Apollo Staar Fine Art

    Apollo Staar(b. Paul-Anthony Trevino) is a Los Angeles based photographer, painter, and assemblage artist.
    Apollo grew up in Los Angeles and after finishing film school at SFSU he worked as a window dresser on Melrose Ave. as well as a 60s/70s/80s rock DJ at various Hollywood nightclubs from 1995 to 2021. During this time, he lived and worked out of his Hollywood art studio known as 'Ultrastar Studio'(6432 Santa Monica Blvd.) which was a part time gallery, work and production space, as well as host to hundreds of art parties, gallery openings, photo shoots, video shoots, and other creative events. It was the unofficial home and hang out spot to many local creatives and rock musicians who called it home, and where the avant-garde flourished during the late hours. It closed it's doors in Oct. of 2011 when Apollo briefly moved out of state.

       "So, I could write a long drawn out artists statement trying to convince everyone about how my work has a super deep meaning and is a comment on our materialistic society, or how everyone is obsessed by celebrity and idol worship, etc. But all that stuff is boring to me, it's been said a million times already, it's nothing new. Truth is, most people who are reading this simply buy and collect art because it makes a connection with them on a very uncomplicated visceral level; either they think it's cool, they like the colors, they like the subject, or they like the artist. And that is exactly what my art is about, bringing something refreshing to the table that you connect with. I make art for both investors and everyday people who want something cool on their walls."

       "People say I'm a natural at my subject and design style. Yeah, I went to art school for a few years(Art Center College of Design) just to learn the rules so I could know what to break. And yes, it's true, I went to film school too, just so I could have access to decent film and editing equipment to make weird underground films, but by that time I was already obsessed and addicted to strange and obscure 60s and 70s underground culture; film, art, innovative thinkers and weirdo fashions. Kenneth Anger, Jodorowsky, Russ Meyer, Cassavetes, Ralph Bakshi, John Waters, Saul Bass, Verner Panton, Peter Max, Rauschenberg, Wesselman, Alan Aldridge, Allen Jones, Cornelius and Herman Makkink, Allan Kaprow, Vito Acconci, Paco Rabanne, Andre Courreges, Rudi Gernreich, Biba, Granny Takes a Trip, Paraphernalia NYC, Mary Quant, Veruschka, Peggy Moffit, Fiorucci, the Sex Pistols, Sebastian Horsley, John Cooper Clarke, etc. Obsessed and hooked to the gills. The stranger the better. And the rest, as they say, is history."

"Fine art painters are constantly underrated as creative people. Paint is nothing more than colored goo that is forced thru a brush, machine, sprayed, or manipulated in some way onto a surface, creating something that represent a story, mood, feeling, message or thing. There is something to be said for that cathartic process alone. Creating something from nothing."
                                                            -Apollo Staar

Gallery Shows

PHOTOGRAPHY:
1987 -Photo Contest and show, Sierra Madre Public Library, 1st place(B/W) and 2nd place(colour)
1992 -“Bad Attitude”, One Man Show, curated by Bibbe Hanson and Sean Carillo, TROY Café & Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
1994 -Group Show portraits of Nightlife Personalities, Ten Fifteen Folsom nightclub, San Francisco
2008 November -“Girls of the SS”, group show, Ultrastar Gallery, co-curated show(w/Yvette Lera) and guest artist.
2009 July -"Desolation Holiday", group show, Ultrastar Gallery, co-curated show(w/Dan Santoni) and guest artist.
2009 November -"Figurative Theatre", group show, Rebecca Molayem Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA.
2011 June -"Beerotica: Cross-pollination", group show at the Hive Gallery, summer, Los Angeles, CA.
2012 June - "Queertopia", group show at Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, MN.
2012 July -"RAW Artists Showcase", Group Show, Fine Line Cafe, Minneapolis, MN.
2012 November -"Behind the Boudoir", group show, curated by Vanessa Moselle, Burgundy Room Gallery, Hollywood, CA.
2012 November -"Life and Death in America", group show, curated by Rachel Wright, Loft Gallery, Pomona, CA.

PAINTINGS/MIXED MEDIA:
1992 -Student Group Show, Pasadena City College Student Art Gallery, Pasadena, CA.
1993 -Biennial Group Show, Los AngelesContemporary Exhibitions (L.A.C.E.)
2005 -Group Show, Glass House, Pomona, CA.
2008 -Benefit for Compound Radio, Group Show, April, Thought Gallery, Hollywood, CA.
2008 October thru January -Fall Group Show, Thought Gallery, Hollywood, CA.
2009 October -"Erotic Art School: Art Students Gone Wild", co-curated show(w/Heidi Calvert), Ultrastar Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2010 May -"Erotic Art School: Class of '69", Group show, co-curated show (w/Heidi Calvert) Ultrastar Gallery, Los Angeles. CA.
2011 February -"Pretty Vacant", short preview show, Coffee Table Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2011 April -"Pretty Vacant" One Man Show, Peep Show Gallery, Hollywood, CA.
2012 July - "RAW Artists", Group Show, Fineline Cafe, Minneapolis, MN.
2012 August -"Anger Management", Group Show, Altered Images Gallery, Minneapolis, MN.
2012 October -"Punk Royals", Group Show, curated by Taquila Mockingbird, Punk Museum, Los Angeles, CA.
2013 October - "Aloha from Hell: A Tribute to the Cramps", Group Show, curated by Vanessa Burgundy, Boshin Gallery, Hollywood, CA.
2013 October - "Masquerade", Group Show, KGB Gallery, Los Angeles, Curated by Juan Rodriguez
2013 November, "The Munsters Vs. The Addams Family", Group show, curated by Cleo Antonelli, Boshin Gallery, Hollywood, CA. 
2019 December 6 thru 21, "The Rock 'n Roll Picture Show", Burgundy Room Gallery, Hollywood, CA.

CINEMA/FILM:
1992 -Founded “Suicide Cinema”, mini production company for Super-8 & 16mm films, Pasadena, CA.
1993 - “Beyond Flesh” 16mm, dual-screen, B/W, 12 min., Screening at Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA.
1993 -Founded “Cinema Nouveau” Film Collective, Group Screening, TROY Café & Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
1993 -“Paul-Anthony, Al-Fresco” a retrospective of early film work from 1988 to1993, TROY Café & Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. (Films included ‘Apt. 18’, ‘Trauma’, ‘Split Personality’, ‘Loser’ and the dual-screen ‘Beyond Flesh’), outdoor screening on the west wall of the Gallery building.
1995 -‘Get Lost’ 16mmB/W, 14 min., Screening at Flux Gallery, San Francisco, CA. 

MUSIC VIDEO:
2009 -Molly Jensen, “Give it Time”, Art Director
2009 -N-Force, “All or Nothing”, Art Director

FASHION DESIGN:
-2003, Launches Apollo Staar Couture, a collection of ready-to-wear one-of-a-kinds.  Described as ‘Sci-Fi meets 70s Disco’, the entire collection was made in reflective Gold and chrome vinyl.  Complete with a collection of matching space-age handbags and a 15 piece line of foot long dangling chrome/gold hoop earrings.
-2004, Opens the very 60s Mod themed “Le Chic Boutique” with partner/designer Mercedes Sumida.  Representing local designers as well as retailing original60s vintage dead stock and ready-to-wear designs.
-2005, Guest Designer in ‘Art Bags’ Gallery show at Star Shoes, Hollywood, curated by Ashley Eckenweiler
-2006, Guest Designer in ‘Art Shoes’ Gallery show at Star Shoes, curated by Ashley Eckenweiler.