Jeff Soto
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Jeff Soto (born June 3, 1975) is an American contemporary artist. His distinct color palette, subject matter and technique have been said to bridge the gap between Pop Surrealism and Street Art.


Early life

Soto was born in Fullerton, California, the eldest of four brothers. His father, Jeffrey worked as an offset printer and was an outdoor enthusiast and taxidermist. His mother, Patricia was a homemaker. Soto grew up in a middle class household where creativity was encouraged. He developed an interest in animals and plants due to his parents’ various outdoor activities- gardening, fishing, falconry and camping. From an early age Soto showed an interest in drawing, painting, and storytelling. As a high school student, Soto began to experiment with various genres and art techniques including painting, photography, ceramics, and filmography. In 1992 and 1993 he was a California Arts Scholar and attended the
California State Summer School for the Arts The California State Summer School for the Arts, commonly known as CSSSA ("SEE-SUH"), is a rigorous four-week, pre-professional visual and performing arts training program for high school students held each summer at the California Institute of the ...
held at
CalArts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...
in Valencia. He graduated from Norte Vista High School in 1993.


Education

Soto attended
Riverside City College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...
from 1993 to 1999, and earned an associate degree in Arts. While at RCC, Soto experimented further with art, including works in sculpture, public artworks (graffiti and stenciling), abstract painting, and computer design. In 1999 Soto transferred to
Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...
in Pasadena where he majored in Illustration and minored in Fine Art. That same year, Soto, disillusioned and bored with the state of graffiti art in the late 1990s, took what ended up being a decade long hiatus. He focused instead on both showing his work in local galleries and developing his illustration career. During these years, Soto was inspired by several of his Art Center instructors who were working as successful illustrators as well as showing the same work in galleries. Soto had his first solo exhibit during his last year in college. ''Potato Stamp Dreams'' opened at New Image Art Gallery in Los Angeles a few days after the September 11th terrorist attacks. As a student in 2002 Soto began to work in the field of illustration, with work appearing in ''American Illustration'' and ''Communication Arts''. Soto graduated with Distinction from Art Center College of Design in April 2002.


Influences

Soto received his first skateboard as a gift at the age of 9. It was an early introduction to skateboard graphics which were a significant influence. Early on, horror, science fiction, and fantasy movies and television were another influence, in particular Star Wars, Robotech, and Mtv. In college, Soto discovered and was inspired by artists such as Max Ernst, Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Amedeo Modigliani, Van Gogh and Paul Cadmus. More recent influences include Soto's contemporaries- Dave Cooper,
David Choe David Choe (born April 21, 1976) is an American artist, musician, and former journalist and podcast host from Los Angeles. Choe's work appears in a wide variety of urban culture and entertainment contexts. He has illustrated and written for mag ...
, Mario “Mars1” Martinez, the Clayton Brothers and Camille Rose Garcia.


Work


Graffiti

In 1989 Soto found a book while looking through the Riverside Downtown Library's art section called ''Street Art''. The book showcased early illegal art in New York as well as hip hop based subway graffiti of the 1970s. Inspired by this book, he began stenciling his “Sotofish” design on walls and signs. The following year he and a friend created a graffiti crew called CIA (Criminally Insane Artists) which attracted several other writers from their high school. Soto adapted the moniker of “KILO”, "TREK" as well as “Sotofish” and started to tag, bomb and piece. In 1991 he met the artist Maxx242 and they began painting together. In 1995 they formed Bashers Crew which included members from Riverside, Los Angeles and Long Beach. In 1999 Soto took a break from all aerosol painting, citing health reasons, boredom with the limitations of the spray can and conflict among graffiti writers. Ten years later in London, Soto visited artists
D*Face Dean Stockton, better known by his alias D*Face, is an English multimedia street artist who uses spray paint, stickers, posters, and stencils. D*Face grew up in London and had a childhood interest in graffiti in drawing. He credits this to Hen ...
and Word To Mother. Seeing their work in person inspired Soto to begin painting on walls again. Since then, Soto has reconnected with his graffiti roots and painted murals in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Miami, London and Paris. In 2010 he participated in the Underbelly Project, an illegal art gallery beneath the city of New York. In 2011 he completed his largest wall painting to date- "Les Chat Terrible" in Lyon, France. Soto claims he is not a graffiti writer or street artist, rather he calls himself “a muralist with an occasional urge to do some graf”.


