Busy Summer for MacGown Art

Whew, I have not posted on here in a while. But there has been plenty going on. Following the numerous events in April, both Joseph MacGown and I had art on display at the Gumtree Arts Festival in Tupelo on 12 and 13 May and at Sunday Funday on 27 May and 24 June. I had 5 pieces in the "Recent Winners of the Cotton District Juried Arts Show" on display at the Greater Starkville Development Partnership Office in June with the show moving to the West Point Arts Council gallery later in June (up through August).

Our next Sunday Funday is this coming Sunday, 22 July 2018, from 1-6 PM near the Parthenon on University Drive in Starkville. This kid friendly event is really growing and we will have four musical acts featuring Bryce Mitchell, Brent Varner, Nick Crews, and Flathead Ford; there will be about 30 art vendors there; some light food vendors; art activities for kids in the Parthenon; and more! Come see us. The first two were hot, but a blast!

Joseph and I completed three large paintings commissioned by Jay Yates, co-owner of the Veranda Restaurant in Starkville. Each piece was about 7 x 3 feet and they are hanging in the veranda section!

I have been busy working on various projects including a recently finished piece called "Parasitism", which is an ink on wood work about 22 x 32 inches.

MacGown Art: Earth Day at Rick's Cafe - 22 April 2017

Joseph and Joe MacGown Art at Rick's Earth Day! 

Rick's Cafe in Starkville is hosting an Earth Day celebration on April 22 starting at 7 PM featuring work by numerous local artists from 7-10 pm followed by the amazing music of CBDB and the southern funkedelic Tesheva. No admission for art showing, but for music admission price is $8 online (at www.rickscafe.net )and $10 at door.  

Look for all kinds of cool local artists to have stuff here! Here the list of artists I know about:

Joe MacGown
Joseph MacGown
Lars Roberts
Holley Rumbarger
Natalie Parrott
Joseph Gerard Woods 
Bri Rodoflich
Blaine Gerrard
Rob Swindal
Joseph Garland

As always, thanks to Chalet Arts for the awesome prints they make for us and great framing! Thanks to Ricks for hosting this and promoting local arts! Thanks to Kori Baudoin and Ryan Handran for inviting us to participate!

Here are a few photos from our last art adventure at Rick's Cafe

MacGown Art at Cotton District Arts Festival this Saturday!

The Cotton District Arts Festival is this Saturday, 8 April 2017 from 9am to 4pm in the Cotton District area of Starkville, MS. My son Joseph and I will have original arts and prints for sale. Our booth number is 338! Its on University Drive near the last stage before the bridge to MSU and opposite the Visual Arts Center!

Also, check out my Pentamerous Archetypes triptych in the Juried Show in the Visual Arts Center along with the other cool pieces of art that were accepted in the show by others.

Thanks to Chalet Arts for their wonderful printing and Framing!!!

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

Joe MacGown's Surreal and Semi Strange Visions opens tomorrow night at 6 pm, Starkville, MS

Yes, show, tomorrow, my weird art, 6-8 pm reception at the Mississippi Modern Homesteading Center in Starkville, MS. If you can't make it, it will be up from 15 May through 15 July 2014, but the hours when the center is open are irregular. I recommend you come tomorrow. Plus, tomorrow we will have wine and food. And, oh yeah, I will be there tomorrow! Yay. 

I have about 23 framed originals with prices ranging from $250 to $11,000 in this show.  I also have archival prints of many works, including some that will not be in this exhibition, for sale with prices ranging from a few dollars to about $55 for larger color prints. I will have a limited number of copies of my new art book available for sale as well (check or cash only). The book is 96 pages, 8.5 X 11 inches, soft cover, and with glossy interior pages. Price: $40. Filled with loads of art! I also have hard back copies of this book available online for $64.51. You can purchase this version of the book and see a preview of the cover and inside of this book athttp://www.blurb.com/b/5265025-subconscious-meandering. 

