Las Vegas Weekly

Artist Jerry Misko takes up residency in Cosmopolitan’s P3 Studio

Artist Jerry Misko poses in front a painting for his new show, “Jerry F**kin Misko” at Henri & Odette, in Las Vegas on Wednesday Aug. 12, 2009.

Photo: Tiffany Brown

Ever since the opening of Cosmopolitan’s P3 Studio, locals have been going on about what a lovely fit artist Jerry Misko would be in the space. After all, he’s the Mr. Las Vegas of the local contemporary art scene. He was born here, raised here and practically eats Vegas for breakfast. Then there’s that whole painting of neon thing he’s known for.

Well anyway, it’s happened. Cosmopolitan announced today that Misko, celebrated for his mostly abstract renditions of Las Vegas lights and excess (and for his own omnipresence), is the December/January artist-in-residence at P3, taking the space December 2-January 14, 4 p.m.-12 a.m., except Mondays.

Misko's Somewhere

The residency and show, titled Miskopolitan Cosmonaut, will have Misko seeking inspiration from the luxury resort and its urban boutique charm, or, as Misko says, “I get to go paint inside the thing I’m painting.”

He plans to consider the casino's lights, its spectacular lighting fixtures (including the Chandelier Bar, also known as the life-sized fixture of fixtures), and the hotels that were on Cosmopolitan’s site before it arrived.

But, he adds, it’s not about specificity. “I just want to embrace the over encompassing Vegasness of things.”

Misko follows current artist-in-residence Lisa Ricondo, a drip artist from Detroit, and her residency/show Upside-Down Sideways & Brushless.He's the second local artist to be featured in the program. The first was Steven Spann who took up residency in March.