local shows, international shows-awesomeness.

Lots of art events have been happening in my local area here in Mississipp! Despite the craziness of our times, or perhaps because of it, art and music seems especially important. And I am happy to be a part of it.

Locally, I have participated in several cool art events in Starkville the last few weeks, many of them in conjunction with my art/music/writer son Joseph. Since my last posting here, we have exhibited at two more Sunday Funday events in our local Cotton District, I showed my work at the Mississippi Made show at our wonderful local 929 Coffee Shop on Main Street, I live painted a bit with Joseph one Thursday night at Rick's Cafe, and next Saturday (5 August) we will be in Meridian, MS for the downtown artwalk from 11 AM to 3 PM!

I had one cool piece in the 7th Annual Biennial MS Invitational Art Show in Greenville, MS, and just heard this week that I had two pieces accepted into the upcomiong 44th Annual Bi-State Art Competition at the Meridian Museum of Art in Meridian, MS.

Our amazing international group "Surrealism Now" spearheaded by Santiago Ribiero of Portugal is slated to open at the Poros Multimedia Museum in Condeixa-a-Nova, Portugal on 17 September 2017! This show will be phenomenal and will feature works by at least 108 artists from 48 countries! There was even an ad for the show in Time Square recently! 

In December, I will have artwork in another exciting show in Colombia with the Dreams and Divinities group organized by Parisian artist Liba Waring Stambolllion! This show, "Heart-Conscious Art and Mural Making",. co-hosted by Semillas de la Anaconda will run from 9-16 December 2017 and will be held at Rio Dond Diego, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia.

International Surrealism Now – Group Show in Coimbra,Portugal

I will be mailing out two smallish pieces to a traveling show in Portugal. This will be part of a traveling exhibition for the International Surrealism Now Group started by Santiago Ribiero. I have a lot of things in various shows right now, but managed to find a couple of piecesthat would work and hopefully not cost a bundle to ship. The two pieces I am mailing are entitled "Birth" and "Evolution." I also have a third in the series entitled "Biogenesis." All three of these are 12 x 12 and done with colored ink and pen on primed birch plywood. Love this technique!

Here are all three (including Biogenesis, which I am not sending).

Biogenesis

Birth 

Evolution

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) 

Upcoming show at the LumineArt Gallery in Dallas, TX in March 2014

I will have works included in an upcoming show entitled “LUSO-AMERICAN Surrealism of the 21^st Century” at the LumineArt Gallery in Dallas, Texas. The exhibition is scheduled for 22 March through 26 April 2014.

Going Green, by Joe A. MacGown

This unique exhibition will feature works of Portuguese artists  Victor Lages, Paula Rosa, Francisco Urbano, and Santiago Ribeiro, and American artists France Garrido, Joe MacGown, K.D. Matheson, Shahla Rosa, Steve Smith, and Olga Spiegel. 

Dream Matter Art by Steve Smith

I especially would like to thank Shahla Rosa for inviting me to participate in this show along with these other fabulous artists! And, of course, thanks to Matt Anzak, the Curator and Gallery owner, for allowing us to have this show.