Tim Barnard brings his chaotic black-and-white illustration to The Gallery.

One part indie art and one part urban fashion, The Gallery on 17th Avenue S.W. serves up a mix that is anything but ordinary.

Amidst the racks of attention-grabbing clothing and brightly coloured high-top sneakers, which are works of art in themselves, is a forum for emerging artists to showcase their work. The exhibitions change each month, and have become an integral part of the shop’s business.

“For us it’s a really great means of promotion,” says storeowner Aaron Ellard. “We also get a whole new look to the store every month as well.”

Ellard’s motivation to combine the two elements comes from a longtime passion for art and the art community. He strives to bring new, unique art to the forefront and hopes to continue this with The Gallery’s latest exhibition, The Deer Hunter, by Tim Barnard. An opening reception with the artist is on Thursday, July 29.

“I’m always pleasantly surprised by what every different artist brings to the table and I’d like to create a little more excitement about the art community here,” says Ellard.

Aside from bringing several pieces, Barnard is doing a mural in the store that will become a permanent fixture and on Friday, July 30, he’ll also be doing a mural at Una Pizza + Wine.

“It adds to the uniqueness of the store. We’re always trying to change the look of the store,” says Ellard, who feels Barnard’s work is well-suited for large installation projects. “It’s a different style; I love his illustration pieces.”

Barnard’s illustrations are a chaotic, captivating explosion of black-and-white graphics, which can be found on everything from hoodies to murals to skateboards. He originally started in fine art after graduating from the Alberta College of Art and Design, but progressed to illustration after doing mural work for Off the Hook, a Montreal store.

His work may be fresh and experimental, but it is the past that inspires Barnard the most.

“I’ve been recently really interested in revisiting old Vietnam movies and the whole mythology that’s based around why children, why boys, are drawn to the military,” says Barnard.

This interest in the Vietnam War is the driving force behind The Deer Hunter, which is influenced by the 1978 movie of the same name, starring Robert De Niro.

Barnard is incorporating painting into the exhibition as well as illustration, including the main piece titled Tin Tin in Nam, which is based on a Belgian cartoon character. Accompanying this are smaller pieces that are also inspired by history and the military.

“I’ve been really blown away that more talent is not addressing this issue, which I think is really important to talk about,” says Barnard.

A road trip to the U.S. a month ago to galleries such as the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian offered exposure to the old masters and fuelled Barnard’s interest in history.

“It’s been a long time since I really ate that much artwork,” he says. “I digested it and sat on it for awhile and really wanted to put it into the work.”

Representations of old baroque castle rooms at the Philadelphia Art Museum were attractions from the trip that stuck with Barnard and go hand-in-hand with his other inspiration for the exhibition — heavy metal music.

“There’s this energy and it’s almost like walking through rooms and rooms of old coffins,” he says. “When I bring up the metal-gothic edge to some of the work, it’s kind of a reference to that in a way; that feeling of eeriness of history. History is like a ghost, especially in the digital age.”

Details for The Gallery mural are not finalized, but it will incorporate multiple characters and play off of historic themes. Along with his paintings, Barnard will also be selling merchandise featuring his illustrations, including a baseball-style T-shirt designed exclusively for this show.

Barnard hopes to continue exposing art to people who wouldn’t normally set foot in a gallery, as well as to break the stereotype that art is a pretentious thing.

“I love addressing people that really aren’t so into art. Quite often what happens in the art world and what people are trained in college is that it’s art for artists, it’s art for people who are already on the inside,” he says.