A busy thoroughfare in Minneapolis. A young man, dressed in his going-out clothes, plods down the sidewalk clutching some flowers too tightly. He's nervous, and unsure of himself. Yet he is on a mission. He has high hopes for the flowers.
Going to see a girl.
30 X 30 on a gallery canvas. Acrylics, extra-course pumice, and pencil. November 2018.
This painting, Milkweed, hangs in my living room and it is a beauty. It has a handsome frame which really makes the colors jump. Someone with a big empty wall should talk to me about buying it. The painting is 40 inches high by 30 inches wide. The frame adds another eight inches in height and width. The painting refers to the interior of the milkweed pod which pops open in the late summer and early fall. $1200.
The Road to Extinction, acrylic on newspaper
Barry Scanlan is a mixed media artist who often uses his practice as a method ofcalling attention to social, political, and environmental issues. Barry’s works tend to be colourful and stylized, incorporating text that lends each piece a punk or DIY-esque aesthetic.
Profits. Wealth. Money. Nothing Else Matters, acrylic and paint pens on newspaper
Barry’s recent series of work, Corporate Environmental Abuse, focuses on just that. The artworks in this series are aggressive, but not entirely humourless. Bright colours and cartoonish figures peer forth from a dystopian world that looks suspiciously similar to the one we live in today. Text that seems like it could exist on protest signs frames these images, making them impossible to overlook.
I also enjoy the way that Barry plays with texture and media in his artworks. In his portraits gallery, for example, the artist showcases recent experiments painting on canvas that’s been textured with pumice. The resulting effect hearkens to ancient frescos, and the heavily textured abstract works of Nella Lush.
Politics and Money, acrylics, pumice, oil sticks
Dallas Jeffs is the Editor of Artist Run Website's blog. She is a recent graduate of Emily Carr University of Art and Design, where she studied Critical and Cultural Practices. She is passionate about talking and writing about art, and sharing that interest with others. In her studio practice she is a painter, but she considers herself an art writer and educator foremost. If you like art, books and culture with a science fiction twist, check out Dallas' personal blog, HappySpaceNoises
Please make plans to attend Art to Change the World at Squirrel Haus Arts from October 4-14.
20 artists and 20 topics. Topics include Historical Trauma, Recovery, Environmental Corporate Abuse, Labor/Unions, Gender/Sexual Equality, Water issues, and much more.
Opening night is October 6.
Friends night is October 5 and tickets to support this special evening are $75.
Squirrel Haus is located in south Minneapolis. Please check out the website www.arttochangetheworld.org
Here's a short studio video explaining why I like to paint on newspaper.
An art collector in Washington DC has purchased Pussy Hat. I painted this immediately following the marches which took place world-wide in response to the bully and blowhard becoming president. This painting is on a gallery canvas, 12 inches wide and 36 inches long. Acrylics and pumice.
An art collector in De Pere, Wisconsin has purchased my painting Grumpy's Northeast. This painting is a tribute to Grumpy's Bar, which is a small dive bar located within the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. The bar has been around for seemingly centuries. It's a great place to hang out, get a beer or what have you.
