SEXTET 2017
SEXTET 2 June 22 - July 15, 2017
Victor Pierre LeBlanc Greg McLemore Morgan Frew William Thompson Burnell Yow David Birkey
LIMNER GALLERY
123 Warren Street, Hudson, NY 12534 518-828-2343 www.limnergallery.com TheLimner@aol.com
Victor Pierre LeBlanc We yearn to revel in the ocean of our dreams. And it seems the only constraints exist in the physical world. So are we destine to transcend it? If this is a possible future humanity is facing, I approach the idea with a healthy sense of concern and intrigue. My work explores a world where humanity is moving towards an apex in evolution, where the physical world is bypassed and our minds become fully submerged in the synthesized reality we have been subconsciously constructing throughout the course of our existence.
Toyland, Oil on canvas, 43” x 49”
Mother Machine, Oil on canvas, 49” x 79”
Adam and the Machine, Oil on canvas, 37” x 49”
Greg McLemore We humans are a damaged, broken, and divided lot. We are a collection of injuries, injustices, minor slights and major traumas, never quite forgotten. These all build to age us, to scar us, and in some cases, to absolutely mutilate us. Of course we work hard to remedy our problems- we bandage our cuts and plaster the holes in our walls. We re-configure, recalibrate our machines, so that they may continue to perform. These paintings revolve around the idea that we are in a constant state of damage incursion, striving to maintain a precipitous state of repair. Some of the repairs are successful while others are embarrassing failures. I conceived of these paintings mostly while in Nagasaki, Japan. The structures and models, (to a large extent) are from Japan. They were executed in my adopted home of Baltimore, Maryland.
Cucumber Bubble Gum, Oil on paper, 22” x 30”
Nagasaki City (strange sightings II), Oil on paper, 20� x 15�
Dr. Ranpo’s Startling Menagerie, Oil on paper, 22” x 30”
Morgan Frew My work mostly acts as a diary. The things that I don’t like about myself, my fears, my obsessions...those are things that come out in my art. It is very therapeutic and gives me an opportunity to create just honest art. I work mostly with Pen & Ink. My stippling technique is almost meditative and seems appropriate for the subjects that I work with. Once my images are complete, I like to incorporate additional materials into the pieces, such as wood stains, paints, found objects, and anything else that feels related to the subject of the piece itself.
Triton, Oil on wood panel, 12” x 12”
Calypso, Oil on wood panel, 13” x 13”
Phobos, Oil on wood panel, 11” x 11”
Isolation 3 Oil on masonite 13� x 9�
William Thompson My work is an attempt to document, in a very honest way, feelings or emotions that are experienced from a life devoted to solitude and introspection. The use of selfimagery in many of my pieces helps to further reinforce this idea. The closely cropped format serves to eliminate all areas surrounding the figure, giving greater attention and emphasis to a particular gaze or body gesture which expresses these emotions most clearly.
Isolation 1 Charcoal on rag paper 13” x 25”
Isolation 2, Oil on masonite, 9” x 12.5”
Narcissus, Oil on masonite, 13� x 9�
Burnell Yow! As a mixed media assemblage artist, I have used humanmade found objects in my work for decades. The Ritual Totems series, however, marks the first time I have used natural found objects as well (as in bones, feathers, twigs, stones, etc.), with an eye toward creating works with an aura of ritual and magic. Inspiration for this series was a list I made in 2016 of things I felt passionate about as a child growing up in rural Michigan. The objects I use have a history that’s a mystery, unknown and unknowable, for the most part. My ultimate goal is to combine them in a cohesive and intuitive way, so that a new narrative of relationship is created that will continue to lead me down the rabbit hole. In the words of rocker, Marilyn Manson, “Art, to me, is a question. It should never be an answer.”
42 Mixed media 32” x 9” x 9”
Rabbit Dreaming Mixed media 38” x 8” x 8”
Dog Mixed media 31” x 6” x 6”
David Birkey These are the most recent four paintings in a loose-knit series that began 15 years ago with a piece I called “Ancient Eskimo Astronaut”, a phrase that could describe them all. In each image there’s a body with a cumbersome helmet. A helmet designed to resemble the head of an animal; its open mouth holding a tinted visor through which we see the persons eyes, always with an expression somewhere between confusion and panic. It seems clear these aren’t super-heroes or robots and the reason for this fear is rarely apparent, leaving the broader narrative wide open to interpretation... Are they time-travelers? Were the helmets designed to intimidate? Do they need the helmets to breathe? Is this even Earth? I often think of these paintings as allegorical, showing aspects of the (modern) human condition, feelings of disempowerment and disconnectedness, psychic armor, and a pervasive underlying fear.
Doublecross, Acrylic, 20” x 26”
Waved Out, Acrylic, 20” x 28”
Cease Fire, Oil, 9” x 12”
SlowArt All artwork and images in this publication are under the exclusive copyright of the artists.
SlowArt Productions, 123 Warren Street, Hudson, NY 12534, www.slowart.com