Over the years, Clarion Alley in San Francisco has gone from a destination point in showcasing some of the most talented muralists work in the Bay Area, to a graffiti-scribbling playground. The organization and management of the walls in the alley deteriorated and the graffiti writers decided that no murals were sacred; including a rare Chris Johanson that was tagged repeatedly than eventually buffed.

Imagine some anime character charging his ki as waves of plasma vaporize everything in a fifty foot radius. Throw in a Post-Impressionist sensibility and few cues from underground comics and you'll have Kyle Ranson's explosive brand of portraiture. Since his arrival in the 1990s, this former East Coaster has made himself, and his work, right at home in the Bay Area. We recently sat down to chat about volcanoes, embryonic goo, and R. Crumb.

In August 2011, Monica Canilao and Kyle Ranson built an installation/exhibition at Krets Gallery in Malmö, Sweden called The More We Wander. Now, the Bay Area-based artists are bringing the collaboration to SF at Needles and Pens, opening on December 10.

San Francisco staples Kyle Ranson and Sara Thustra will be heading East to Brookyln for a showing at Cinders Gallery on June 4, 2011. The name of the show is best of 2011, maybe ever: Shit. Free Art n Good Times. Couldn't have named any better ourselves.