Talking about it
All Of This Is True continues with a gallery talk
April has come and gone, and here we are with only a couple of weeks left of All Of This Is True at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery. The time has flown by but I’ve been savoring every moment that I can. I’m incredibly thankful for all of the great feedback via texts, emails, comments on social media and those who have added works to their collections already. I’m very grateful for everyone who has been able to see the show so far, and spent time with it. I worked hard to bring this show together since early 2023 and knowing that visitors are responding to it is a kind of validation that never gets old. If people weren’t saying anything, I’d be worried.
One day, two talks
There’s a lot going on with the work in this show and I have a few stories to share, so I’m offering two informal artist talks at the gallery on one day. On Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 1pm and 3pm, you’ll have the opportunity to learn more about the paintings and some of my process. These talks are free and open to the public. I’ll give a broad overview of how the show came together, focus on several works and leave time for Q & A. I hope to see you there!
Tim McFarlane: All Of This Is True Artist Talks
Saturday May 9th, 1pm and 3pm, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, 709 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
CONVERGE: 9th Benefit Exhibition at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery
June 11 - August 3, 2024
Reception: Thursday, June 13 • 4:30-7:30pm
709 Walnut Street · Philadelphia PA, 19106
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm
I’m thrilled to be participating in the 9th Benefit Exhibition at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery. This year’s beneficiaries are Help Us Adopt, a national non-profit financial gran program that helps couples and individuals with the cost of adoptions. The Dina Wind Foundation empowers women artists, builds community and supports arts education. For this iteration of the benefit, I’ll have two 24 inch panels available that are based on concepts contained in paintings that are in my current exhibition at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery, “All Of This Is True”.
So, if you’ve been following me on social media these past couple of weeks, you’ve seen posts all about the show and all, but those were pretty much all planned posts because I’ve been out of the country exploring Spain with my significant other. Part birthday trip for her, visiting family and exploring new places. Picos De Europa is one of those places and the latest on this trip. The section we’re in is around Fuente Dé, a small town in northern Spain. The whole area is a national park.
There’s a four minute cable car ride to the top that’s a little nerve wracking if you’re not used to the heights like I am. The middle photo on the top row above shows the starting point way down below where we were. We were high enough where there were still deposits of snow around, one of which a group of school children were having the time of their lives with. I’m glad that the kids were having a great experience, but we didn’t need to share it with them. The kids eventually went off on a trail and all that was left was a deafening silence, aside from the occasional hawk or other high flying bird.
Being as high as we were, the vegetation was pretty scrubby and evergreen-like. Some vibrant colors stood out amongst the green-browns of grass and various grays of glacier-scarred rocks and boulders scattered all over this plateau of the mountain we were on. The rich blue-violets of the small flowers were incredibly brilliant. I went out of my way to make sure not to step on any of the flowers I found up there, although I’m not sure I was able to be complete in that mission. I tried. The main thing for me, of course, were how intensely bright the colors of the flowers were. The phone camera did a good job of capturing it, but what I saw with my own eyes was pretty amazing.
I don’t know what else to say about my experience being there except that it was absolutely amazing. This is only the second time I’ve been so high on a mountain, the first being in Guadeloupe in 2019, where we came within 10 minutes of reaching the top and had to turn back because of high winds, rain and fog. This time it was amazing to have a clear day to see everything around for miles and experience the enormity of nature and almost being able to touch the sky.
More about this trip to Spain coming soon to my art blog,
Anatomy of a Dive
Out of all of my most recent paintings, Dive (2023) is the only one that I took the time to document throughout it’s making. As for most of my paintings, this one began with no plan and evolved as I worked on it. It began with a couple of layered triangle forms that I covered with two blocks of color and a couple of ovals in blue. Things advanced from there to the point of it beginning to look like a stage front with deep, receding space and a few visual stops along the way.
This one felt massively uncomfortable to work with because I was leaving that space open in the middle. But I needed something else to happen after having made several works without a direct opening. This felt fresh and…trippy, honestly. Like imagining what I might look like falling into an unknown space or dimension. Dare I say multiverse?
One of the digital postcards I made for All Of This Is True. On the right is Black Drawing 1, in progress and on the left is A Quiet Unfolding, which as the final painting made for the show, but didn’t make the cut. It’s available and is currently in my studio. If you or someone you know might want to see it and other works in person, feel free to contact me for a studio visit: tim@timmcfarlane.com
Man your colours are inspiring. Glad to have found you through the platform. Will be following along on your art journey.