Past Exhibition
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Main Gallery | DISTANT COUSINS | John Casey April 3 - May 10, 2009 John Casey, Installation view John Casey, Red Handed Magicians (2009) Main Gallery | DISTANT COUSINS John Casey is obsessed with fictitious human morphology, which he explores in his ink drawings and small sculptures. At first glance, his
works seem to portray a menagerie of deformed creatures. A collective analysis reveals this array of oddball creations to be a series of psychological
studies - self-portraits of the artist's inner psyche in all of its multifaceted incarnations. Some sad, some horrific, and some whimsical, these
characters evoke responses from laughter and sympathy to disgust and discomfort. While one might call Casey's work the exorcising of inner demons,
his creations inspire more empathy than they do loathing. By depicting the grotesque as pitiable, John Casey illuminates the darkest corners of the
mind, seeking redemption for all of us. "My creatures are called monsters by some, but I often feel that the connotations associated with 'monster' don't always apply to these little guys
unless one can add descriptors like 'vulnerable' and 'fragile' to the definition of monster. Maybe I have issue with the monster moniker because I see
my critters as self-portraits. Nick Capasso, director of the DeCordova Museum, once referred to my work as 'little exorcisms' and I like that description.
The idea that I expel my inner demons in the form of drawn, painted, or sculpted critters appeals to me." PREVIEW WORKS Project Space | NATURE BOY | Don Porcella Don Porcella creates whimsical and subversive sculptures from pipe cleaners. This "craft material" is taken to a high art form as the content and structure
play with our concept of consumerism, reality and our own weird mortality. Also at play in Porcella's pipe cleaner sculptural installations is a lighthearted frivolity
that conceals a deeper environmental and nature loving agenda. This sensibility comes from exploring the Sierra Nevada Mountains every winter and summer as his
family hiked, climbed and skied their way through California and Nevada's spectacular mountain wilderness. Now living and working in New York City, Porcella seems
to be calling his earlier nature experiences back in some sort of animalistic call to the wild. Don Porcella, NATURE BOY (2009) PREVIEW WORKS Don Porcella's artwork has been exhibited at galleries in New York City, Berlin Germany, East Hampton, NY, Paris, France, Portland, Oregon, Washington D.C.
and San Francisco, California. The West Collection (www.westcollection.org) recently purchased his entire installation at the 2008 NEXT Art Fair in Chicago. Several
prominent art collectors have recently purchased Don's artwork and he has been featured in several publications in the last year from Israel, France and the United States.
Side Gallery | REGIME CHANGE | Group Exhibition REGIME CHANGE Group Show Swarm Gallery is proud to present a small works show, REGIME CHANGE, in celebration of our new representation in Washington.
Little hints of optimism have begun to enter our minds once again, and our idea is to fill the gallery with smaller, hopeful works that address
this contemporary (and hopefully not temporary) state of mind. All works are under 12 x 12 inches and priced less than $500. REGIME CHANGE is in conjunction with John Casey's solo exhibition "Distant Cousins." Please join us for the reception on Friday, April 3, 6-9PM.
We will also be celebrating Swarm Gallery's 3rd year in operation! Come out and support the artists and the gallery. PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: Alfred Steiner, Amanda Williams, Amy Ross, Andy Vogt, Barbara Holmes, Casey Jex Smith, Chris Pew, Chris Sicat, Dan Nelson,
David Higgins, David King, Ema Sintamarian, Ernest Concepcion, Fred Muram, Fumiha Tanaka, Gregory Euclide, Jaime Cortez, Jessica Serran, Jim Rosenau,
Jordan Essoe, Joshua Hagler, Kathy Aoki, Kevin E. Taylor, Linda Braz, Mayumi Hamanaka, Michael Hall, Narangkar Glover, Pete Glover, Sarah Emerson,
Sarah Smith, Terry Furry, Treasure Frey, Vaughn Bell, Vicki Walsh, Zach Houston PREVIEW WORKS |