OCD Galen Brown’s new solo exhibition is open!
Melhop Gallery º7077 and artists wish you a restful Presidents weekend and a very beautiful Valentines day!
GALLERY NEWS
It is with absolute pleasure that we announce the opening of local artist Galen Brown’s solo exhibition titled OCD, and finally some access to his work!
Brown was born in Reno in 1959 and raised in both Reno and at King’s Beach, Lake Tahoe. He was a dedicated junior ski racer on the Reno Falcons ski team and later the Lake Tahoe Ski Club, and a quiet loner in school who lacked direction until a ski accident rendered him immobile for six months. Brown began taking classes at the San Francisco Art Institute and wound up staying for the duration of his formal art education. He studied in China and New York, earning a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in 1988 and a master’s degree in 1990. Brown occasionally exhibited his work in group exhibitions at galleries and non-profit art spaces, but given his slow and methodical working style, Brown resisted selling his work to collectors, preferring to keep his bodies of work together….
Until now……
Untitled #6 “Circle Series” circa 1990-1996, pencil and bees wax on white museum board mounted on zebrawood frame, 8” x 10” x 1 1/2”
Galen has released several of the Circles series, (those that will fit in the Melhop Gallery º7077 space), for exhibit over the months of February and March this year. The work is quiet and thoughtful, while also obsessive, and delicate but which radiate with so much pulsing energy that they are mesmerizing. Compelled to continuously respond to the environment, world events and the materials he has to hand, Galen works consciously marking the passage of time while exerting a playfulness outside of each medium’s normal use.
Each artwork challenges the way we think about drawing as a medium. Galen pushes the boundaries of our understanding and preconceived notions about drawing. The scale of the drawings range between 3 inches x 2.5 inches up to 12 feet x 12 feet.
The Nevada Museum of Art purchased one of the 8 foot x 8 foot circle drawings for its permanent collection, after his solo exhibition Sinecere, in 2019-2020. Images from that exhibition can be seen here.
Other work from the series is titled OCD below…
OCD, Drawing, pencil on museum board, 6 foot x 6 foot (approx) x 4"
Included in the OCD exhibition are 2 drawings mounted on steel, Galen calls them "Shadow casters," they range in size from 10 feet long to 12 feet long.
Prime, Drawing, 10 foot x 4.5” x 2.5” Ink on museum board, steel support
FROM THE FLAT FILES
SELFIE by Galen Brown
This series evolved over time as the standardized Facebook avatar altered and changed. The base avatar was printed at 1” x 1” and each was drawn on, re-scanned and the interventions continued both on computer and as actual drawings. The results are 20 images currently being projected at the gallery, and are printed at 24” x 24” on Canson Archival Etching Fine Art Cotton Rag, each in an edition of 5.
Selfie 1, Selfie 3, Selfie Me xx
24" x 24" each image, printed on Epson archival Fine Art Cotton Rag.
Edition of 5.
900
UPCOMING SHOW
In April our incoming artist is painter Julia Schwadron Marianelli, who relocated from New York to South Lake Tahoe, and whose recent work reflects the change in her environment, and her fascination with Nevada's High Country.
High Country # 2, Oil on Denim, 24 x 24 in , 2017
ARTIST NEWS
London based artist Stewart Easton has an exhibition opening at Heythere Projects, Joshua Tree in March (more information soon),... and meanwhile has not only been working on new embroidered quilts but also small sculptural pieces in clay and metal.
YES, Stewart Easton, ceramic sculpture
MORE ARTIST NEWS
Nevada based artist Megan Berner is participating in the State Department’s Art in Embassies program. A series of her work is being exhibited at the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
With a mission of cross-cultural exchange, Art in Embassies curators work with ambassadors to create temporary exhibitions for the representational spaces of U.S. embassy residences.
The work can be seen here
Sunset at Black Rock Point: June 7, 2016, 4:49 pm - 7:56 pm, , Overall: 15 1/2 × 21 3/4in. (39.4 × 55.2cm)
and finally....
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
To my amazing friend and mentor Jean Merkelbach without whom this gallery would still be just a dream...Happy Valentines day!!!
Please follow us on Instagram or Facebook as the new gallery progresses and see what the 9 artists have been up to. We would love you to share our page if you have a second…
For now, the gallery will operate by appointment only. As receptions are out of the question during Covid times, we are very happy to open for individual visits or to host mini gatherings for you and a small group of masked up friends (maximum of 7). Please let us know if you would like to schedule a gallery visit on a weekday or a weekend. Flexibility and support for artists are the goals in these strange days!
Email: frances@melhopgallery.com
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