As an artist, this is not a new approach. The Post-Impressionists were doing it in France in the late 1800s. So while it may be initially arresting to see a BlackBerry or Macbook depicted in an oil painting, artist Clinton Rost said it’s natural since, like the Post-Impressionists, his work is about documenting real life. 

“To ignore laptops and cell phones would be dishonest,” Rost said.

And yet arresting still seems an appropriate word for his work. There is something urgent in the application of paint, the hints of faces, the suggestion of figures in the background. These are paintings that tell the stories of right here, right now - the very plugged in yet distant, connected yet isolated world we have created in the modern cafe. 

When the Post-Impressionists were doing their work, coffee shops were the places of social interaction, debate and discussion. Today, we have a different scene. No less popular, the coffee shop has become a communal office, where locals can go to be alone together and communicate electronically with people who are not there, rather than engage with those who are. 

Clinton Rost’s show “Spy House,” which opened on Friday at Gallery 360, explores the unique universe that is the modern American coffee house. The collection is predominantly comprised of images from the popular Minneapolis hangout of the same name. Rost, who admits to having been a regular at most area coffee houses, raved about Spy House—the original location on Nicollet Avenue—for its southwest orientation and “amazing” light.

A St. Cloud area native who now lives in South Minneapolis, Rost logged six years with the Air Force before pursuing art full force and studying at MCAD. He credits his mother, an “incredibly passionate, fun mom,” and a woman he met in France during his time with the Air Force as instigating his transition from the military world to the world of art. The French woman, he remembers, saw him working on a self portrait that would be a gift for his mother. She bluntly remarked that he was stupid for not going to school for art, and Rost, taking it to heart, looked up art schools that day. 

While his paintings may appear to have been composed frantically, with one hand holding a double espresso and the other a paintbrush buzzing from the smudge of a tabletop to the swoosh suggesting an eyebrow, Rost said his style is deceiving in its apparent effortlessness. 

“I like the immediacy I get from my work. I want it to look like I sat down and did it all in one go, though it never really happens that way; it’s much more laborious,” Rost said. “I work hard to make it look like I don’t work hard.” 

Rost also works as a freelance web developer. One of his clients, Linden Hills resident Richard Sebasttian, attended the opening on Friday. Sebasttian, who is more familiar with Rost’s work on a computer screen, was emphatic about the difference of seeing his paintings in person.

“You have to see it in person. The way he uses light and what he does ... he’s a genius,” Sebasttian said.

Gallery 360 has shown Rost’s work in a smaller capacity for the past two years. This is his first gallery show at the space. Merry Beck, owner of Gallery 360, booked this show over a year ago and is impressed with the outcome. 

“I knew that he’d pull it off,” Beck said.

Lately, you can find Rost at his current favorite coffee shop, Butter Bakery Cafe, where he says the wifi is reliable and the baristas are friendly. 

Rost’s show runs through Feb. 28. Check it out, if for no other reason than to see if you can find yourself in one of Rost’s paintings. If you’ve been to Spy House in the past 10 years, there’s a chance you’re there.