Mango Tango Art Gallery on Raphune Hill will unveil “Figurative Exploration” at 5:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 26. The exhibition will showcase the paintings of Mel McCuddin and the ceramic sculpture of Mandy Thody. Both artists have worked with the gallery for over 13 years.
When the gallery began featuring the work of McCuddin, the invitation to the artist, who hails from Spokane, Washington, was unprecedented because his work seemed devoid of a connection to the tropics. The family of the late Smokey Pratt, the husband of gallery owner Jane Coombes, lives in Spokane, where the couple "discovered" McCuddin when they attended an exhibition of his work. Their favorable impression of the self-taught artist's paintings proved unforgettable.
Coombes describes his unusual process; "Using no preliminary drawing, McCuddin pours, drips, rubs and wipes paint on canvas using rags, brushes and his fingertips until a painting about the human condition appears." Ultimately, the image becomes animal or human with engaging abstract backgrounds.
McCuddin said, “I like to think of my work as universal rather than regional. Art in any form is like another language that can be understood by any other culture, regardless of their spoken language.”
Thody lived aboard a sailboat for two decades. She is definitely a Virgin Islands artist, who chose various times to live on the boat in St. Thomas. When the boat was in St. John, she built a studio on nearby land. A few years later, she left the boat to live on land on St. Croix, where she is renovating historic ruins. In luxuriant vegetation near the rain forest, she established one of the old buildings for her large art studio. Her pieces, generally of the human face and figure, incorporate elements of mythology, fantasy and the local environment. In addition to sculpting one-of-a-kind figures, she has created molds to produce multiple tiles of local flora and fauna.
Thody grew up in the Zulu Land of South Africa. She uses that experience to create evocative Afrocentric sculpture. Her keen understanding of the human body helps her sculpt the faces that she remembers, as well as the faces of islanders.
Coombes observes that her mastery of sizable works is astounding. The show includes one bust that is 18 inches in height and an elongated figure that is over three feet high, Coombes reminds viewers that Thody welcomes commissions and has completed life size bas relief works for several clients in the V.I.
The artist contributes a great deal of time and effort as a humanitarian volunteer in Haiti, where she operates a non-profit. When she spoke to Coombes' humanities class at the University of the Virgin Islands, she talked of her childhood, a time during which she learned basket weaving and ceramics from the Zulu women. When she first visited Haiti, she felt intensely for the people who suffer a disenfranchised status, similar to the marginalized standing of the Zulu community in South Africa. Since the Caribbean now is her home, she has made it her mission to help the people of Haiti.
“No limitations on the visual possibilities of a figurative painting or a sculpture exist: each work becomes successful if it presents a universally readable image. McCuddin and Thody have met that challenge,” Coombes said.
The evening will include a rum punch reception, live music and a chance to meet the artists, while viewing their art. Free return shuttle service to hotels for visitors and to the Red Hook ferry for St. John art lovers will be provided at 8:30 p.m.
The show will continue for one month. For more information call 777-3060
Resource: http://stthomassource.com
When the gallery began featuring the work of McCuddin, the invitation to the artist, who hails from Spokane, Washington, was unprecedented because his work seemed devoid of a connection to the tropics. The family of the late Smokey Pratt, the husband of gallery owner Jane Coombes, lives in Spokane, where the couple "discovered" McCuddin when they attended an exhibition of his work. Their favorable impression of the self-taught artist's paintings proved unforgettable.
Coombes describes his unusual process; "Using no preliminary drawing, McCuddin pours, drips, rubs and wipes paint on canvas using rags, brushes and his fingertips until a painting about the human condition appears." Ultimately, the image becomes animal or human with engaging abstract backgrounds.
McCuddin said, “I like to think of my work as universal rather than regional. Art in any form is like another language that can be understood by any other culture, regardless of their spoken language.”
Thody lived aboard a sailboat for two decades. She is definitely a Virgin Islands artist, who chose various times to live on the boat in St. Thomas. When the boat was in St. John, she built a studio on nearby land. A few years later, she left the boat to live on land on St. Croix, where she is renovating historic ruins. In luxuriant vegetation near the rain forest, she established one of the old buildings for her large art studio. Her pieces, generally of the human face and figure, incorporate elements of mythology, fantasy and the local environment. In addition to sculpting one-of-a-kind figures, she has created molds to produce multiple tiles of local flora and fauna.
Thody grew up in the Zulu Land of South Africa. She uses that experience to create evocative Afrocentric sculpture. Her keen understanding of the human body helps her sculpt the faces that she remembers, as well as the faces of islanders.
Coombes observes that her mastery of sizable works is astounding. The show includes one bust that is 18 inches in height and an elongated figure that is over three feet high, Coombes reminds viewers that Thody welcomes commissions and has completed life size bas relief works for several clients in the V.I.
The artist contributes a great deal of time and effort as a humanitarian volunteer in Haiti, where she operates a non-profit. When she spoke to Coombes' humanities class at the University of the Virgin Islands, she talked of her childhood, a time during which she learned basket weaving and ceramics from the Zulu women. When she first visited Haiti, she felt intensely for the people who suffer a disenfranchised status, similar to the marginalized standing of the Zulu community in South Africa. Since the Caribbean now is her home, she has made it her mission to help the people of Haiti.
“No limitations on the visual possibilities of a figurative painting or a sculpture exist: each work becomes successful if it presents a universally readable image. McCuddin and Thody have met that challenge,” Coombes said.
The evening will include a rum punch reception, live music and a chance to meet the artists, while viewing their art. Free return shuttle service to hotels for visitors and to the Red Hook ferry for St. John art lovers will be provided at 8:30 p.m.
The show will continue for one month. For more information call 777-3060
Resource: http://stthomassource.com
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