March 23 – April 22, 2017
First Friday Reception: April 7th from 6-9 pm
Besides having studios next door to one another at the Benicia Arsenal, Joseph Mele and Carol Dalton have been friends for many years. They share a sensibility that embraces delicate and moody palettes, abstracted figurative references, and layering of colors, materials, and meanings. Each is bringing new work to this show, including a series of small sculptures which emerged from a shared studio session.
Mele’s mysterious titular installation can be seen as a metaphor for our fundamental need for shelter and safety on the one hand, as if these are dwellings. On the other hand it can be seen as symbolic of the empty spaces and isolation between individuals and their, often unknowable, interior worlds. As with Mele’s other pieces, the tactile surfaces and muted colors reference the physicality of our being while the interplay of light and darkness alludes to the range of our emotional and very human nature.
Carol Dalton describes her paintings as imperfect, layered, sometimes suggesting a story or just a fragment. “My thoughts dwell on what I see, and feel as soon as I go out of the door. Land and sea have been a primary focus for some time and I explore the influence of humans in our environment. Like many others, I am more than ever concerned that the earth, it’s people, animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends are in peril. One mark at a time, trying to connect emotional concerns into expositional reality; making the world a better and more humane place.”
The GearBox is open Thursdays and Fridays from 12 to 6 pm and Saturdays from 11 am to 5 pm. GearBox Gallery is also open 6-9 pm the First Friday of every month as part of the Oakland Art Murmur Art Walkimage left: Mele, the light and darkness of being, 45x67x5” right: Dalton, The March, 30×24″