Cohn Drennan Contemporary Announces Its Summer 2012 Group Exhibition!
Hi, Bryan Here…
Summer 2012 Group Exhibition
Michelle Brandley, M. Kate Helmes, Joshua King and Drew Merritt
Opening Reception June 23, 2012, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Exhibition dates: June 23 – July 28, 2012
Cohn Drennan Contemporary brings together four artists to mark the 2012 edition of the gallery’s Summer Group Exhibition, the annual presentation of new artists who have not exhibited at the gallery. Michelle Brandley is a recent MFA graduate from TCU whose paintings address self-image and physical acceptance in a celebrity driven culture. M. Kate Helmes is also a recent MFA graduate, from UTA, examining questions of identity and human connection/disconnection through clothing sculpture and installations. UNT graduate Joshua King uproots banal objects and imagery from the everyday to re-work them with elegant, modern formal gestures, while Drew Merritt’s paintings present contemporary allegories of life and lives around him, imbuing his subjects with a deep empathy for the audiences that engage his paintings.
Michelle Brandley grew up in Glendale, Arizona. She attended California State University in Fullerton, California and Hope International University where she received her BA in art. She moved to Fort Worth in 2006 and began participating in classes at Tarrant County College, moving to the TCU graduate parogram and participating with the DFW art community.
Michelle Brandley, Trunks are for Elephants, 2012, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 inches
M. Kate Helmes received her BFA in fine art photography at Northern Kentucky University in 2009. During her time there her work was exhibited at several galleries including a film screening at The Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati and a solo show at The Carnegie Arts Center in Covington, KY. She is currently living and working in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area where she has participated in site specific-installation events such as Sustenance and Living Amongst Others. Since moving to the DFW area her work has been shown at The Kessler Theater, 500X Gallery, TWU Gallery and at Culture Candy’s annual wearable art show Uncommon Thread. Her work has also been reviewed in Art Lies and D-Magazine.
M. Kate Helmes, 2012, fabric installation
Joshua King is a visual artist, photographer and curator who transferred to Dallas from Lubbock. King made a strong entrance into the Dallas art community as one of the founders and organizers of 2011 Aurora, the largest art, light and sound exhibition to be presented in the Dallas Arts District. “Everything has an energy to it and a life cycle,” says King. “It evolves aesthetically from the infancy of a piece, to its maturity when it is at the gallery. I see my work as being rooted in society, and the biodiversity of our earth.”
Joshua King, Screwed, 2012, mixed media
LA resident Drew Merritt aspires to earn the title of artist, and he works hard to convey a broad spectrum of feelings. Feelings like loneliness, vanity, and even contentment. His paintings pave a highway into the emotional world by creating empathy in the viewer. The use of vivid colors, and his approximate graphic style, creates a visual biography around the subject, showing who they are, and where they’ve been. His evolving body of work utilizes a vast array of mediums and textures, while putting classic subjects in a contemporary setting.
Drew Merritt, Eviction from Eden, 2012, mixed media on canvas, 64 x 99 inches
For more information about the Summer 2012 Group Exhibition or for more information about Cohn Drennan Contemporary, please go to www.cohndrennancontemporary.com or call 214.708.8051 or e-mail cohn@cohndrennancontemporary.com. The gallery is located at 1107 Dragon, Dallas, TX and hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
