The anachronistic imagery found in much of the work of artist Bruno Peinado will be featured in an upcoming solo exhibition with Galerie Mitterrand + Sanz in Zurich called “Suicidal Tendencies.” For this exhibition, the artist has continued his investigation into cult-based imagery found in elements of contemporary society that are at once loaded for some and otherwise void for others. Peinado’s works are a contemplation of the spectacle of society and the history of imagery and symbolism as it relates to specific cultural movements. The artist has exhibited extensively with international venues, including “The Endless Winter” at Galleria Continua in Italy and “Me, Buy-Sellf and I” at the Galerie Loevenbruck in Paris, France. The artist has recently been featured in group shows “Notre Histoire” at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and “Bang-Bang!” at the Musee d’Art et d’Industrie de Saint-Etienne in France.

The opening reception of “Scion Presents: To The Masses” is curated by Giant Robot Magazine publisher/co-editor and owner, Eric Nakamura. The exhibition opens tomorrow tonight at 7 p.m. and is on view through Sept. 8 at the Scion Installation LA Gallery in Culver City, Calif. Artists from the U.S. include Caroline Hwang, Ben Woodward, Feric, Dan-ah Kim and Brian Ralph. From Japan: Eishi Takaoka and Kohei Yamashita. From Spain: Olaf Ladousse. Together this diverse group of artists delves into different mediums (including silk-screen printing, carved wood and pen-and-ink drawings) and styles. The new Scion Installation Gallery holds art shows and art-related events for cutting-edge artists from across the globe. Giant Robot Magazine began in 1994 as a small zine and has grown into a full-fledged bi-monthly magazine available at most stores and newsstands in the U.S. Giant Robot opened its first store in 2001 and formulated a combination of pop-culture goods, ranging from Japanese import toys, graphic design and art books, and monthly art exhibitions. Giant Robot has since opened stores and galleries in San Francisco and NYC and also operates a restaurant called gr/eats in West Los Angeles.

The material and process-based sculptures of Foon Sham have spanned the past 20 years. The artist’s recent work relies on the principles of design, and some works have shifted from the previously abstract into newly recognizable forms, such as the house. During a residency in the mid-90s, Sham created “Houses at Night,” a work that formed as an intuitive response to the surrounding landscape. The piece marked a breakthrough for the artist, as he is now working more freely with familiar forms and integrating light and architecture within the work. Sham was born in Macao, China, in 1953 and moved to the United States in 1975. The artist completed his MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Va., and his BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCA) in Oakland, Calif. Sham has continued to participate in countless exhibitions and residencies, including recent shows with Heineman Myers Gallery in Bethesda, Md., Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong and Dianne Tanzer Gallery in Melbourne, Australia. Artist residencies include Kulturhuset USF in Bergen, Norway, and the Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center in Riverdale, Md.

Brooklyn-based artist Peter Simensky‘s medium is money. By combining images from currency belonging to 50 failing world economies, he creates colorful collages that remain true to the scale of other notes. In 2005, Simensky partnered with the Swiss Institute to give his money/art buying power at the Armory Show in New York City where other galleries allowed pieces to be bought with what he calls “Neutral Capital.” He himself uses his currency to buy work from an array of artists. He displays those pieces that he’s bought in portable galleries that fold up into shipping crates. So far, his collection includes work from Yuh-Shioh Wong and Peter Coffin, among others. By assigning value to his mint, Simensky has found a way to participate in and critique the current art market. His solo exhibition “Cerca: Peter Simensky” will be at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego through September. The artist received his MFA from CUNY Hunter College in NYC.

On Sept. 1, the Victoria Miro Gallery in London will present an exhibition of new works by New York-based artist Sarah Sze. As a continuation of the artist’s sculptural aesthetic, Sze has created several new ephemeral installations that use throw-away materials such as water bottles, office lights, thread and scrap wood. The artist’s sculptures are integrated into the gallery walls, floors and ceiling and are organized to represent a microcosm that is able to exist and function as part of a larger system. Sze is a graduate of Yale University and the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She has exhibited internationally with shows at Malmo Konsthall in Sweden, the Fondation Cartier in Paris and the Whitney Museum in NYC, and she was also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship in 2003.

The artwork and writings of David Batchelor investigate the properties of color and how it operates outside of the functional realm, becoming a unique phenomenon all on its own. The artist is also interested in the symbolic meaning attached to color and how it affects those in its presence. Batchelor’s work often takes form as sculpture, using brilliant colors with fluorescent light, neon and plastics shown through light boxes and shelving but is also known to exist in drawings, photographic series and even large-scale public works. The Scottland-born artist has exhibited recently with the Wilkinson Gallery, Gloucester Road Underground Station in London and Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, UK. Batchelor is listed as a Saatchi Gallery artist and has participated in group shows at Galerie Leme in Sao Paulo, curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, and “Extreme Abstraction” at the Albright Knox in Buffalo, N.Y.

The paintings of Sarah Emerson use the violence and sadness of natural landscapes to provoke a sense of instability. Her muted paintings combine a variety of visual references, ranging from dead bucks and barren trees to abstract elements. Emerson’s paintings embrace honesty and uncertainty in a time that she believes is hardened by the disintegration of real emotional and literal landscapes. Her reference to natural objects is used as a device to keep the paintings’ feel as close to real as possible, without completely relying on literal interpretations of the surface or space. Emerson received her BFA from the Atlanta College of Art and her MFA from Goldsmiths College in London. The artist has exhibited at White Columns in New York, Cosmic Gallery in Paris and Real Art Ways in Hartford, Conn.