Greg McLemore is an artist living and working in Baltimore. His art frequently employs the idea of Magical Realism to explore the tragic, mysterious, and comical aspects of life. It ranges from detailed urban landscapes to fantastical narratives, from still life arrangements with spirited mannequins to symbolic portraits of the Creative Class. Varying between oil paint, watercolor, and drawing, he continues to strive for a deeper understanding of what it means to be human.
Greg earned an MFA (Painting and Drawing) at The University of Arizona in 2003 and a BFA (Painting and Drawing) at The University of North Carolina Asheville in 1999. He exhibits his work both regionally and nationally. Most recently he was published in New American Paintings, South (issue 142). Greg was a semifinalist for the 2016 Sondheim Prize in Baltimore, Maryland, and was awarded Individual Artist Grants in Painting by the Maryland States Arts Council in 2016 and 2019.
Arrangements with Mannequins
This body of work started in the Covid Lockdown of 2020. Trapped at home for days on end, my sweet escape was to go to Towson University, where I teach classes. The college was like a ghost town, and the art building was virtually deserted. I began to pull out and assemble my favorite mannequins, and spend time thinking about these mysterious, human-like objects we use to approximate the human form. They became my strange new company. The older models wear the many scars of being hastily moved from one room to another. Cracks, bruises, and discoloration decorate their limbless bodies. Both matched and miss-matched arms and legs awkwardly attach to these plastic, helpless torsos. Unseeing eyes, some remarkably penetrating, seem to hold secrets no one will ever know. Mouths that will never speak, noses that will never smell- these pitiable plastic forms allowed me to speak through them.
Transformations
These paintings explore transformations between human and animal forms, and the environments where these phenomena occur. A metaphor for psychological, sexual, and spiritual transformation, the paintings also delve into the topography of dreams. They present abrupt and jarring shifts of color and form, as well as a near constant shift between the real and unreal.
Seth Goodman originally from small town Upstate NY, Seth earned his BFA at University of North Carolina at Asheville and his MFA from Towson University in Maryland. He has exhibited across the U.S. as well as internationally. Seth maintains a presence in the NYC area by having a studio/showroom in Bushwick, Brooklyn. He is an Associate Professor of Art at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he lives.
Meat Waves
Birthed from primary footage depicting the battlefield, my Meat Wave series, in its simplest form, explores the final moments of life for Russian soldiers on the battlefield. My paintings are meant, in part, to give the Ukrainian people who view them, a cathartic release– to view something that is paradoxically lovingly crafted, but also inherently violent and deeply disturbing. That liberating release sits somewhere between the need for revenge, and the desire to make sense of the new language of war as it is defined by the near constant surveillance of the battlefield. The fact that we can view, so easily across the internet, footage of a dying man’s last breath, but in the thousands, with each human body being someone’s father, brother, son, speaks directly to the cruelty and pointlessness of war. Consequently, my paintings become art objects carrying a poetically articulated anti-war message; each life lost on both sides is an absolute waste that can be traced back to the delusions of a single maniacal dictator.
The Alchemy of Art is a local contemporary gallery focusing on but not limited to local up and coming artist. The building itself is a unique space as it is a converted convent and the gallery is on the entry level and one of the two rooms is the old chapel room with beautiful arched ceilings. Along with the gallery there is a boutique which carries locally made art and goods. The gallery hours are by appointment only. The gallery most recently won Baltimore Style Magazines Viewer Choice award for Best Gallery of 2018. To keep posted on hours of operation and events follow us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/
