Madison Artists Guild Gallery is excited to announce local artist and graphic designer Chris Cook as its next special exhibitions artist in an exciting show titled Places & Faces.
The opening reception with live musical entertainment will be on Friday, Sept. 23 from 6-8 p.m. The exhibition will remain at MAGallery through Oct. 22, and all works are available for purchase. The MAGallery is located at 125 W. Jefferson St. in Madison.
In his “places”, Cook offers a modern take on familiar locations but in a minimalist presentation of simple lines and striking colors. The “faces” are interpretations of old masters’ portrait paintings from Rembrandt, Vermeer and John Singer Sargent.
“I’ve been inspired by the beautiful land all around this area since moving here 20 years ago. I’ve painted landscapes on and off for some time now in many styles, which seems to be my method,” explained Cook. “The faces . . . are the result of ‘teaching myself’ how to paint in oils. Most of my works before this were acrylic or watercolor.”
Cook is a native Atlantan whose initial calling was to architecture. While on an art scholarship at Reinhardt College, he majored in commercial art and began a love for illustration and advertising design.
His early works were the works of a draftsman, rendering everyday people and buildings in forgotten, rundown areas, both urban and rural. He painted from photography and sometimes in plein air, working in watercolor, gouache, egg tempera, pen and ink, block prints and acrylic. A constant element of his work is that he searches out new ways to express himself, making it difficult to assign one style to his work.
“I shed my skin and allow myself to wander and wonder.
I never rest on my laurels. I explore, turning my back on both successes and failures to move on, unburdened by – but certainly learning and building on – my past work,” said Cook.
For 24-hour viewing and shopping of this exhibition and all artwork at the gallery, please visit the on-line store at https://themadisonartistsguild. org/shop. MAGallery is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Madison Artists Guild is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to education and to the encouragement of artistic endeavor in its members and the community through outreach programs, classes, workshops and social gatherings. It supports local artists and their talents through MAGallery, a retail art gallery.
For more information, please visit TheMadisonArtistsGuild. org or call 706-342-9360.
-Contributed