & Curator
Steven Dowling Jr: Owner & Business Operations
In WoW?!
Our gallery, Photonic Playground, is now in World of Warcraft in the new Dalaran as of the Legion expansion! Thank you to the WoW design team for adding us digitally to the world's biggest MMORPG game. More about the game: http://worldofwarcraft.com
Contact
Email, call, or visit us
Contact
Email, call, or visit us
Located on the second floor near the 4th St. Market above Wursthaus, and adjacent to Native Son Alehouse. Parking structure is adjacent with elevator for accessability.
@ 305 E. 4th Street, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Hours: Open only on the first Saturday of every month, during the DTSA Art Walk from 7PM - 10PM
If you have any questions or would like to request an exhibition, please contact us.
Email: info@photonicplayground.com
For updates on DTSA's monthly art walk, go to The East End Santa Ana website.
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