America

Otherwise - Marsha Balian and Sherry Parker June 29 - July 29 at Oakland's GearBox Gallery

Otherwise - Marsha Balian and  Sherry Parker June 29 -July 29, 2017 First Friday Opening Reception Friday, July 7 6-9 pm Reception Saturday, July 22, 2 - 4 pm GearBox Gallery 770 W Grand Ave, Oakland, CA 94612 www.gearboxgallery.com Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/GearBox-Gallery-333109096879778/ For more information contact Marsha Balian at 510-601-1632 Gallery Hours-Thurs. And  Friday 12-6pm and Sat. 11-5pm GearBox Gallery announces an exhibit by collage artists Marsha Balian and Sherry Parker, entitled Otherwise. The exhibit will run from June 29 to July 29, 2017. All are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served at the receptions. Artists Marsha Balian and Sherry Parker both work in the medium of collage, using instinctive juxtapositions of found images and intuitive compositions to create works full of mystery and humor. www.marshabalian.com   www.sherryparkerart.com Balian, who leaves behind a long career as health care provider, sees her work as reflecting an interest in the bits & pieces of narrative that make up a life. Her collages, however, are never straightforward stories. They begin with a playful mix of odds & ends, ephemera, and studio scraps. And she builds on each work as improvisation, letting the sense and direction of each piece unfold intuitively. As she says, “I continue as much as I can to absorb stories, irony and the humor that is just beneath the surface. That humor feeds me and infuses my artwork where I have the lucky opportunity to celebrate and laugh.” Viewers are free to extrapolate about the characters and stories hinted at in Balian’s work. Balian’s artwork has been shown throughout the Bay Area and throughout the US. Of her work Sherry Parker says: “Chance is my muse. Chance has been a pervasive force in the sequence of my life as an artist, beginning with my unexpectedly intriguing involvement with Ray Johnson's New York Correspondence School in the late 60's through which I was introduced to the addictive magic of collage and collaboration.” Her impeccably crafted collages have much in common with classic Surrealism, with their shadowy landscapes and enigmatic hybrid animal/object forms. The works of Balian and Parker draw on unconscious choices mediated by thoughtful aesthetic consideration. The exhibit will be at GearBox Gallery, 770 West Grand Ave in Oakland from June 29, 2017 to July 22, 2017, with a reception on Friday, July 7, and a closing reception on Saturday, July 22, from 2 - 4 pm.

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