Mad Art Gallery proudly presents the Mad March Show featuring work by Michael Baird and Jeff Brawn. This exhibit opens on Friday, March 6, 2009, and runs through March 30, 2009.
Michael Baird is an art instructor at Southeast Missouri State University where he also studied art as an undergraduate. He received his Master's degree at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and worked professionally as a graphic designer for more than a decade. Baird's work alludes to a story without specifying that story. He wants the viewers to be free to follow their imagination and create their own explanations for what they are seeing. What the viewer is seeing is one of Baird's flesh dolls, odd and alluring, these little creatures are creepy balls of flesh with eyes that imply their moods. Baird's flesh dolls are constructed in a fashion similar to that of a traditional teddy bear, but Baird uses sheep skin, black string, polyester fiber fill, and taxidermy eyes to create his creatures.
Though Baird's work is typically about the aesthetic, the aesthetics of advertising and mass marketing, he gravitates to themes of science fiction. "Since I was a child I have been fascinated with monsters and fantastic creatures."
Jeff Brawn is an artist and novelist living and working in St. Louis. Studying under Lloyd Kropp and Allison Funke, Brawn received his BA in English Literature and Creative Writing from Southern Illinois University. Brawn is a storyteller. Brawn's story picks the medium. Sometimes the medium is a novel. Other times it is a painting, watercolor on paper, acrylic, weathered copper and rusted metal on wood. According to Brawn, "Paintings can be more like poetry, full of metaphors and mood, or they can be a glimpse into a larger story." Despite this wide range of mediums, Brawn's work exhibits reoccurring themes, characters, and techniques. Brawn's paintings feature a warm palette and give the viewer a feeling of movement. Often Brawn's subject is a young woman or girl who is strong and ethereal. Brawn wants the audience to finish his stories. "Storytelling begins with the storyteller's imagination and ends with the someone else's. That communion is what it's all about."
Please join us for a free opening reception on Friday, March 6, 2009, from 7:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m.
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