Cole Gerst/Option-g

Cole Gerst is a graphic artist and painter in Los Angeles, California. Originally from the deep south of Albany, Georgia, he grew up surrounded by many outsider and folk artists, including his grandfather, a respected local craftsman. He now heads up the design firm, option-g, www.option-g.com which specializes in designing music packaging and collateral for musical artists in a wide range of genres, including independent rock (Grandaddy and The Shins), hip-hop (Eminem and 50 Cent), classic rock (Cheap Trick and The Cult) and classic country (Patsy Cline and Merle Haggard), as well as classic soul (Curtis Mayfield). Some of his work is currently traveling with the exhibit, ?Up Our Sleeve,? which started in Los Angeles and has traveled to San Francisco, San Diego, Tokyo (Japan), Kyoto (Japan), Ghent (Belgium) and Amsterdam (Holland). Cole also participated in the ?Covered? show (Nov. 2003) at Lather Gallery in Los Angeles, where he showed work alongside fellow artists Sage Vaughn, Benzo and Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Gerst has his second solo show of 2004 at Han Cholo in Echo Park (LA) in August, where he will show his poster art along side his paintings.