Los Angeles-based artist Alec Egan's new show, "Luminous Opera," opens at Western Project this Saturday, June 14. The reception, which is fun, free, and open to the public, is on Saturday from 6 to 8 pm.

Here's what the gallery has to say about the artist, who earned an MFA from Otis College of Art and Design:

Egan's language is aggressive and visceral, based in questions of authenticity and art historical myths and clichés. Reframing Van Gogh's pictorial language, moreover, using it as a trope with his own subject matter, Egan creates a muscular vocabulary with dense, excessive surfaces akin to Anselm Keifer and Leon Kossoff. His application of oil paint is a constructive process; images built into large scale, tactile landscapes and portraits. They are a fecund and material totality. Egan's subjects are both personal and historic; familial portraiture to Van Gogh's fields and trees. His depiction of Van Gogh's green parrot is transformed into a double edged allegory; now a diving acrobat, or a descending Icarus figure? Using commercial poster art or Star Trek references, Egan rides a confluence of humor, tragedy, nature, and Pop influences to investigate ideas of masculinity, beauty and culture. His works are a deliberate statement on the ecstatic wisdom of making pictures; a belief in the power of the artist, and a declarative howl.

The show runs until July 19. Western Project is located at 2762 S La Cienega Blvd.