One woman's meat is another woman's poison, and so it is in the game of love. New York artist A.V. Phibes explores this dynamic in her return engagement at Blue Ruin Gallery, exhibiting new work in Heartbreakers and Broken Hearts. Phibes will preside over the exhibit opening, June 26 from> 7-10pm.

In her 2002 exhibit at Blue Ruin, Phibes struck a chord with Blue Ruin's clients, who enjoyed her dark humor that took a playful poke at love and sex. In Heartbreakers, Phibes presents more of her devilish pop-cartoon work, as well as more detailed pieces reflecting her personal obsession with transgression, glamour, madness, and masculinity.

Phibes, an artist, designer, and retired sideshow performer, started out doing comic strips in 1995, with her comics appearing in various small publications. By the close of the nineties, she managed to parlay this into a career as an illustrator, doing work that appeared in books, magazines, websites, and advertisements. With the collapse of the dot-coms and subsequent hard times for graphic artists, she devoted herself to marketing and merchandising her own art and designs via her company, Evilkid Productions. Today her work can be spotted on assorted products in malls across America. Phibes also continues to sporadically produce comic strips: Evilkid Comix, Something Else Entirely, and Kitty and Robot.