The Chazan Gallery at Wheeler is showing an exhibition of figurative work entitled Where Are We? by artists Clara Lieu, Eric Sung, Julie Gearan and Brian O’Malley from October 15 to November 4, 2009. There will be an opening reception for the artists on Gallery Night, Thursday, October 15, from 5 – 7 p.m. The public is invited.
Clara Lieu’s large drawings are done in lithographic crayon on multiple translucent layers to “investigate ways to visually represent the emotional and physical experience of individual isolation in groups. The drawings depict figure groups wading in water to portray loneliness as the experience of feeling unseen and unknown within a group.” Lieu has an MFA degree from the New York Academy of Art and a BFA from RISD. She has taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and The Art Institute of Boston, and more recently been a critic and lecturer at Wellesley and RISD and has exhibited her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions.
Eric Sung sees his images as “photographic relics, captured as the participant enacts a prescribed ceremony. Influenced by Taoism and Buddhism, the interaction of ritual performances, matter, and location describes the act of transformation. The long exposures ensure both the suspension of sequenced movement and the disappearance of other elements.” Born in Korea, Sung has been a resident of the US since 1993 and has exhibited his work in several solo and group exhibitions. He holds an MFA from Indiana University and is currently an Asst Professor of Photography at Providence College.
Julie Gearan’s recent paintings “explore and visually define the liquid nature of the human experience… My subjects are drawn from life and memory, and it is often the observation of a small domestic moment that will inspire a greater theme.” Gearan holds a BFA from Tyler School of Art and an MFA from Indiana University with studies at Yale, Temple and the Art Students League. She has shown her work in numerous exhibitions and she is the recipient of several grants, including a Rhode Island State Council of the Arts fellowship in 2007.
Brian O’Malley’s small ink drawings are part of a larger series entitled Survey of Human Activity. The drawings “engage with human activities, gestures, emotions, fantasy” and explore “how these elements illuminate stories/narratives.” O’Malley holds an MFA from the University of Miami and a BFA from the University of Rhode Island. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions and he is currently an adjunct faculty member at the University of Rhode Island.
To learn more about these artists, please visit their individual web sites, by clicking on their names below.
