with special installation, FACTOTUM, by Jessica Eastman in the Inner Room
September 28 – October 22, 2017
Opening Reception:
Friday, October 6th from 6-9 pm
Jerry McLaughlin: The Art of Taking Risks
Artist’s Talk & Book Event, Saturday, October 14 from 1-3 pm
_________________
The works of both of these artists reflect a deep engagement with the raw materials they are comprised of and the power of pure abstraction.
McLaughlin’s new work is inspired by the poetry and lives of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Constantine Cavafy. His painting is informed by the urban world of concrete, asphalt, & steel, as well as by the decay, erosion, & weathering of that environment. It is both austere in its minimalism, and intimate in its detailed textures, which invite close examination. The powerful, rough presence of these paintings is the result of intensive working and building up of many layers of paint, pigment, and cold wax medium, along with additives such as earth, sand, & ash. The work speaks of the artist’s appreciation of all that is tough, enduring, gritty and human in the city environment.
Gina Telcocci’s sculptures are made of meticulously assembled combinations of materials, ranging from harvested willows, reeds, & found wood, to metal & plastic bits of detritus. Structures are created using traditional weaving techniques & assemblage, then layers are built up to enhance the forms. The resulting objects and installations combine qualities inherent in the materials themselves with the familiarity of traditional crafts and formal abstraction. The simple shapes with their ambiguous references to creatures or things become symbolic and contemplative objects with shifting meanings, suggesting both the known and the unknown.