Critique Sessions (RSVP) Join us for a 2-hour critique session facilitated by an art professional. These sessions are designed to foster a platform, which will provide artists a way to talk about his/her work and to seek unexplored creative avenues. Date: November 13 from 7 to 9pm.
About Tony Conrad Tony Conrad received his MFA degree in painting and drawing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2009. Currently, Conrad is a Lecturer of Art at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin where he now lives. While focusing on his rural upbringing, Conrad's most current work explores visual components of social stereotypes and oddities from popular culture. Conrad's work has been exhibited in various solo, group, and invitational exhibitions and has won a number of awards including the Lawrence Rathsack Scholarship and the Frederick R. Layton Fellowship. Recently, his paintings have been exhibited at the APW Gallery in NYC, the Zou B. Art Center in Chicago, and EFFJAY PROJEKTS Gallery in Sheboygan Wisconsin.
Artist Statement Tony Conrad's paintings explore visual components of social stereotypes and oddities from popular culture. In his most current work, Conrad confronts the small town ideologies he remembers from growing up in Northern Wisconsin with humorous and ironic depictions of trophy hunting. The hybrid paintings exhibit cross-cultural references with use of vibrant colors and patterns influenced by Persian textiles, wallpaper, doilies, camouflage, and 1960s psychedelic rock posters. The pulsing embellishment present throughout the work speaks not only to the mania surrounding many hunting circles, but also to the decadent nature of American culture. Metaphorically, the paintings represent the complexity of idealized beauty, cultural identity and the euphoric rush of the outdoorsman experience. This work synthesizes these symbolic elements, resulting in a hybridized reality where delicate domesticity and wild outdoor ruggedness all coexist. Gunner Galaxy, acrylic on panel, 36 x 24 inches, 2011
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