The Grand Gallery is open for ticketed events and by appointment through the ticket office. Appointments are scheduled in 30 minute increments inside the 10-3 pm Monday through Friday normal schedule. Requests outside of the normal schedule will be accommodated if staffing is available. Click the request button above and include contact information and requested time.
Also we have a monthly Arty Hour dates/times will be posted.
The Grand Gallery welcomes Lexington artists MARCO LOGSDON & MICHAEL WAYNE and their exhibition of "tar landscape" paintings on reclaimed wood, and dye sublimation photographic prints on aluminum portraying images from New York City subway stations.
This exhibition continues through July 7. A reception for the artists will be held on Thursday, May 18, from 5:00 to 7:00pm.
This mixture of mediums has endless possibilities and often brings welcomed surprises to a finished piece. I have a self-imposed work ethic in each painting, as I feel each piece must undergo a certain degree of layering for me to feel it is fully realized. Each work is covered with tar when I feel the layering is complete and then the subtraction process begins as I remove the tar and reveal what chemical processes have occurred underneath. The final additions are added at this point, or the whole thing is repainted to my satisfaction. The last step is to seal each piece with beeswax and a high-grade acrylic polyurethane or resin coat. This process gives the work a richly glowing surface quality that invites inspection by potential viewers.
MARCO LOGSDON
Artist Statement:
The Idea. Why Paint? Painting provides mental relief and lets me understand my daily existence. I am very unromantic about being an artist and making art, and I produce objects that document the fact that I was around one day doing something constructive. I prefer to think of my paintings as time sheets of my daily existence.
Production. The processes involved in my work are addition and subtraction. I work with a laborious layering procedure involving taping off squares or stripes to give the desired effect. I experiment with paint and how it reacts with the tar I use. The tar is petroleum based and tends to eat its way back through any amount of oil paint. I stabilize the tar with acrylic-based mediums so that the oils will adhere and dry.
Evolution of Work. My work is a direct descendant of other artists who work in the contemporary scene. I find myself drawn to non-representational or abstract artists more than others because the beauty of the visual arts is when a work goes beyond the allowances of articulation and moves the viewer on a level like music. The object itself is reason enough for its existence. I am working to have a quiet place for the viewer to experience form and color without the necessity of narration. My general philosophy for art is that if it is not on the wall, then the work has failed. I want my work to be successful for me and the viewer to walk away having experienced something new.
MICHAEL WAYNE
Artist statement:
I started taking photographs from my car while traveling from Lexington to Chicago, helping with openings every month at an art gallery my partner opened in 2006. I would glance at the distorted landscapes through the rain-soaked windows or the setting sun through trees blurring as they passed, and I was impressed with their beauty. My phone has now replaced the point & shoot camera I started with, and I’ve expanded my collection to include views from my travels on trains, boats, airplanes, and subway cars. I hold on to the idea that beauty exists all around us, even though the world is on fire. We should pause, quiet our minds to be present, and take notice.
