Here is the funeral song to the age of simplicity. White ghosts of ages past. White newspapers, stacked, on a front porch, the black ink smudging our fingertips. And the silver, no longer, of the silver screen. Here, today, is technicolor two thousand and nine. And as we wish away the romance of yesteryear, we can pause a moment to google search the phrase and watch Ozzy Osbourne performing a tribute “Goodbye to Romance” live, in 1997, on youtube.

Last Thursday, Carlos Valencia’s solo show “Goodbye to Romance” — curated by Eric Lane — opened at The Journal Gallery. The visual montage of his skillfully-rendered graphite drawings reads like an absurdest haiku. A TV still of a football victory, two finches on a branch, Charlie Brown at a picnic– these seemingly random, seemingly filter-less, media-heavy images are ironically rendered in shades of gray, colorless and inherently romantic. Like a zombie bride.

Carlos Valencia’s ironically soulful pencil renderings of teen stars can be seen in his first solo show at The Journal Gallery, opening this Thursday from 6-11 p.m., with a collector’s preview Wednesday night (email Michael@thejournalinc.com to RSVP). Valencia’s background as a graffiti artist and t-shirt designer belies his rather graceful and sometimes kaleidescopic compositions. The show, “Goodbye to Romance,” runs thru May 4th and is curated by Eric Lane.