Enjoy great local art while you enjoy a pint at Threes Brewing! On Monday, the Gowanus watering hole hosted the opening of Arts Gowanus at Threes: Showcase featuring work by a trio of local artists: Demarcus McGaughey, Bria Whitney, and Danie Herard.
Demarcus McGaughey, El Tiguere Con Su Trompeta
Displayed above a booth in the back of the venue, Gowanus-based artist Demarcus McGaughey's El Tiguere Con Su Trompeta captivates passing bar patrons. The title of the arresting 30" x 40" acrylic painting translates to "The Thug with his Trumpet," McGaughey explained at the opening reception. "This piece is one of my best friends. He moved to New York from the Dominican Republic. To me the piece is about taking a risk. He moved here, he didn’t speak the language. He didn’t know the culture, didn’t have a job. All he had was his trumpet and his good looks," he added.
The mysterious figure—eyes shielded beneath his hat, biceps bulging—casually plays his trumpet before a bright white background that blends into his shirt. "I wanted to do a negative white space with his tank top," McGaughey noted. "I just wanted to showcase this man. You can’t see his face, but he’s a very handsome, macho man, and all he has is his wit, his charm, and his trumpet to thrive in NYC."
(L-R) Demarcus McGaughey, Gowanus artist Marlene Weisman, and Danie Herard pose in front of McGaughey's El Tiguere Con Su Trompeta at Threes Brewing
Originally from Dallas, Texas, McGaughey is a graduate of Prairie View A&M University where he studied advertising art. He relocated to NYC in 2006 where he worked in graphic design before taking the leap into fine art about four years ago. His early works include playful pop art pieces featuring various celebrities, including an image of Naomi Campbell on a Campbell's Soup can (an ode to Andy Warhol), and human figures topped with panda bear heads. McGaughey, who has a solo show scheduled in May at Spaceworks in Gowanus, says the portrait series he is currently working on is more narrative, focusing on the experiences of his subjects.
Bria Whitney stands beside her Untitled Diptych (Series 1) #3. She created the acrylic and resin on wood piece while she was in a residency program in Japan. Unexpected rainfall gave the artwork its unique texture. "The ability of the rain to really transcend this work makes me very happy," the artist said.
Painter and printmaker Bria Whitney's abstract diptychs are also currently on view at Threes Brewing. The New York City native attended Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn where she began her formal training in art before earning her BFA from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Whitney uses printmaking techniques to create mirroring effects in her paintings, "similar to the Rorschach prints," she said. "One of the fun things about my pieces is...they’re created as pairs but you can separate them or [keep] them together," she explained of her complexly layered works. "One of my favorite parts about the pieces is allowing the viewer to interpret the shapes," she added. "They don’t represent anything, but I love when a viewer can see something."
(L-R) Danie Herard's Tribal Deco 3, Bria Whitney's Untitled Diptych Series 1 (Warm Series), Bria Whitney's Untitled Diptych Series 2 (Cool Series), and Danie Herard's Tribal Deco 4
Influenced by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sol LeWitt's "use of lines and color," and Wassily Kandinsky, "especially his early theories of Point and Line to Plane," Whitney says she is also inspired by color theory and separates her series into warm and cool palettes.
Whitney completed a residency program at Spaceworks in Gowanus and another in Kaga, Japan last year. She will soon complete a six-month residency at The Carrie Able Gallery in Williamsburg where she will have a solo show in April. "For my solo show, I’m incorporating neon into the work. I’m really excited about that," she noted. Whitney is currently learning neon bending at Urban Glass. "In school I was never great at sculpture, I always fell short in that department, but with neon, because it is linear technically, it gives me that ability to have this drawing effect," she said. "I really want to become immersed in it."
(L-R) Bria Whitney's Diptych 1, Danie Herard's Tribal Deco 1 (top) and Tribal Deco 2 (bottom), Bria Whitney's Diptych 2
Gowanus-based artist Danie Herard met Whitney while both artists were in residency at Spaceworks last year. Herard invited Whitney to be part of the Arts Gowanus exhibit at Threes Brewing. "Her work is strong and she’s just really cool," Herard said of her friend.
Herard creates mystical abstract works that explore spirituality, healing, positivity, and the universe. Her Blue Code series features the outline of a profile filled with intricate patterns representing genetic codes. "The concept is [that] we’re more than who we really are," she explained. "I feel in more of a higher consciousness, that we’re all encoded with many different talents, with so much information, and as we live our lives...[they are] pulled out of us. We have a full potential to be who we are and sometimes we don't always realize that. When we come to certain information, we develop more. We can be so much greater." She added that creating the pieces was meditative for her, allowing her to examine how she can "develop more as an artist."
Danie Herard poses with two pieces from her Blue Code series
Interspersed with Whitney's diptychs, Herard's Tribal Deco series reflects her love of Art Deco design in elegant graphics that would be just as fitting on textiles and home designs as they are on canvas. "I’m really playing [with] how my art can also be practical and functional," she said of the pattern on Tribal Deco 1. "It will be a perfect silk scarf."
Born in Brooklyn, Herard studied lighting design at SUNY Purchase and worked in theater productions before taking an office job in health insurance. She transitioned into fine arts full time approximately five years ago. Along with creating her own metaphysical works, she teaches art and owns and operates Sensibility Designs. Herard has been at Spaceworks for approximately three years and has a solo show scheduled there in March. "It’s called In the Vortex," she said of the upcoming show. "I know it’s a little trippy. It’s about being in a particular dimension that helps you really see what’s possible—outside of negative thoughts—and that’s a great place to create from, the unknown. I’m going to take people to the vortex, my vortex."
(L-R) Demarcus McGaughey, Danie Herard, and Bria Whitney at Threes Brewing where their artwork is on view
Arts Gowanus at Threes: Showcase
Threes Brewing, 333 Douglass Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn
The three artists' work will be on view at the space for three months.
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