Directions to the Homesteading Center from Starkville: Go West on Hwy 12 past Wal-mart. Fork right at the Shell Station onto New Lite Rd or Old Hwy 12. Go 1.4 miles and turn right on Ridgewood Rd. At first fork go left onto Lake Valley Rd. At second fork go right. Homestead is 2nd drive on right across from Lake Valley Gun Works.

Thanks to Alison Buehler and Jessica Cheek for giving me the opportunity to have this local exhibition at the Mississippi Modern Homesteading Center, and thanks to Chalet Arts for all the framing and other awesome stuff they have done for me for this show and others. Without Mark Wood, Lorie Wood, Alan Fortenberry, and the rest of the crew at Chalet Arts, I could not display my trippy art for you weirdo art lovers. 

Anyway, got the show hung today. Its kind of a weird venue, being in a former house, so you have to work around windows, furniture, etc., but it looks pretty good. Lighting is not optimal, but I think you will be able to see everything without any trouble. Here are a few pictures to give you a preview of what to expect. 

Surreal Strangeness in Starkville: Art Exhibition by Laurie Burton, Joseph MacGown, and Joe MacGown

We had a pretty good crowd last night at our Surreal show here in Starkville with probably close to 50 folks showing up to view our art and talk about art and other things. This was probably close to the perfect sized crowd given the smallish space. We even had a few things out on the porch of Laurie's place. And the weather could not have been better!! Yep. Thanks a bunch to Laurie Burton for allowing Joseph and I to exhibit some of our art alongside of hers. I think the combination worked out really well.

Laurie Burton

All three of us sold some stuff, so, it was successful in that regard too. Sold several copies of my art book, which was nice. Regional artist Frank McGuigan (check out his stuff on his Facebook art page at: https://www.facebook.com/FrankMcguiganArtist) seemed especially taken with Joseph's work, and he and some others purchased several small prints, including some that he had adhered to wood and brushed over with acrylic gloss medium. I saw some people carting out a couple of Laurie's smaller paintings as well.

Stuff on the porch

Both Laurie and I had some more expensive pieces ($400-$1500), but none of these sold. We did not really expect to sell them at this small venue anyway, and they were mostly here for folks to look at and contemplate. In all actuality, it is super hard to sell original art in Starkville that is priced above $150. Prints do fine, of course. I suppose times are tough. Even the rich folks around here don't seem to buy much art, at least locally. I know several wealthy jokers who have told me they would like some of my art, but they could not afford it right now. When I say rich, I mean you know, millionaires or close to it, living in 5000 sq ft homes and blah blah. They want it, but they want you to give it to them! But, those same people don't give their services out for free! Funny. We all had good reaction to our art, so that was great.

Brent Wallace and Joseph MacGown

John Formby 

Helen O"Neill 

Joseph MacGown, guitar boy

Joseph, Max Roethig, and Sandra Schachat

Joseph and people looking and stuff

Max

The Ramseys 

Sandra

April Wallace and her daughter Wren

Its always surprising to see who comes to shows in our area, and especially, who doesn't. With the university here and its nationally known art department, a strong high school art program, and a thriving and lucrative local Starkville Arts Association group, you would think that whenever there was an art show of any type, most of those folks would show up to soak up any and all art. But, sadly, this is not the case. I think we had one MSU art student show up (thanks Thomas McBroom!), no high school art students (and I am telling you, they would have fucking loved this show!!), one MSU art faculty member (Greg Martin, a fairly new guy from Los Angeles who we see at every single art and music related venue in the area!), and maybe 3 or 4 folks from the local arts association, despite the fact that the president elect (Laurie Burton), hosted this event in her gallery/home. Amazing. And yet, we still had at least 50 folks come by.

Sandra Schachat and Greg Martin

Anyway, the show was pretty awesome! Had fun chatting with some goobs. If you missed this, it will still be up for the Starkville Artists tour next Saturday afternoon from 4-7 pm. I believe you can buy tickets to this event for $10 each. A ticket will allow you to view the studios of 5 local artists, including Laurie Burton. Since Joseph and I have works here, we will be part of the studio tour by default. But, hey, if you don't want to pay 10 bucks, you can come visit my studio any time you want to, and yes, for FREE!

