When I skimmed the press release and glances at the attached jpegs for this month’s show at Valentine’s (232 SW Ankeny), it looked like just another decent show for a Portland art gallery.

“In Rose Gibian’s work, she presents an elaborate, whimsical universe of her own invention. Populated with flying cats, costumed animals, and so-called “mixed-up creatures”, this world is host to a range of unlikely scenarios: Delirious hippos gorge themselves on landscapes of junk food. Kitty scientists perform experiments in laboratories of gurgling test tubes. Birthday parties are plagued by Raccoon bandits.”

“Oskar Radon-Kimball is a multimedia artist and writer who has been working in various media for the past 13 years. He has studied filmmaking at the Northwest Film Center and… in 2005, Oskar sold out of many of his comics at the Stumptown Comic Fest. He enjoys reading, writing, myspace, and awesome.”

So far, so good, right? Well, a closer read reveals that Gibian is 8 years old, and Radon-Kimball is only 13. Here’s their art, which definitely holds up in a Pepsi challenge against a lot of what you’ll be seeing at First Thursday tonight.

Rose and Oskar’s show opens tonight with a reception from 6-9 pm, and continues through May.