James Bellarco and Bruce Barlow Artist Reception

Artist Reception
Saturday, April 4th
5-8pm
560 2nd St Oakland
Show runs April 1-28th

Jason Bellarco
My work is entirely original oil on canvas, but the process is rooted in the same discipline used by the old masters—what you’d recognize from the time of Raphael, Caravaggio, and Michelangelo. I don’t approach painting as a modern act. I treat it as a continuation of something that never really ended.
The influence of Caravaggio is probably the most visible—strong chiaroscuro, deep shadow, figures emerging from darkness. I try to work inside the same language as the masters. There’s the discipline of Michelangelo in the anatomy and structure, and the balance and clarity you see in Raphael. Even the framing matters to me—vintage gold frames, because the object as a whole should feel like it belongs to that lineage.

Bruce Barlow is an Oakland native actor, horror makeup artist and prop maker known for his for his work in The Phantom (1996), Virtuosity (1995), Leviathan (1989), and From Beyond (1986).
His most recent movies as special effects artist are Asteria (2025), The Listener (2016), The Fergusons (2011)
For a full list of movie credits, check out his IMDb page. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0055218/