OkEq “Experiments” in August
The August Oklahomans for Equality (OkEq) showcase and exhibit of local artists at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center will feature a combined showing for this First Thursday. The event is titled “Experiments from the Lab: Layers & Texture” and will begin with a reception on Thursday, August 4 from 6-9 p.m. The art will be displayed throughout the month.
The work curated from the Urban Art Lab Studios resident artist represents many approaches and thoughts on layers and texture. Dean Wyatt’s work uses textures formed by layers of paint and screen in rhythms of precise form. The texture work is sculptural – another layer. Loyal Roach is showing paintings in the drip style that shows masterful choices through its layering and layering of lines and color.
Taylor Painter-Wolfe’s fiber art shows layers of delicate “webs” over hand dye backgrounds. Stitching layers add movement and emphasis. Rebecca Joskey plays with layers of tissue, paint, ripped canvas, collages of mixed media and duct tape.
Loyal Roach: A native Tulsan working under the name “J. Delaroche,” Loyal Roach works in oil and acrylics. Many of his paintings are considered edgy and/or Avant-Garde. He credits Lichtenstein, Johns, Davis and Wyeth as having the most influence on his creations.
In addition to his Juris Doctor and Master of Arts degrees, he holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Oklahoma with minors in English Literature and Art. During the past year, this artist has turned to still-lives of unusual objects, focusing on contrast and depth. Currently his work is evolving into what one might call realistic expressionism.
Dean Wyatt: A native of Duncan, Oklahoma, Dean Wyatt is a self-taught artist who currently resides in Owasso. His multi-layered paintings are rich in color and texture and consist primarily of abstract or abstracted forms, which often imply landscapes or other elements of nature. He traded in an early passion for realism—in particular portraits executed in pen and ink—for abstract painting while in his mid-twenties.
Wyatt exhibits regularly in Tulsa galleries and serves on the board of directors of the Tulsa Artists’ Coalition and Tulsa Ballet. His work was selected for exhibition in both the 2007 and 2005 OVAC Painting and Drawing Biennial exhibitions. In 2010, he had a solo exhibition in the Governor’s Gallery at the Oklahoma State Capitol.
Rebecca Joskey: Rebecca Joskey is an emerging painter with 10 years working experience as a mosaic artist and four years as an almost daily painter. Her “paper mosaics” (shown at 108 Contemporary member shows) are made from techniques from both painting and the craft of mosaic art. This collage style of art combines underpaintings on canvas with applied painted papers to create rich tapestry like abstract pieces.
Her work has been shown and sold at M.A. Doran Gallery, MOREcolor Gallery, Mayfest Gallery, TAC, 108 Contemporary, Living Arts and Urban Art Lab Studios.
Taylor Painter-Wolfe: Taylor Painter-Wolfe was born in 1981 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1999, she began college at the Kansas City Art Institute and majored in fiber art. In the fiber department, she learned how to use a variety of materials and surface design techniques.
Painter-Wolfe makes all of her own materials and she uses the material and these imperfections to inspire and guide her decision-making process about the art created with it. “I continuously add layer after layer to create a dynamic abstract landscape full of line, movement, color, and texture.”
This four-artist show begins with a reception on Thursday, August 4 from 6-9 p.m. at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center (621 E. 4th Street in downtown Tulsa). There will be a door prize drawn of the artists’ work and the show continues throughout the month.
Oklahomans for Equality/OkEq is Oklahoma’s oldest gay rights organization. OkEq works for social justice and full inclusion for Oklahoma’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens and their allies. For more information, see www.okeq.org.
The Gayly – August 1, 2016 @ 9:21 a.m.