Baton Rouge Gallery Features McCullen, Norris and Richard in July
Baton Rouge Gallery welcomes three of its artist members for an exciting multimedia exhibition, running from June 27 through July 29. This exhibition features the work of Craig McCullen, John Harlan Norris and Tom Richard.
A “First Wednesday” Opening Reception for this eclectic exhibition and the gallery’s three featured artist members is scheduled on July 7 from 7-9 p.m.
Craig McCullen has been a gallery artist member since 1987 and holds both a Master of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Glass from Louisiana State University. He owns Whoojoo Glass Studio and Art Gallery in downtown Lafayette, La. McCullen has completed works for New Iberia Catholic High School and Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Rayne, La. and has had opportunities to work and study with leading glass artist from around the world. He has taught at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and with the Acadiana Arts Council and was also the resident artist for the Lafayette Parish School System in 1985.
McCullen’s exhibit, Music and Art, Friends at the Fest, More!, examines his artistic thoughts of and contributions to the 23 years of Festival International de Louisiane. McCullen’s glass studio, located right in the center of the Lafayette-based festival’s activities, became a think-tank of visual images of what the festival is and will become. McCullen’s glass work is both imaginative and whimsical and you can almost hear the music, see the stage lights, smell the food and observe the vendors with their international goods.
John Harlan Norris has been a gallery artist member since 2009. A painter and musician originally from Kentucky, Norris holds a Master of Fine Arts in Drawing and Design from Louisiana State University and a Bachelor of Art in Studio Art and English form Centre College in Danville, Ky. Since graduating, Norris has taught drawing and design at Louisiana State University, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and Southern University. His work has been shown in Chicago and Houston as well as throughout Louisiana and Kentucky. Prior to leaving Baton Rouge, Norris fronted the popular indie-pop band, Harlan, which received critical acclaim from the likes of USA Today and Spin Magazine. Currently, Norris is an assistant professor of art at Arkansas State University.
Norris’ recent paintings, which are featured in his exhibit, Royal Patterns, combine elements from the manufactured and natural worlds in an effort to create a hybrid environment in which distinctions between the inanimate and animate are questioned. Mundane objects are combined to suggest human forms and patterns of nature and those created by machine are joined in order to identify their commonalities as well as their divergences. His work investigates the phenomenon of objects serving as symbols or allegories of the human condition and examines our daily interactions with inanimate objects and the ways our understanding of ourselves has become increasingly tied to the objects that surround us.
Painter Tom Richard has exhibited his work in countless locations across the United States, including solo and group exhibitions in New York City, San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago and Little Rock. Richard has been chosen by jurors around the country for special recognition in national and regional exhibitions, and recently had solo exhibitions at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, Ark. and the Laredo Center for the Arts in Laredo, Texas. Richard holds a Master of Fine Arts from State University of New York in Albany and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Louisiana State University. He has been a gallery artist member since 2007 and currently lives in Monticello, Ark. where he is a professor of art at the University of Arkansas.
Richard’s work primarily consists of mixed media paintings on paper and other surfaces. His imagery depicts images of his own childhood toys playfully juxtaposed against objects, images or patterns from books on Chaos Theory or symmetry. His exhibit, Army Guys, Wrestlers, and oh yeah, Peeps, delivers fun and unquestioning visual interest and asks the viewer to connect and relive their own childhood one painting at a time.
click below for a short video preview of this exhibit:
