Current Exhibition -

Todd Bernave and Casey Curran

October 1st - November 1st

Opening Reception:  Thursday, October 1st, 6-8pm

Gallery IMA is pleased to present a two person show featuring Todd Bernave and Casey Curran!

Todd Bernave, Asphalt 0909,
Acrylic, epoxy resin, plaster, asphalt, and collage on wood,
16 x 16 x 3/8 inches

Groundwork
The latest group of mixed media work by Seattle artist Todd Bernave hovers between painting and sculpture. He works with a rich layering of materials including acrylic paints, resin, plaster, various metals and even asphalt. Each layer adds to and takes from the one that came before, producing patterns of abstraction, as one surface becomes subordinate to the next. His work concerns the forces of nature against human efforts and the intersection in which the two are transformed. “An object can become layered in shifting deposits of both man and nature.” Says Bernave. “The marks, found on almost every structure where people live build a rich skin on the surface of everyday items.”

Todd Bernave graduated with a degree in Liberal Arts Studies from Western Washington University, and in 1993 he graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in drawing and photography. In 1994 Mary McCoy of The Washington Post featured him in an article. His work has been exhibited in galleries nationwide as well as in such collections as the W.B. Doner International in London and the Lucas/Magowin in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Casey Curran, The Environment # 1, Mixed Media, 48 x 24 x 18 inches

Biosphere
Gallery IMA is pleased to present Seattle artist Casey Curran. Casey Curran’s new series of kinetic wire sculpture breaks through barriers that exist between art and viewer – relying on physical participation to reach their full potential. Casey’s philosophies and observations of nature take shape in these self-contained biospheres, particularly drawing inspiration from the deep-sea hydrothermal vents and the array of life forms that reside within them. A turn of the crank affixed to the side of each piece sets these intricate conglomerations of expertly knitted wire and curious sea-creatures into motion. “Studying semiotic relationships as a visual vocabulary” says Curran “I create physically moving archetypes and naturally bound forms as a vehicle for various ideas and images.”

Curran received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. He has received many awards for his extraordinary pieces, such as two Merit Scholarships from Cornish, the “Best in Show” award at the Poncho IFA Awards of Merit, and the selection of his work for the Fred Hutchinson Art on Loan program. Two of his early works were recently included in The Book Borrowers: Contemporary Artists Transforming the Book at the Bellevue Arts Museum, curated by Nora Atkinson.