Mike Darnell, of Jerusalem, Israel, had his first United States solo exhibition in August of 2008 at The Gallery@404B.

Darnell's works - which he has called Political Pop Art - are bold, colorful and full of meaning. Many of his pieces combine scenes of his native Holy Land with images of western commercialism and erotica.

Darnell says, "Living in the middle east, in Israel, in Jerusalem, one has no choice but to have politics as a major, if regrettable, fact of life. This is why I came up with the idea of Political Pop Art - a fun way to say things that are too hard on the ears."