Valerie Brennan : 2014

South of No North, East of No West

Off Piste,

oil & spray paint on mdf, 27 x 25cm, 2014

South of No North, East of No West

Lowe Mill Gallery, Huntsville, Alabama, opening Jan 9

South of No North, East of No West brings together 16 artists from all over the world. Having followed these artists for some time it is with great pleasure that I am able to show them side by side. Each is constantly exploring their medium while creating a mature body of work. Each has a constant dialogue with their work and with the contemporary artworld at large. Many of the artists live in major art centers such as New York or London while others make work in places such as the Skagit Valley in Washington State or Ambler, Pennsylvania. It is this relationship that intrigued me while curating this show. The idea that an artist can make good, honest work no matter the setting is the central theme of this show.

curated by Brian Edmonds

Featured Artists:

Ky Anderson (Brooklyn)

Paul Behnke (Brooklyn)

Karl Bielik (London)
Valerie Brennan (Cyprus)
Clayton Colvin (Alabama)
Brian Cypher (Washington State)
William Lawler (Athens)
James Lambert (Huntsville)
Meg Lipke (Brooklyn)
Dale McNeil (Memphis)
David T. Miller (Ambler, PA)
Amy Pleasant (Birmingham)
Pete Schulte (Tuscaloosa)
Vicki Sher (Brooklyn)
Julie Torres (Brooklyn)
Sabine Tress (Cologne)
Rebecca Young (Huntsville)

we'll swim we'll be happy

we'll swim we'll be happy,

oil, charcoal and chalk on mdf panel,

120 x 99cm

current

Current

Inner Scenery

Inner Scenery

Kentaro Baba, Jan de Beus, Valerie Brennan

7 - 28 November 2014

Opening : Friday 7 November, 7.30 pm

Opening hours:

Thursday and Friday: 10:00-13:00 and 16:00-18:00, Saturday: 10:00-13:00

This exhibition showcases drawings/paintings on paper of three artists who usually make abstract paintings. Works on paper often reveals more personal and direct feelings of the artists as they are made much quicker compared to the paintings. The exhibition is an unique opportunity to see how abstract painters explore the themes of memory, personal experiences and landscape with different materials.

Chiaki Kamikawa Contemporary Art

New

Emily's Bracelet,

Oil & spray paint on mdf panel, 80 x 65cm

Kiosk of Democracy

Kiosk of Democracy: Time Lord

Kiosk of Democracy: Grifter

Kiosk is a really great blog run by artist Sascha Windolph

I´m Jealous of Your Failure

K´s Predicament

I’m Jealous of Your Failure

September 29 – October 23 • Reception: October 2, 5:30 – 8:00 pm, HSB 201 Visual Arts Gallery

The University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery is pleased to present I’m Jealous of Your Failure, a group exhibition that showcases interpretations of failure, personal or otherwise. The exhibit contains the work of over 30 contemporary artists from all over the country and is curated by Trew Schriefer.

“In the beginning, I asked the participating artists to submit a work that they felt was a ‘failure’ in their own studio practice,” said Schriefer, a Moline, Illinois native.
The thematic direction of the show expanded from there, but, as several of the works included will reflect, remained rooted in the exploration of failure.

Exhibiting artists include John Phillip Abbott, Timothy Bergstrom, Valerie Brennan, Todd Chilton, Ryan Travis Christian, Bill Conger, Paul DeMuro, Austin Eddy, Andreas Fischer, Ted Gahl, Richard Galling, Benjamin Gardner, Ethan Gill, Shara Hughes, Stacie Johnson, Bob Jones, Brian Kapernekas, Judy Ledgerwood, Marcie Oakes, Michael Rea, Nina Rizzo, Steve Ruiz, Cordy Ryman, Trew Schriefer, Peter Shear, Geoffrey Todd Smith, Jason Stopa, Michael Wille, and Scott Wolniak.

Grifter

Grifter,

oil & spray paint on mdf, 120 x 99cm, 2014

White Hours

Scandinavian Silences

Scandinavian Silences,

oil & spray paint on mdf, 120 x 99 cm, 2014

ITHACA MOMA: 20 QUESTIONS

ITHACA MOMA

at work/ in progress

Off The Wall

Off The Wall,

9th Annual Terrace, London, curated by Karl Bielik

new studio

drawing

charcoal, chalk & acrylic on Sanders, each 56 x 76cm, 2014

Take Turns Project

Valerie Brennan>>>>>>>>>Patrick Corcoran

Take Turns

Run Into Yourself

Run Into Yourself

Curating Contemporary

image: Patrick Michael Fitzgerald,

Hanging(dissolution), 2014, oil & collage on linen,130x105cm

Featuring:

Patrick Michael Fitzgerald

Fran O Neill

HK Zamani

Alan Van Every

Jasmine Justice

Sangram Majumdar

Curated by Valerie Brennan

Landscapes for P.P.

acrylic & gel medium on canson paper

A Dream Within A Dream

A dream within a dream, Bankley Gallery & Studio, curated by Pluspace

artists: Karl Bielik, Claudia Boese, Valerie Brennan, Sarah McNulty,

Sophie Rees, Melanie Russell, Sabine Tress

Acacia

Acacia,

3 drawings, charcoal & chalk pastel, 120 x 60cm, 2014

a dream within a dream

Claudia Boese / Appearance (Anschein) 2014 oil on assembled canvas and board 25x30cm, photo: Douglas Atfield

A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM 15th May / 18.00 - 21.00 @ Bankley Studios & Gallery
Karl Bielik, Claudia Boese, Valerie Brennan, Sarah McNulty, Sophie Rees, Melanie Russell, Sabine Tress

"Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?"
Edgar Allan Poe

The exhibition takes its title from a work by Sabine Tress, ‘A dream within a dream’, 2014. The Edgar Allan Poe poem which it shares the same name with is a poem about trying to distinguish between reality and fantasy.

In a similar way to dreaming, the activity of abstract painting often treads the line between reality and fantasy, sometimes it is hard to separate the two from each other. The unconscious state of dreaming offers us access to different memories and ideas, whilst in painting we can often look back at created paintings and realise that something has been included in the work from a previous memory.

The fully immersive activity of creating an abstract painting, with the full involvement, and the enjoyment of the process can create a kind of flow. This cognitive flow is a well accepted an idea proposed by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Cognitive flow suggests that some activities creates an energized focus, and results in all your attention being put into the task at hand with no more attention being left for anything else. There is a merging of action and awareness as well as improvement of performance which results in a intrinsically rewarding experience.

The focus of flow can offer clear goals and direction which in turn offers great feedback, giving the painter the feeling that their actions matter and have a real effect on the painting and world.

A Dream within a Dream continues a thread of Pluspace exhibitions, such as Painted Thought (2014), Without an Edge there is no Middle (2013), Form / Function (2013) and Meditations (2013), that examines contemporary painting.

Continues
Every Saturday / 12.30 - 17.30
17th May - 7th June

Sales and information please contact matthew@pluspace.com