CONDUIT GALLERY

Billy Hassel
Path

April 13  through May 18, 202

Conduit Gallery is honored to announce a solo exhibition of paintings and lithographs by Fort Worth-based artist, Billy Hassell. The exhibition will be Hassell’s ninth solo exhibition at Conduit Gallery.

In literature, paths, or the concept of a path, have been used as metaphors to explore themes about life, especially about choices made. Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” for example, from and with which the concept of “the road less travelled” is most strongly associated, could be taken literally as a story about a path not taken or metaphorically, as it most often is, as a non-conformist choice about one’s life. By titling his exhibition Path, Billy Hassell employs the idea of the path to symbolize, in a general way, his own journey through life and also, and more literally, the gathering and the holding still of, some of the places he has been to and seen along the way. From his ventures, Hassell has been able to explore and depict every corner of the Texas landscape; east, west, north and south – as well as regions further afield. Through it all, Hassell’s respect and appreciation for nature are caringly rendered with his stylized and masterful compositions and palette.

In his 2014 New York Times article, Michael Hoinski, dubbed Fort Worth-based artist Billy Hassell “Mother Nature’s Stylist”. With a focus on nature, conservation and the environment, Hassell works
with paintings, color lithographs and watercolors and sits clearly in the lineage of the Texas Regionalists of the early and mid-twentieth century.

Billy Hassell’s (b. Dallas, TX 1959) journey to becoming an artist began during his childhood in Dallas where he explored the wild areas and creeks of his East Dallas neighborhood. His imagination was fueled by the colors and geometric patterns of the turtles, snakes, lizards, frogs, and any other creatures he could fit in his pockets to carry home. As he began to draw the creatures, the beginning of his artistic and life’s work began. Hassell earned a BFA from the University of Notre Dame and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

His works can be found numerous notable museum collections such as the Menil Collection, Houston, TX; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Wichita Falls Museum, Wichita Falls, TX; the U.S. Embassy in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, the University of Texas, Austin, TX; Ellen Noel Museum of Art, Odessa, TX; The Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX; and the Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, TX. Hassell’s passion for preserving the beautiful scenes of the outdoor world extend to conservation, creating artworks for organizations including The Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservation, Texas Parks and Wildlife and Audubon Texas, for use in fundraising efforts.

W.Tucker
“compassion” said the rabbit”

April 13 through May 18, 2024

W Tucker’s works begin as unplanned creations. Using his non-dominant left hand, he taps into a spectrum of creativity that is less deliberate and structured. Working with a variety of media – ink, resin stick, oil, charcoal, texture paste – on old found or bought objects, Tucker creates a cast of idiosyncratic characters that look askance at the world.

States the artist, “Each element in a piece has a reason and a personality. As they are placed, a story evolves. A story that I usually see once the piece is complete. The elements that comprise the work often seem simple and in a certain respect they are. Some characters reoccur simply because I enjoy the process of drawing or painting them. Others reoccur because they bring a simple presence to a more complicated situation or question.

The title for this show – “compassion” said the rabbit – stems from two places or ideas. The first is related to the work itself. In the finished pieces, I often see a struggle. A fight of degrees where a character or characters – a person, an animal, a house, a scribble, a cup – attempt to find balance. Most times this tends to reflect some aspect of my own life struggles or those that I observe in the world around me.”

W. Tucker (b. 1959, Goldsboro, NC) earned a B.F.A. in Drama from New York University in 1982. Recent exhibitions include the Outsider Art Fair – with Koelsch Haus (2024-2020); Gallerie Hedenius, Stockholm (2022); Koelsch Haus, Houston, TX (2022, 2018, 2017, 2016); Big Medium, Austin, TX (2022); Dimension Gallery, Austin, TX (2017); Feast Gallery, Fayetteville, AR (2017).

Carson Monahan – Liminal Spaces

April 13  through May 18, 202

Carson Monahan’s latest body of work, Liminal Spaces, offers viewers a profound journey through the intersections of emotional turmoil and temporal uncertainty. Through a series of captivating paintings, Monahan explores transitional atmospheres, inviting us to peer through windows into liminal states where the boundaries of existence blur.

Themes of destruction, paranoia, and chance are interwoven with poignant grace, creating a rich tapestry of human experience. Through surreal imagery and ephemeral beauty, Monahan constructs a narrative that resonates with nostalgia and transition, beckoning viewers to contemplate the fragility of life.

Within these paintings, individuals are depicted with haunted gazes or seemingly ensnared in surroundings suffused with existential dread. Yet amidst the turmoil, there is a palpable sense of chance – a glimmer of hope amidst the uncertainty, as if serendipity whispers of tantalizing possibilities.

Beyond serving as reminders of human vulnerability, Monahan’s works extend an invitation to find solace in the collective resilience of humanity. In the chaos of liminality, new pathways emerge, and the seeds of possibility take root, offering a beacon of hope amid the tumultuous journey of existence. Carson Monahan (b.1985, Detroit, MI) is a self-taught painter, is recognized for seamlessly merging classical beauty with contemporary narratives. Raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he was immersed in art from an early age, but it was not until his mid- thirties that he considered pursuing it as a career.

Though Monahan did receive some formal training during a year of art school, he eventually earned a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship. He pursued various paths from fish mongering to fashion design, while catering to an incessant desire to travel and broaden his perspective, and to seek to comprehend the human condition. Alas, his artistic roots kept beckoning, guiding him toward a life committed to create.

Conduit Gallery
1626 C Hi Line Drive. Dallas, TX 75207  214.939.0064

Gallery hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM
conduitgallery.com