My California March 2, 2007

MY CALIFORNIA
February 17 – March 17, 2007
New Works by
Michael McDermott

OAKLAND, Calif. — 11 January 2007 — Swarm Gallery is pleased to present Michael McDermott’s first solo exhibition, "My California," presenting a new body of work comprised of oil paintings and mixed media sculpture. Here the artist's interests lie in his fantasies of California, culling from many sources: winemaking, helicopters, the outdoors, the state’s grizzly bear, love, insults, and the big blue sky.

Landscapes play a dominant role in McDermott’s paintings. Both surreal and super-real, they are infused with the complexity of the artist’s imagination and the orienting power of California’s terrain. Evoking traditional painting styles, the core of McDermott’s work lies in his great sense of observation and keen awareness of his surroundings.

In all of McDermott’s works are a collision of colors, icons and statements that reveal extant beauty in the everyday. His objects, which range in material from tinted urethane to bronze and copper, are neither rational, nor completely abstract. The artist manifests his ideas by delving into the themes of place and perspective, reinterpreting his sense of home.

Michael McDermott was born in 1975 in Dekalb, Illinois and has been working as an artist in California since 1999.

PROJECT SPACE
February 17 – March 25, 2007
“Bild” by Jared Lindsay Clark

Jared creates what he calls “Bilds”, 3D collections of found objects. The term claims both the German word meaning “picture” and the English word “build.” Jared will install in the Project Space using styrofoam, soap, and found objects from Oakland. Jared is an MFA candidate at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. His creative experiments have been featured in the Deitch Projects Art Parade (2006), New York City, NY and Scope London (2006) with ADA Gallery. He also received a VMFA Fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Foundation (2006).

Official Website: http://www.swarmstudios.net