Guest artists at the BFG
California's vast creative community includes countless talented artists working seriously in their studios, developing distinctive bodies of work that remain largely unseen by the collecting public. California continues to produce a steady stream of talented artists working outside the mainstream gallery system. These emerging practitioners develop their work across the state's diverse regions, from urban studios to rural retreats, creating art that reflects both personal vision and the complexity of contemporary California life.
Galleries like ours hope to bring these artists to the public’s attention. By showcasing undiscovered talent, we offer collectors the chance to acquire significant work before it gains wider recognition, while providing artists with platforms to reach new audiences. These artists have much to offer to the art world and deserve to have their visions be a part of our cultural landscape.
We try to showcase a new artist every month and allow the public to meet the artist every second Saturday of the month during the Barrio Art Crawl.
Domonique Angelia King
Domonique Angelia King is a self taught fiber artist from sunny San Diego, CA. Deemed one of the most beautiful cities in America, with its diverse cultural make up, its no wonder she’s been inspired to create art in a unique way. At an early age Domonique was exposed to music, dance and art from her family, which eventually led her to enroll in a performing arts school where she majored in Music Instrumentation and Theory. Yet, Domonique was exposed to all art forms available and began using her experiences to create innovative techniques using yarn and nails to create beautiful, unique work.
King’s greatest passion in life is creativity. Through her art she seeks to document her own personal experiences, to capture scenes and events as she sees them and to share with others the beauty and diversity of Black culture through her eyes. She has been accepted as an artist to represent SAB Gallery in the 2025 Miami Red Dot Art Basel. Her art is in the permanent collection of movie director and Academy Award winner Spike Lee, Grammy and Emmy Award winning singer and actress Andra Day, and many galleries throughout the United States. Her art is handmade and from the heart and soul.
Matthew Zavala
Matthew Zavala is a self-taught artist raised in El Centro,CA. He moved to San Diego 20 years ago and slowly began to experiment with creating art.. He was fascinated with the cartoons and animated works of Walt Disney Ralph Steadman, Chuck Jones, Charles Schultz and others. His cartooning and drawing eventually lead him into painting. He seeks to bring his characters to life by loosely freehanding with no eraser, letting the painting take him in different directions until the vision for that work is complete.
The series Strangeworld is based on a series of characters that surf, skate, and “hang tuff”. The series is loosely based on himself and a group of his buddies in a cartoon format.
Whether it’s abstraction, cartooning, or just simply line drawing, Zavalla remains totally obsessed with creating and exploring new ways of presenting his unique vision.
Michael Arthur
Michael Arthur is an accomplished photographic artist whose career spans over five decades, working at the intersection of fine art, commercial photography, and arts education. With a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction from San Diego State University, along with a Bachelor of Professional Arts from the Brooks Institute of Photography, Arthur has built a rich and multifaceted artistic practice grounded in both academic rigor and creative innovation.
He worked as a freelance commercial photographer, with clients including the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego Magazine, the San Diego Museum of Art, and San Diego Home/Garden Magazine. His work ranged from architectural and editorial assignments to advertising campaigns, and he also served as the staff photographer for the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, documenting exhibitions and the permanent collection.
Arthur has exhibited widely, with three solo shows and numerous group exhibitions across institutions such as the Friends of Photography in Carmel, CA, and Arizona State University’s Northlight Gallery, and the Center for Photographic Arts. In addition to exhibiting, he has contributed to the art world as a guest curator for San Diego’s leading art museums and as an instructor at several Southern California colleges, where he taught courses in black-and-white, color, and commercial photography.
His photographic work has been published in major exhibition catalogues and he has illustrated four children’s books. Blending a deep knowledge of photographic technique with a sensitive artistic vision, Michael Arthur continues to reflect the world through technical mastery and conceptual insight in his ongoing exploration of the medium.