And, if next Saturday does not work for you, I will be having a one person show with an opening reception on Thursday, May 15th from 6 to 8 pm at the Mississippi Modern Homesteading Center off of Newlight Road here in Starkville, MS (http://www.msmodernhomestead.com/). I will have some duplication of art, but also will have other stuff. This will not be the same show.

The Mysterious Unseen World Around Us: drawings and mixed media paintings by Joe A. MacGown

Upcoming MacGown Exhibition at Rosenzweig Arts Center in Columbus, MS

Green Number 4

I will be having a one man show at the Rosenzweig Arts Center at 501 Main Street, Downtown Columbus, MS during the month of August, 2013. There will be a reception from 5:30 to 7:00 pm the first Thursday of that month (1 August). Opening, Next Thursday - 5:30-7:00 PM More info is available at http://www.columbus-arts.org/gallery-1/2013-gallery-shows/august-joe-macgown/ The show will include both new and older art. Most original pieces will be available for purchase, and prints of some pieces will be available as well. Of course, that is assuming that you are weird enough to want to buy any of this stuff;) II will also include collaborations that I have done with Bernard Dumaine, Sal Hunter, Joseph Larkin, Ben Tolman, Gromyko Semper, Marcel Bakker, Sander Jansen, Peter Sibrin, Deborah Valentine, and Janelle McKain. These collabs will not be for sale. I don't want to part with them;) I uploaded a video of some of this stuff today on Youtube with weird freaky keyboard in the background composed and recorded by my son Joseph MacGown. Anyway, check out the video!

Joe MacGown Art Exhibition -Depot Gallery, MSU

I will be having an exhibition entitled "Subconscious Meandering" featuring some of my surreal drawings and paintings at the Depot Gallery on the Mississippi State University Campus. The gallery is located above the Welcome Center in the Barnes and Nobles Building beside the Football Stadium. The show will be up all summer from 8 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday from 3 May to 31 August 2011.

Some of the artwork included will be collaborative works that I have done with several artists from around the world including Bernard Dumaine, Marcel Bakker, Debra Valentine, Gromyko Semper, Janelle McKain, Ben Tolman, Joseph Larkin, Sally Hunter, and Peter Sibrin.

An opening reception will be held on Thursday, 2 June 2011 from 5 PM to 7 PM.

If you can make the reception, great, if not, the show will be up all summer.

More info about the show: http://www.visit.msstate.edu/gallery/

Current exhibits and art news

Things have been busy this summer - both at work and at home! Although I have been busy, I have also had time to be involved with some group exhibits. I had my painting "Ossiforestation" in the 18th Annual People's Choice Art Competition at the Meridian Museum of Art (MS). The show ran from 6 June through 11 July.

Ossiforrestation

I have a watercolor painting of a zebra swallowtail butterfly on display as part of a group exhibition at Greater Starkville Development Foundation Gallery, 200 Main Street, Starkville, MS. I also have prints of some of my weird drawings at the Creative Warehouse in downtown Starkville. Anyone interested should stop by and buy a print!

I have my drawing "Echinodermatter" in a really cool group show at the Sunrise Gallery in Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA. The show, featuring international artists from the Energy Art Movement is entitled "Green Energy" runs from 11 July through 2 August, 2009. The show includes such notable artists as De Es Schwrtberger, Robert Venosa, Martina Hoffman, Giorgio Vaselli, and others. This same drawing will be included in an upcoming book including the works of 100 international artists. The book includes works of some of the members of the Surreal Arts and the International Imaginative Artist Association (IIAA), both hosted on Deviantart.com, and will be published by nEgoist publishing. This surrealist book collective will be entitled: Imagine the Imagination, New Visions of Surrealism.

Echinodermatter