Illustration

In 2002, Soto began working as a freelance illustrator specializing in editorial work. Some of his clients include Entertainment Weekly, Sony Music, Rockstar Games,
Saatchi & Saatchi Saatchi & Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency gr ...
, United Airlines and
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
. His work has adorned magazines, books, albums, and advertisements. Soto created illustrations to be the album art of releases by two post-hardcore bands;
Finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...
's '' Say Hello To Sunshine'' in 2005 and Halifax's '' The Inevitability of a Strange World'' in 2006. In 2010, Soto began creating gig posters for various bands including Pearl Jam,
The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their ...
and
Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yama ...
.


Fine Art

In 2002, Soto had his first solo exhibit at
New Image Art New Image Art is an art gallery in West Hollywood, California. It was founded and is directed by Marsea Goldberg, started in 1994.La Luz de Jesus La Luz de Jesus Gallery is a commercial art gallery located in Los Angeles, California. It is closely associated with the Lowbrow Art Movement, Kustom Kulture, and pop surrealism. History La Luz de Jesus Gallery was established in 1986 in Lo ...
in Los Angeles. These shows were well received and soon after he was invited to group and solo exhibits throughout the United States. With roots in graffiti as well as traditional painting, Soto continues to show in galleries which feature "Street Art" and also those which show "Pop Surrealism". He has been called a "crossover" artist for his relevance in both genres. In 2008 Soto had a solo exhibit at the
Riverside Art Museum Riverside Art Museum is an art museum in the historic Mission Inn District of Riverside, California. The museum is a non-profit organization which focuses on addressing social issues and offers art classes as well as other events in order to in ...
. His art has been chronicled in ''Potato Stamp Dreams'' (2005) and ''Storm Clouds'' (2009) both published by Murphy Books. He is represented in the United States by
Jonathan LeVine Jonathan LeVine is an American art dealer, instrumental in the proliferation of lowbrow and street art on the East Coast of the United States. About LeVine grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. As a teenager, he encountered punk rock music and the p ...
Gallery in New York City. His paintings have been exhibited throughout the world including museums, galleries and walls in New York, Paris, Tokyo and London.


List of solo exhibits

2018 "Futuregods", Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, CA 2016 "Graffiti", Bunsen Goetz Galerie, Nuremberg, Germany 2016 "The Sotofish Society", Jonathan LeVine Gallery, New York, NY 2015 "Nightgardens", Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2013 "Fire Within", two person show with Maxx242. Bunsen Goetz Galerie, Nuremberg, Germany 2012 "Decay and Overgrowth", Jonathan LeVine Gallery, New York, NY 2010 "Lifecycle", Jonathan Levine Gallery, New York, NY 2009 "The Inland Empire", Stolenspace, London 2008 "Turning in Circles", Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA 2007 "Storm Clouds", Jonathan Levine Gallery, New York, NY 2006 "Cold Ice Age", BLK/MRKT Gallery, Culver City, CA 2006 "Supernova", Jonathan LeVine Gallery, New York, NY 2004 "Jeff Soto", BLKMRKT Gallery, Culver City, CA 2003 "Complete Domination", OX-OP Gallery. Minneapolis, MN 2001 "Potato Stamp Dreams", New Image Art, Los Angeles, CA


Personal life

Soto lives and works in Riverside, California with his wife Jennifer and their two daughters. In 2016 he became a full-time Professor at Riverside City College where he teaches studio art classes.


External links


Soto's website

Official Facebook

Official Twitter

Soto's Blog

Jonathan LeVine Gallery

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Soto, Jeff Painters from California 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists American graffiti artists American installation artists 1975 births Artists from Riverside, California People from Fullerton, California Living people Riverside City College alumni American contemporary painters 20th-century American male artists