JOHN GALLAGHER
The images in my work have evolved and become more defined over the years since I came to live in a small coastal town in Maine in 1975.
There is something here in the constant, unrelenting surround of woods and ocean, of rocks and fields, that suggests a continuum, a pulse that runs through everything and seems to imbue objects and forms, a particular rock or tree or rusted scrap of metal in the middle of nowhere, with a sense of mystery and meaning.
I use these observations as a basis for inventing and improvising forms and images which reflect this mystery and scheme of things.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
John Gallagher Paintings 1996-2014
"Maine-based painter John Gallagher exhibits a number of recent abstract paintings, as well as several early pieces. The artist's acrylic on paper compositions possess an unharnessed, gestural energy that can be associated with the Abstract Expressionists - specifically Willem de Kooning canvasses and Jackson Pollock's early paintings.
Gallagher's paintings are rooted in process; the spontaneity of his mark-making and subsequent revisions unite with an unbridled exploration of the material quality of paint. The surface of each work combines transparent paint washes with areas that contain a dense buildup of manipulated paint.
The changing environmental conditions viewed in and around the artist's studio, situated along Maine's coast, provide a boundless source of inspiration for these compositions. Gallagher states,""The constant, unrelenting surround of woods and ocean, of rocks and fields, suggests a continuum, a pulse that runs through everything and seems to imbue objects and forms with a sense of mystery and meaning."
George Kinghorn
Director and Curator University of Maine Museum of Art Bangor, Maine