The front room at Art Whino has one of the only seating arrangements found in the vast recesses of the gallery. The old sofa flanked by two chairs makes a nice, quaint vignette, completely at odds with the disturbing yet humorous paintings by JoKa, now on display.

Viewing the dark-humored compositions littered with meat, women and pirate paraphernalia, you can’t help but wonder where these images come from and how they are concocted. The artist, like his work, is unpretentious and can be described as “what you see is what you get.” His inspiration comes from found images which he uses to create painted collages using pointillism. The compositions contain a flatness due to the collaging of his imagery. A hook, eye patch and a peg leg show up in several canvases because his mom once brought pirate paraphernalia back from a trip she took.

While working at an adult film company, JoKa found a plethora of old Playboy magazines, which he now uses for reference. The woman in Wings Don’t Need Legs (pictured) was found in these magazines; she sits contently in the painting with her amputated legs, sprouting butterfly wings, and lovingly stroking the butcher knife dripping with blood, while a large high heeled shoe burns. It is one of his more overtly dark paintings, both in color and theme.