Exhibit ‘Indra’s Net’ by Matthew Gallagher, Oberlin OH

May 1 – June 30, 2013 -

“My visual art deals with my desire to express images and colors I feel in reaction to auditory stimuli.”

Paintings by Matthew Gallagher, winner of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio Award for Excellence and Grand Award Winner, on display May 1-June 30

Grid Furnishings will open an art show, Indra’s Net, May 1, 2013, featuring the artwork of Matthew Gallagher, graduating senior at Oberlin College and one of seven winners in the sixth annual Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts competition sponsored by the Association of Independent College and Universities of Ohio (AICUO).

The art show, celebrating works by Gallagher, a painter, will continue through June 30, 2013. An opening reception will be held May 4, 2013, during the Short North Gallery Hop. Gallagher will install work thought Grid Furnishings’ 1,600-square-foot showroom, which features modern furniture lines designed in North America. The artists’ pieces will be available for purchase.

“My visual art deals with my desire to express images and colors I feel in reaction to auditory stimuli.” said Gallagher, a Boston MA native, of his paintings. Gallagher, whose work won him the 2013 Grand Award in the AICUO competition, and is also the Chief Operating Officer of We Are the Catalystan – an emerging arts publication.

“A turning point in my art came when I took a color theory class in fall 2011. I realized that sonic and visual ideas could work in synergy. I began to think of paint as if the medium were akin to the radioactive dye injected into MRI patients. I learned quickly that I could use paint to map energies in a similar fashion. It was then that I began using a rubber band to craft my paintings. I thought of the rubber band as a guitar string or oscillator. The marks it made as I snapped it like a bow string against the canvas were distinctly sonic in a way that I could not reproduce with my hand and a brush. I realized that the energy transferred from the rubber band into the paint was contained in the painting even after the process had been finished. Even though kinetic energy was no longer present in the art object, there was a kineticism to the aesthetic and composition of my paintings that I connected with.”

“In addition to its modern furniture lines, Grid Furnishings features works by independent furniture makers and artists and other regional artists, so sponsoring the art show is an extension of our commitment to art and design,” said owner and design veteran Timothy Friar, who also was a judge in the AICUO competition. The art featured in Gallagher’s show can be viewed online at www.GridFurnishings.com after April 24th.

For the AICUO competition, independent colleges statewide nominated two outstanding senior artists; Ohio independent art colleges were able to nominate three senior artists. To see work of the seven winnings artists, visit www.aicuoartaward.com. Other Short North galleries exhibiting winning artwork during the May 4th Gallery Hop are Brandt-Robert Galleries, Marcia Evans Gallery, pm Gallery, Rivet, Sharon Weiss Gallery, Sherrie Gallerie, Studios on High and The Candle Lab