ARTISTS SARAH SHEARER AND DUNCAN MCDANIEL CHALLENGE DO I REALLY NEED A REASON? AT magpie etc.
OPENING RECEPTION SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 6-9 P.M.
magpie etc., a gallery of sorts will turn its gallery space over to the vision of artists Sarah Shearer and Duncan McDaniel with Do I Really Need A Reason?, Saturday, April 18, with a public opening reception from 6-9 p.m. Using bold colored figurative art, these artists will fill the gallery space with recent works for no other reason than the one common purpose that they agree they were put on this earth-to paint.
When directly asked, Sarah Shearer is quick to respond that there is no definite genesis to her creative nature. She has always been compelled to unite bright colors and intricate patterns to express herself through her artwork. Her most recent series are masked portraits. Shearer uses the mask as a distraction from the subject’s actual identity and, possibly, to provide a tool to protect them as well.
A graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design, Duncan McDaniel’s work covers a broad range; from large oil paintings and drawings to playful installations. McDaniel has explored everything from the surreal, the narrative, and the figurative to the microscopic. To view his work is to experience the whimsical and the deliberate, the energetic and the restrained, and a striking synthesis of aesthetic sensibilities and dreamlike visions all at once.
“The works of both of these artists are mysterious while, at the same time, bright and electric,” says Rhiannon Guillet, co-owner of the bubble-gum pink magpie gallery. “The timing of such an exhibition seems suiting in preparing one’s mindset for the heat of a Southern Summer.”
Staying true to the nature of the Magpie, magpie etc. will also have a collection of works on display by local artists and designers.
Top Image: Duncan McDaniel, Palatable Announcement,16″ x 20″,Oil on Board,2008
Bottom Image: Sarah Shearer, A Light That Never Goes Out,24″ x 48″,2oo8