Beginning Friday, February 13, and running through March 28, Pink Dog Mardi Gras: Lovers, Sinners, and Misfits will showcase the work of Pink Dog Creative’s 25 artists as they explore the many facets of Mardi Gras. An opening reception for the exhibition in the Pink Dog Gallery will be held Tuesday, February 17, from 4–6 p.m.
Celebration. Lucy Cobos, artist
“The artists of Pink Dog Creative wanted to present a broad and visually enticing theme that each artist could interpret in their own discipline,” says Andrea Kulish, who will focus on joy with the Ukrainian pysanky eggs she creates for the show. “We’d like to offer a moment to party, celebrate the changing of the season and laissez les bons temps rouler together!”
The Confabulist. Patti Anastasi, artist
Karen Keil Brown’s acrylic painting Ascending Prayers, honors both the sacred and the unruly aspects of Mardi Gras. “The circles rise like prayers and bubbles, carrying desire, forgiveness, laughter and longing,” she says of the work. “Here, the body becomes language, color becomes emotion, and motion becomes faith.”
Celebration, a work by Lucy Cobos, displays as a grid of 4”x 4” paintings of tree canopies, most of them ones viewed at the North Carolina Arboretum. All are encaustic mixed media with ink transfer. “I felt I needed a fun, interactive, playful piece to fit our theme, she says. “They are magnetically attached to a frame so that the viewer can arrange the grid of canopies to their taste. All are very colorful abstract skies. When I think of Mardi Gras, I think of festive colors, music, movement and celebration.”
Pat Phillips wanted to honor the traditional colors of Mardi Gras: purple, gold and green. “They are not easy colors to work with for an artist, but I love a challenge,” she says. “From a color psychology perspective, purple stimulates imagination, green evokes feelings of abundance and renewal, while gold creates sensations of warmth, energy and joy. In my painting, I hope to help the viewer focus on these positive feelings.”
Pink Dog Gallery is located at 348 Depot Street in Asheville’s River Arts District. Learn more at PinkDog-Creative.com.
