Marcus McAllister

Wander far in safety

jul 1 - 27, 2025

FIRST WEDNESDAY OPENING: jul 2, FROM 6 - 9PM

ARTICULATE ARTIST TALK: SUNDAY, jul 6, AT 4PM.

NORMAL GALLERY HOURS: TUE - SUN, 12PM - 6PM

FOLLOW US AT BRGALLERY FOR UPDATES AND IMAGES!

Marcus McAllister is a French-American full-time professional artist living in Paris. Originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, he received his degree in Fine Arts from Louisiana State University in 1991 and has a prolific output, incorporating mixed-media sketchbooks and acrylic paintings.

The artist’s practice is sketchbook-centred: for thirty-five years, the artist has carried a sketchbook with him wherever he goes, using it as a tool for pulling order from chaos. The sketchbook (currently number 146) organizes random information, digests experiences and memories, ideas and imaginings. The process secretes meaning.

Marcus McAllister’s acrylic paintings are expansions of the sketchbook-generated ideas. His paintings present dream-like depictions of characters and animals, layered with sigils and patterns that tweak their figurative quality. The recognizable forms and figures flirt with symbolism and abstraction to evoke deeper meanings. The artist has a characteristic style that combines fine art, illustration, and mysticism — a quality that transcends time and setting.

“We are always stepping into the unknown, on a dark and perilous adventure. But no need for fear, for in doubt and uncertainty we learn our strengths.
Secret gifts lie deep within each of us. Treasures hide in our guts and heart and skin. Help is at hand.
The animal assistants common to fairy tales can aid us in attaining this buried wisdom, if our busy chattering minds do not drown out their advice. Heed their messages, and discover faithful companions, eager to guide.
Birds reveal secrets to those who learn their language of song and flight. Toads deploy their clairvoyance, while frogs read the air as easily as water. Owls show the way; rabbits tell the hour. Lions can chew the sun and spit out passwords. Ravens bring bread or information. And with a tilt of antlers a stag will point to the resolution of our quest.
All of them urge us to enter the portals open before us, and within us, in trust and security.” - Marcus McAllister

This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from April Hammock, Hye Yeon Nam, & Nonney Oddlokken. All works from these artists are on view, free of charge, during regular gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) from July 1 - 27, 2025.