The F/30 Gallery premiers its first showing of the semester with original photographs from Palomar alumni Niko Holt.

The exhibit, “Urban Western Madness: Out of the Ordinary & Workplace Portraits,” will begin on Sept. 7 and continue through Sept. 13. The exhibit will be shown in room F30 at the San Marcos Campus.

Opening night will be from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The opening event will feature a showing with Holt and a live music performance from Reese Castin, who will perform original music and songs from his band Rickety Cliffs. Visitors will also have a chance to buy pieces of Holt’s art and have them signed by the artists during a meet-and-greet event.

“So of the visions that I have for [the opening event] is that I’m gonna either cry or tear up, but I know it’s going to be a very cool show,” Holt said when discussing the opening event.

Holt will be showing two separate themes in his exhibit. “Out of the Ordinary” is inspired by Holt’s experiences and pop culture influences, such as movies, poems, and songs. One of the photographs shows two alien surgeons operating on a human, while others highlight complex human emotions.

“The X-Files TV series, The Matrix, and Resident Evil were the initial color tone and concepts,” Holt said. “Out of the Ordinary represents letting go of things that are odd, weird, abnormal, unusual, unusable, creepy, strange, or complete madness.”

Holt’s second theme, “Workplace Portraits,” includes portraits of people at their jobs and the hard work that goes into their professions. One of the portraits features surfboard builder Jim Phillips, who has won 6 surfing championships and was inducted into the Surfing Hall of Fame in 1998. Other portraits in the series feature people with whom Holt has more of a personal relationship.

For more information about Holt and his art, you can follow him on Instagram to keep up with all of his art journeys – @nikoholtphotography