Beaudry Gallery is shaking it up with their new gallery curator Michael Francis. I know Michael from his paintings and passion for art. He has a strong sense of economy of line and form in his own work so I am excited to see how this translates to his curating shows. Lucky we don’t have long to wait because this weekend he is opening the gallery to a group show. Titled Fannie Brito Abstract Show, the show revolves around the relationships built around the works of Fannie Brito and other four artists. All but one are new to the gallery.
I am extremely excited to see Jessie Barnes’ works. Her work seems to hint a the political, environment, and identity. Yet, her work is not propaganda. From what I have seen, I enjoy the freedom of material and application of her images. Those that are trained in printmaking often have innovative ways to represent the image without just painting. Not that painting can’t be innovative. Kate Colin shatters the forms with her gradient colors and violent shapes. I feel Colin is disrupting the abstract space of a Brito or Turner painting. Thus a powerful contrast of push and pull occurs in the paintings.
Clayton Hurt uses the language of painting while creating an assemblage wall sculpture. As a member of 500x, Hurt has been on the Dallas stage for a while. Respond to this kind of hybrid form and I hope to see more from Hurt. Ryan Gowland is the only artist that was already with Beaudry Gallery. What surprises me is the I am attracted to Gowland’s materials. Usually, that gloss finish is something that ruins an art piece, but somehow Gowland pulls it off in his very abstract collection of little marks in one painting. These marks are like small worlds separated by white expanses of space.
