LUSO-American Surrealism in the 21st Century Exhibition in Starkville, MS

From January 21 to February 19, 2016 a unique and wonderful exhibition of surreal art will be on display at the Cullis Wade Depot Gallery at Mississippi State University in Starkville, MS. This show will feature art by several notable artists who are part of a larger group called "International Surrealism Now," and who all regularly exhibit their works internationally.  The name "LUSO" in the exhibition title refers to the Portuguese artists who are part of this show, and "American" to the remaining artists who are from the USA. A reception will be held on January 21st at 5 PM. Joe A. MacGown, a member of the group and resident of Starkville and Shahla Rosa of California, are co-organizers of the show and both will be present for the reception. Additionally, Shahla will give a gallery talk at noon on Friday, January 22nd.

Poster for the show, designed by Lori Neuenfeldt

Artists
Members of the "International Surrealism Now" group exhibiting at MSU include seven American artists: Jay Garfinkle, France Garrido, Joe A. MacGown, KD Matheson, Patrick McGrath Muniz, Shahla Rosa, and Olga Speigel; and four Portuguese artists: Victor Lages, Santiago Ribeiro, Paula Rosa, and Francisco Urbano.  Additionally, several local Mississippi artists will be exhibiting their works including Laurie Burton, Ben Grace, Brad Luke, Joseph H. MacGown, Randi Watson, and Gerard Woods (the latter four are all MSU students).

During the exhibition, a huge surrealistic, collaborative pen drawing featuring the work of several artists from multiple states and countries will be displayed. Artists who have contributed to the piece include Joe A. MacGown, Ben Tolman, Joseph H. MacGown, Julianne MacGown, Chloe Marsters, Marnie Pitts, Otto Rapp, Paulo Cunha, Pizo Meyer, Ryan Thornburg, Zachary Nolin, Marcel Bakker, Deborah Valentine, and Alex Bostic. This drawing is one of four large pieces done for a collaborative endeavor started by Washington DC artist Ben Tolman and continued by Joe MacGown, and is entitled the Antipodes Project.

Lori Neuenfeldt - Gallery Director
Matthew Gordon - Exhibition Coordinator
Joe MacGown - Exhibition organizer/curator and International Surrealism Now representative
Shahla Rosa - Exhibition organizer/curator and International Surrealism Now representative
Santiago Ribeiro - International Surrealism Now founder

Support for this Exhibition has been provided by:
Mississippi State University College of Architecture, Art and Design
Holmes Cultural Diversity Center
Chalet Arts, Starkville, MS

View of the Cullis Wade Depot Gallery (upstairs) and Mississippi State Welcome Center (downstairs) 

Poignant Translations of Life in Mississippi - Three Person Show at Jones County Junior College in January

From 25 January to 22 February 2016, Laurie Burton, Joseph H. MacGown (my son), and I will have a surreal exhibition at the Eula Bass Lewis Gallery at Jones County Junior College in Jones County, Mississippi. There will a reception of sorts and I will give some kind of gallery talk at a date not yet finalized, but likely on a Tuesday afternoon.

3D work by Laurie Burton

Mark Brown, an exciting artist specializing in making art from found objects, is an award winning instructor at the school, and it was he who invited us to show our work there. Our works, although done in different media and executed in different styles, are all surrealistic in nature ranging from Laurie's strange and often poignant 3D pieces, to Joseph's raw, colorful, expressive pieces to my more detailed subconscious inspired surreal pieces.

March Madness, by Joe A. MacGown

A colorful piece by Joseph H. MacGown