As one closes, another opens...

Well, this is a bit long overdue considering I went to both of these galleries on Friday but, sometimes life happens and you have to deal with the more important things first. But, better late than never.

On Friday, I went to two galleries to check out the work - I was very excited to see both of these exhibits because both were said to be featuring forms of travel, which I would love to do more of. The first, was at 709 Penn Gallery and had new work by Melissa Kuntz the exhibit called Caravan, showcased paintings that were mainly of RVs. I loved every piece. I loved that the canvases still looked wet from the paint, each of them shinny and new. I loved the solid and bold painting style. I loved how Melissa's point of view seemed to come in at an atypical angle, not just straight on and boring. I just loved each piece. Friday (April 13th) was the closing of this exhibit and I'm sorry that I did not go to see it sooner and comment on it, because if you didn't see it, you really missed out on some quality art. And who would have thought I can be that passionate about a bunch of paintings of trailer homes?

The other exhibit I went to was going on at Future Tenant and was actually the opening reception. This was actually the first opening or closing art reception that I have gone to where I did not know the artist, so I kind of felt that that girl that was crashing the party. I'm also one of those people who likes to go about an exhibit by myself so I can make my own observations and take my time looking at certain pieces. (Yes, I am lame.) I might have to go back to this one to get that full effect and to actually appreciate it more. But I also loved this exhibit. This work was right up my alley...or runway rather, since a lot of the pieces here featured airplanes.

"Your Life is an Accident" by Johnathan Chamberlain

At Future Tenant, the exhibit is currently running through May 5th and features artwork by Arthur Mohagen III, Johnathan Chamberlain and John Phillip Abbott is called Broken Slogan. I really liked this exhibit as well because of the focus on travel, but also because there was a quite a bit of text used in each work and if I was an artist, I would put text on everything. I also liked that the guys did more than just paintings, but drawings, sketches and some objects as well. My favorite piece though was done by Johnathan Chamberlain, who is also a Pittsburgh native, called "Your Life is an Accident." I thought the emotion in the work was real and I also liked his use of vertical lines, which to me created a disconnect between the two main figures in the work.

I would suggest checking out Broken Slogan while it's here in Pittsburgh, I can easily say that you will not be disappointed in the technique each artist obviously has and the fresh look on what is art, is not only evident, but poetic throughout each piece represented.  You can do so either on your own during their hours, or there is also a Gallery Crawl on Friday, April 27th from 5:30pm until 9pm, where you'll be able to access every gallery downtown, you might see me out and about there!