Luke Chueh's "Smokey (The Bear)" for Thinkspace Gallery show!

Luke Chueh's 8" x 10" acrylic & ink on paper painting "Smokey (The Bear)" is part of the "Wild at Heart" group show, a benefit for the Born Free USA foundation. The piece is most obviously a brilliant parody of everyone's favorite anti-forest fire mascot, but Chueh explains his intentions:

[This piece] attempts to address several of the issue[s] behind the show. First the painting features a polar bear, a mammal whose territory has been severely affected by global warming. The bear is smoking a cigarette, which illustrates in its own twisted way animal endangerment, crossing a human lifestyle with an wild animal. Finally, the title "Smokey (The Bear)" is a reference to Smokey The Bear, the original mascot for the the United States Forest Service.

"Wild at Heart" is already open and runs through June 9th at the Thinkspace Art Gallery, 6009 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232.