An exhibition of oil paintings at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, a local radio DJ and some digs brought together several walks of life in an unexpected but welcoming way.

“There are several ways to make sense of the world, to define things, to define perspectives,” said Charlie Rugg, a figurative artist and oil painter from San Luis Obispo.

Ragg’s exhibition “And Also” consists of four paintings that depict photos of random people he found on the Internet. It is currently on display at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art.

“There are always multiple points of view. Looking at their “Both” I think is important. Always keeping an open mind for both parties,” Rag said.

The main part of the exhibition called “Both” spoke with Adam Montiel.

“The picture itself is simple, it impresses. I mean, the size of it overwhelms you,” Montiel said.

Mantiel hosted Rag on his radio show, Up & Adam in the Morning on The Krush 92.5, to talk about his exhibit and joked about finding out who the man in the painting was. That’s when they started digging.

“It was a stock photo. I did a reverse google image. I found a photographer in Thailand. I sent him a DM. “Hey, there’s this artist, there’s this painting, there’s this guy, what can you tell me?” And he says, “Oh, I did that years ago. It’s an artist named Kai from Atlanta.” And I said, “Well, I’ve got to find Kai.”

“Let’s do it. I want to deal with you. I want to find this guy,” Mantiel said during an interview with Rugg on Up & Adam in the Morning.

He fulfilled his promise.

“There was a lot of Google, a lot of Instagram, we were looking for artists in Atlanta named Kai,” Mantiel said. “I found maybe a dozen. I met a few people and one of the guys came back to me and said, “Yeah, that’s me.”

“I saw a picture of him with this huge, huge picture of my face on it. I say, “Yo, what?” Like, it’s crazy,” said Kai Wood, the unidentified subject of Rag’s painting “Both.”

Wood is an artist from Atlanta who goes by the name iLyKai. Mantiel set Rag and Wood up to talk on the phone. Now there is a new perspective for everyone.

“Yo, this is Kai, bro. This is iLyKai, the one you drew fire on,” Wood told Rag during a phone call.

Ragg replied, “No way brother!”

“There’s another side to it, which is the real person in the photo, which is Kai,” Ragg said. I think those are just two separate parts that are now becoming the story of this picture.”

“I want to thank Charlie,” Wood said. “I appreciate that you found me an inspiration. The fact that you even drew me inspired me further.”

Kai tells KSBY that the photo of Ragg was taken during the filming of the music video in 2020 or 2021.

Ragga’s exhibition “Also” will be on display at SLOMA until May 29^thousand.