Marcus McAllister:

Heeding these hidden forces

February 28 - March 30, 2023

FIRST WEDNESDAY OPENING: mar 1, FROM 6 - 9PM

ARTICULATE ARTIST TALK: SUNDAY, mar 5, AT 4PM.

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

FOLLOW US AT BRGALLERY FOR UPDATES AND IMAGES!

Marcus McAllister combines painting, drawing, and illustrative techniques to create layered and dreamy compositions. He’s always drawing. Always. For over 30 years, the artist has carried a sketchbook everywhere he goes. Those books, now overflowing his shelves, are stuffed with his own stream of consciousness, wherever that lead. Patterns emerge, characters rise and fall into memory, and notions of space and time are suspended. His work in the sketchbooks gave rise to the mixed media works on canvas which in turn gave rise to more work in the books. With this exhibition, he explores animal forms and ruminates on the cultural and literary meaning behind some of the most familiar among them.

“Secret gifts lie deep within each of us, out of reach of thought or word. These treasures hide in our guts and heart and skin and manifest in intuitions, dreams, and visions.

The animal assistants common to fairy tales can help us reach this buried wisdom, when our busy minds do not drown out their messages. Those who will heed their advice, however, discover faithful companions waiting for our attention. Like a magician’s familiar, they connect us to our hidden strengths.” - McAllister

Marcus McAllister is a French-American full-time professional artist living in Paris, France. Originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, he received his degree in Fine Art from Louisiana State University in 1991 and has a prolific output, incorporating mixed media sketchbooks and acrylic paintings. The artist’s practice is sketchbook-centered: 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 134) organizes random information and digests experiences, memories, ideas, and imaginings. The process secretes meaning.

Learn more about Marcus McAllister

This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from Samuel J. Corso and Tom Richard. All works from these artists are on view, free of charge, during regular gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) from February 28 through March 30, 2023.  

currently on view