Bill Keyser at
"Myths and Mythologies"
thru June 11, 2016
Oxford Gallery
Spring is here, and the Magnolias are blooming on Oxford Street as I walk into the Oxford Gallery for a look at the current show "Myths and Mythologies" which runs thru June 11th. I was invited to participate by the Oxford Gallery owner Jim Hall, and so I was happy to provide a recent mono print for the group exhibition which features over fifty artists showing their creations. You could write a book about this show - there are so many angles on the concept of "Myths and Mythologies".
It is not like other group shows with a theme because the interpretations are wide open, just look at Bill Keyser's take on the Romulus and Remus story ( above ) or Jappie King Black's " Harpy".
Jape King Black's "Harpy"
Some mythological stories are widely shared while others are much more intimate and personal, just see Phil Bornarth's lovely watercolor "Mohican Legend: Bash Bish Falls".
For my part in this visual feast, I created a mono print using some unusual elements based on my research into mathematics. I created shapes and placed them on an open horizon, protected by a lighthouse which in my mind is the threshold not only to the sea, but of the underworld ( Hades ). My print is called "The Un-invited Guest" and it features a kind of Jack-in-the-box ghostly figure which is the visualization of a mathematical equation, and that is the form it takes.
Print by Alan Singer and painting by Phyllis Bryce Ely
at the Oxford Gallery
Hanging next to my print is a painting ( Angel of Lock 32 ) by Phyllis Bryce Ely, and she animates the waters flowing into or out of our local Erie Canal lock. As I said, the interpretation of the theme is wide open to your imagination. There are some images that are quietly gorgeous such as Barbara Fox's charcoal on paper of "Cupid and Psyche" which is in itself a quote from the famous sculpture by Canova.
Barbara Fox drawing of "Cupid and Psyche"
Fran Noonan has a lovely imaginative piece showing a cathedral rising out of the limpid waters of a lake ( La Cathedrale Engloutie ) which itself is an image inspired by the music of Claude Debussy. Around the corner from this placid work is a painting by Amy McLaren called "I Am Atlas" which portrays the artist as the star of her own action thriller.
Not many artworks in the show are as quietly beautiful as g.a. Sheller's butterfly art she calls "Transformation of Etain". This work leaves one wondering how the image was created - is it a print or a painting or both? Go see this show and you will find something that will resonate - and maybe cause you to think about your own beliefs and thoughts about "Myths and Mythologies".
