The Garden of Earthly Delights, Opening Reception Saturday July 19th 6-9 pm

The Garden of Earthly Delights
Group Show of Intimate Portraits On View July 19th – September 9th, 2008


Alika Cooper
Pete Kuzov
Kyle Ranson
Chad States
Edie Tsong

Cairo presents portraits from an unlikely group of artists that share an interest in gender, sexuality, and intimate relations.

Painted worlds of visual fantasy and photographic portraits of the real and intimate, the erotic becomes a place filled with the intoxicating air of liberty. The Garden of Earthly Delights moves beyond the exploitative and voyeuristic, to a place of confidence in how we choose to encounter our own sexuality.



ALIKA COOPER received an MFA from California College of Arts. Her work evaluates and captures the fading gloss of the American Dream, glamour, and fame. With the understated synthesis of an opaque, neutral gouache palette on earth-toned printmaking paper, she harnesses sketch by sketch the transforming aura of the stars. Alika's work comes at an important time when our media focus on celebrity is pervasive and highly influential throughout our society. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. Alika Cooper lives and works in San Francisco. www.alikacooper.com

PETE KUZOV was born July 5, 1972 in Delta, Colorado. Interest in storytelling brings Pete to almost everything he does. In 1999, Pete received his MFA in Acting and Theatre Direction from Louisiana State University. After appearing in 3 film shorts and a feature film, he joined his partner in Roswell, where he began making one-man productions. Pete currently lives in New Mexico.

KYLE DAMON RANSON was born July 31st in 1969 in New York City. With an encouraging hippie mother, Ranson began to draw and paint at an early age. By the time he began high school, he was already taking life drawing classes at Connecticut's Lyme Academy. He went on to complete three semesters at the Maryland Institute College of Art, before relocating to San Francisco in 1994. Since his arrival, Kyle Ranson has slowly become a pillar of the San Francisco art scene. His bold murals and paintings often deal with dark mythological, fairy-tail like scenes depicting strange sometimes violent sexual subject matter. Yet, at the same time, Ranson also creates the most delicate portraiture. Inaddition to his several Bay Area solo shows, he has exhibited in Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia and London. Kyle Ranson lives and works in San Francisco. www.kyledamonranson.com

CHAD STATES grew up in Seattle area and attended Evergreen State College. He received his MFA from Tyler School of Art in 2007 and currently lives in Philadelphia. His work investigates the construction of identity and the psychological need to be photographed as way of constructing and maintaining ones identity. http://chadstates.com

EDIE TSONG is interested in the practice of portraiture, as a way to explore the relationship between self and other. Her projects have used video-conference, facsimile, plasticene, performance, and drawing to explore identity through portraiture. Tsong has lectured and exhibited nationally. She currently lives and works in Santa Fe, NM.